NSF to Ask Every Grant Applicant for Data Management Plan

"Scientists seeking funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will soon need to spell out how they plan to manage the data they hope to collect. It's part of a broader move by NSF and other federal agencies to emphasize the importance of community access to data....NSF's current policy requires grantees to share their data within a reasonable length of time so long as the cost is modest. "That's nice, but it doesn't have much teeth," said [Edward Seidel, acting head of NSF's mathematics and physical sciences directorate]. Under the new policy, which is expected to be unveiled this fall, a researcher would submit a data management plan as a two-page supplement to any regular grant proposal. That would make it an element of the merit review process. NSF wants to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach to the issue...."