Data Sharing Plan Requirements

Data sharing is essential for expedited translation of research results into knowledge, products and procedures to improve human health. It is NIH policy that any investigator submitting a grant application seeking direct costs of $500,000 or more in any single year is expected to include a plan to address data sharing in the application or state why data sharing is not possible. The applicant is expected to contact an NLM program officer prior to submission, to seek agreement to accept assignment of the application.

The following links highlight NIH policy and related guidance on sharing of research data developed with NIH funding.

NIH Data Sharing Policy - NIH policy relating to data sharing
Frequently Asked Questions about Data Sharing - listing of Frequently Asked Questions that will be updated as new questions are received. Please check back periodically for new questions and answers.
Key Elements of Data Sharing Plans - Information for applicants on the types of information that should be included in a data sharing plan (including information on any standardized formats/vocabularies that will be used for available data.)

All NLM grant applicants, regardless of the direct cost amount of their applications, are strongly encouraged to include a plan to address data sharing, or to state why data sharing is not possible.

Help Topics

Frequently Asked Questions
Acronyms
Grant Application Lifecycle
NIH Grant Tutorials
NLM Award Decisions and Budget Adjustments
Data Safety & Monitoring Plan Requirements
Human Subjects Research

Last Reviewed: September 6, 2023