(*and how to address them)
NICHD remains committed to promoting data sharing as a key component of accelerating research that improves the health of our populations of interest and of amplifying the impact of the institute’s investments. In the year since the 2023 NIH DMS Policy took effect, ODSS, in collaboration with extramural and intramural staff, has been analyzing DMS plans submitted to NICHD in comparison to the requirements and expectations described in the public NIH DMS Policy materials. The ODSS team has also presented its findings at multiple venues, such as at the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) DMS Town Hall.
ODSS identified eight issues common to many DMS plans submitted to NICHD. We encourage researchers to avoid these issues moving forward and to revise existing DMS plans to better align with the DMS Policy, as appropriate. These issues apply to both intramural and extramural researchers unless otherwise noted.
How to Revise Your DMS Plan
Extramural researchers have multiple options for revising their DMS plans:
- At any point, the PI can submit a prior approval request to make updates to an existing plan.
- Alternatively, extramural researchers can make updates to their DMS plan within 30 days of submitting a Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) as part of the regular reporting process. Your program officer might contact you to update your plan around RPPR season if they notice any issues.
Intramural researchers can revise their DMS plan in the NIH Intramural Database at any time. PIs are also prompted to review plans annually each January.
Regardless of how you make your updates, ODSS recommends addressing these issues and reviewing the recently updated Tips for Writing a DMS Plan (PDF 192 KB) and other NICHD DMS Policy reference materials.