In your data management plan (DMP), you define the strategy on how to manage your data and documentation during the whole project.

A DMP is a comprehensive document that outlines the activities to be performed and their implementation during all phases of the data life cycle to ensure the data remain accessible, usable, and comprehensible (understandable). Of course, this also includes basic information such as the project name, third-party funders, project partners, among others.

The DMP thus records how the research data are handled during and after the research project. To create a substantial DMP, it is necessary to systematically address topics such as data management, metadata (structured data that describe the data), data retention and data analysis. It makes sense to create the DMP before starting the data collection because it forms the basis for decisions concerning data storage, backup, and processing, among other aspects. Nevertheless, a DMP is not a static document, but rather a dynamic document that is constantly updated and provides assistance throughout your whole project.

The DMP contains general information about the project and the way of documentation, descriptions of the used and collected data, used metadata, and ontologies (Figure 3). Furthermore, it includes information about data storage, data security, and preservation during and after the project, sharing of the data, and publication. The responsibilities, costs, and resources needed are listed as well as information about ethical and legal issues [1]. This is also important to meet the Nagoya protocol needs, e.g. permits for collecting samples.

This video [2] explains why you should create a DMP at the beginning of your project: