Open Science Prize Roadmap - A Research Data Management Advisory Platform

Sep 12, 2026

Open data policies have driven demand for data management plans (DMPs) that help researchers comply with funder requirements, but this only addresses a first step toward open science. The roadmap proposes integrating DMPs into a broader global data management infrastructure and making them “living documents” within the research lifecycle. It emphasizes community-focused adoption by individual researchers, disciplinary communities, and funders, especially through biomedical pilots that connect established RDM tools and workflows, lowering barriers and enabling culture change.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time2 min

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Executive summary

Problem statement

Open Science Prize

Roadmap: A Research Data Management Advisory Platform Executive summary The DMPTool and DMPonline were developed to meet an emerging need arising from the advent of open data policies and each is now well established as the resource for researchers seeking guidance in creating data management plans (DMPs) in the US and UK respectively. Both services, and their sponsoring organizations, the California Digital Library (CDL) and the Digital Curation Centre (DCC), have succeeded in enabling researchers to comply with funder requirements in producing DMPs. However, this is just one step along the road to advancing open science. We see an opportunity to further leverage DMPs to support open science by integrating them into the broader ecosystem of data management infrastructure. In order to achieve this goal, we must redefine success to include not just adoption of our services by institutions but also widespread adoption by individual researchers, disciplinary communities, and funders. Working together with all stakeholders to make DMPs an essential, open part of the research lifecycle, and not just a matter of compliance, is the next step toward effectively managing and sharing research data. We propose to join forces and build a new, global data management advisory platform that links DMPsto other components of the research lifecycle. The biomedical research community provides an opportunity to adapt the infrastructure and associated educational resources to one specific disciplinary community and plug into new initiatives. We will reposition DMPs as living documents useful for structuring the course of biomedical research activities and integrating with related data management systems to lower the barriers for implementation and promote culture change. Consolidating around a single platform for DMPs extends our reach, keeps costs down, and moves best practices forward, allowing us to participate in a truly global open science ecosystem. Problem Statement Research data management (RDM) that enables open science is now acknowledged as a global challenge: research is global, policies are becoming global, and thus the need is global. Successful strategies for meeting this need require coordination of all efforts—infrastructure and education—atthe global scale. In order to be discoverable, accessible, and reusable in ways that advance science, data need to be managed properly from the outset. Data management plans (DMPs) are already part of the policy landscape and we see an opportunity to leverage them to support open science by integrating them into the broader ecosystem of data management infrastructure. DMPs are also a useful tool to educate researchers and promote beneficial culture change. While data science principles are beginning to appear in higher education curricula, many researchers remain unaware of the evolving norms of scientific best practices, and the specific tools and guidance that may be available to them through institutional and disciplinary affiliations. Worthwhile RDM efforts are underway by individual early adopters and champions, but the true promise of open science will occur only once these activities are broadly accepted and practiced by the entire community. Open Science Prize Page 1 of 6 Researchers typically identify and affiliate more strongly with their discipline rather than their host institution; this underscores the importance of community-‐focused efforts to develop RDM standards and best practices. As providers of data management planning services, we have succeeded in supporting institution-‐based efforts but now seek closer engagement with individual disciplinary communities. The Open Science Prize offers an opportunity to work with the biomedical research community as a pilot for integrating DMPs with established RDM infrastructure, researcher workflows, and other community initiatives (e.g., bioCADDIE1, BioSharing2, and ELIXIR3) . The positive impact from successful R

FAQs

What problem does the roadmap address?

It addresses the global challenge of research data management that enables open science, requiring coordinated infrastructure and education at global scale so data are discoverable, accessible, and reusable.

How does the roadmap propose advancing open science using DMPs?

It proposes integrating DMPs into the broader ecosystem of data management infrastructure and redefining success as widespread adoption by researchers, communities, and funders—not only institutional uptake.

Why focus on the biomedical research community?

The biomedical community offers a practical opportunity to adapt existing infrastructure and educational resources, pilot integration with established RDM infrastructure and workflows, and promote culture change.

Sep 12, 2026

Upload by Oliver Hayes