What is required?
The Department of Energy requires a two-step process to comply with its data policy:
- A data management and sharing plan (DMSP) is required with the grant proposal.
- Dataset(s) supporting published research results should be deposited in a public data repository at the time of publication, and reported to OSTI as research products.
What do I need to submit as part of my proposal?
All research activities funded by DOE sponsoring offices must include a Data Management and Sharing Plan (DMSP) that meets the requirements stated in this policy and any additional requirements identified by the sponsoring research office.
What is a data management and sharing plan (DMSP)?
A document that describes which data generated through the course of the proposed research will be shared and preserved and how it will be done. It may explain why data sharing or preservation is not possible or scientifically appropriate, or why the costs and benefits of doing so should be considered in data management planning.
Data management planning should be an integral part of research planning.
All DMSPs submitted to any DOE sponsoring office should include:
Follow DOE’s guidance on developing a DMSP: Writing a Data Management and Sharing Plan – step-by-step guidance on developing a DMSP, including the five suggested elements:
- data types, sources, and standards
- related tools, software, and code
- data access and reuse considerations
- data security, preservation, and sharing
- oversight of data management and sharing
Additional requirements for the DMP may be identified by the sponsoring office, program, sub-program, or in the solicitation. Some sponsoring research offices have provided additional requirements and guidance as detailed below:
- The Office of Science Statement on Digital Data Management
- Advanced Scientific Computing Research
- Basic Energy Sciences
- Biological and Environmental Research
- Fusion Energy Sciences
- High Energy Physics
- Nuclear Physics
- Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR)
Generally, a data management plan will not exceed 2 pages. The plan describes how and where the data will be made available to the public and describes how the data that underlies scientific publications will be available for discovery, retrieval, and analysis.
Costs associated with the scope of work and resources articulated in a DMP may be included in the proposed research budget as permitted by the applicable cost principles.
Use the DMPTool, an online tool for creating data management plans, with templates for many funding agencies.
When do I need to share my data?
Data should be shared at time of publication.
Where can I deposit my data?
While there is no required repository for DoE data, researchers are encouraged to deposit data in existing community or institutional repositories or to submit these data to the article publisher as supplemental information. See our guidance on sharing and archiving data for information about finding a suitable repository.
- DOE Data Explorer – discovery portal for publicly available datasets funded by DOE. All public datasets must be reported to OSTI as research products.
- OSTI Data ID Service – OSTI provides free DOIs for datasets produced by DOE-funded researchers. Submit via E-Link or API; contact DOEDataID@osti.gov for assistance.
- OSTI also maintains DOE CODE, the software services platform and search tool that allows submission and reporting of DOE-funded scientific and business software.
- Cornell’s eCommons digital repository issues DOIs upon request and may be appropriate for some DOE-funded datasets. Contact data-help@cornell.edu for guidance.
Are there any compliance requirements?
The DMSP is part of the overall conditions of the funded research and, as such, it is expected that researchers will follow, to the best of their ability, the proposed research and associated data management plan. All public datasets must be reported to OSTI as research products. Failure to do so may negatively influence future funding opportunities of the recipient.
More information
- DOE Public Access Plan
- DOE Requirements and Guidance for Digital Research Data Management
- DOE Research Data Management Glossary
Implementation
For publications and data, DOE replaced Data Management Plans (DMPs) with Data Management and Sharing Plans (DMSPs) in October 1, 2025. The transition was formalized in FAL 2026-01 (December 2025). For persistent identifiers (PIDs), the OSTP Public Access Memo requires new policies to be issued by December 31, 2026, with full implementation by December 31, 2027.
Page last updated July 2026