Below is a summary of upcoming changes at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). These changes apply to new forms and requirements for data management and data sharing.
Proposal Preparation
Applications for NIH opportunities with receipt deadlines on or after January 25, 2023, must use FORMS-H grant application forms and instructions. For more details, please refer to this NIH notice: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-23-012.html
New Requirements in Data Management & Data Sharing
The NIH Data Management & Sharing (DMS) Policy, effective January 25, 2023, applies to all research, funded or conducted in whole or in part by NIH, that results in the generation of scientific data. This includes all NIH-supported research regardless of funding level, including extramural grants, extramural contracts, intramural research projects, and other funding agreements.
Scientific Data is defined as data commonly accepted in the scientific community as of sufficient quality to validate and replicate research findings, regardless of whether the data are used to support scholarly publications.
- Scientific data includes any data needed to validate and replicate research findings.
- Scientific data does not include laboratory notebooks, preliminary analyses, completed case report forms, drafts of scientific papers, plans for future research, peer reviews, communications with colleagues, or physical objects such as laboratory specimens.
NIH has issued the Data Management and Sharing (DMS) policy (effective January 25, 2023) to promote the sharing of scientific data. Sharing scientific data accelerates biomedical research discovery, in part, by enabling validation of research results, providing accessibility to high-value datasets, and promoting data reuse for future research studies.
Under the DMS policy, NIH expects that investigators and institutions will:
- Plan and budget for the managing and sharing of data
- Submit a DMS plan for review when applying for funding
- Comply with the approved DMS plan
Additional data management and sharing implementation details, requirements, and guidance are available at the following sites:
- NIH implementation notice: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-22-189.html
- NIH policy notice: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-21-013.html
- NIH policy overview site: https://sharing.nih.gov/data-management-and-sharing-policy
- NIH planning/budget guidance site: https://sharing.nih.gov/data-management-and-sharing-policy/planning-and-budgeting-for-data-management-and-sharing/budgeting-for-data-management-sharing