NIST Guidance 5701.00 Ver. 2 (Uncontrolled Copy in Print) Page 1

Guidance for Review of Data Management Plans 

Submitted with Applications and Proposals for NIST 

Funding for Scientific Research

NIST G 5701.00

Issue Date: 12/10/2020

Effective Date: 11/29/2017

PURPOSE

This document establishes guidance for review of data management plans (DMPs) submitted 

with applications and proposals for financial assistance and other types of federal funding for the 

conduct of scientific research, as well as for monitoring compliance with special award 

conditions.

APPLICABILITY

This guidance is provided for Federal Program Officers and other NIST staff who review 

financial assistance proposals and other applications for NIST funding for the conduct of 

scientific research.

REFERENCES

• Department of Commerce Grants and Cooperative Agreements Manual

• NIST Policy 5700.00 Managing Public Access to Results of Federally Funded Research

• NIST Order 5701.00 Managing Public Access to Results of Federally Funded Research

• NIST Procedure 5702.01 Managing Public Access to External Research Funded by NIST

GUIDANCE

Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs)1require that applicants for federal funding for the 

conduct of scientific research submit a data management plan (DMP) that includes, at a 

minimum:

1. a summary of activities that generate data

2. a summary of the types of data generated by the identified activities

3. a plan for storage and maintenance of the data generated by the identified activities, and 

1 https://www.nist.gov/about-nist/funding-opportunities
NIST Guidance 5701.00 Ver. 2 (Uncontrolled Copy in Print) Page 2

4. a plan describing whether and how data generated by the identified activities will be 

reviewed and made available to the public, both during and after the award’s period of 

performance.

All applications for activities that will generate scientific data using NIST funding are required to 

adhere to a DMP or explain why data sharing and/or preservation are not within the scope of the 

project. A template for DMP generation and a sample DMP are provided in Appendices A and B, 

respectively. An applicant is not required to use the template as long as the DMP contains the 

required information.

All DMPs must comply with the requirements of NIST Policy 5700.00, Managing Public Access 

to Results of Federally Funded Research and NIST Order 5701.00 Managing Public Access to 

Results of Federally Funded Research or any successor Policy and Order.

The DMP must be evaluated against the rubric provided in Appendix C. Data is expected to be 

made publicly available unless such a release is not permitted (e.g., data contains personally 

identifiable information (PII) or business identifiable information (BII)). If data will not be made 

publicly available, justification must be provided.

After selection has been made, the FPO should work with the NIST Grants Office to have the 

applicant revise their DMP as needed.

DIRECTIVE OWNER

602 – Special Programs Office

APPENDICIES

A. Template for DMP to Accompany Request for NIST Funding

B. Example DMP

C. Rubric for Evaluation of DMPs

D. Revision History
NIST Guidance 5701.00 Ver. 2 (Uncontrolled Copy in Print) Page 3

APPENDIX A

TEMPLATE FOR DATA MANAGEMENT PLAN (DMP)

TO ACCOMPANY REQUEST FOR NIST FUNDING

Your DMP should explain how you plan to manage and make available to the public the data generated in 

your proposed project. The plan must include sufficient detail for evaluation of its appropriateness in a 

review conducted by someone who is unfamiliar with your work.

Your DMP is required to contain four sections, which are listed below along with types of questions you 

should consider when developing your plan. These questions are intended to clarify the type of 

information expected.

I. Summary of activities that generate RESEARCH data

Provide a brief explanation of research activities that generate data. Research data is defined as the 

recorded factual materials commonly accepted in the scientific community as necessary to document and 

support research findings.

Consider these questions:

• What research are you doing?

• How will you collect, capture, or create the data? (include methods, instruments, software, and 

infrastructure if relevant.)

• Will you be using data from other data sources?

II. Data types and classification

Provide a summary of the types of data generated by the activities identified above.

Consider these questions:

• What data will you collect, capture, or create in the research?

• What data will be shared?

• What metadata and documentation will be provided with the data in order to make it reusable?

• What contextual details (metadata) are needed to make the data you capture or collect meaningful?

• How will you make these details available?

III. Preservation

Provide a plan for storage and maintenance of the data both during and after the award’s period of 

performance. In some cases, NIST may be willing to make awardees’ data available through 

NIST’s data management infrastructure; see 

https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2018/06/19/final_g_5702_01.pdf. (Note that

financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other non-Federal entity 

records pertinent to an award must be retained for at least 3 years, consistent with 200.334 -

https://ecfr.federalregister.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-D/subjectgroup-ECFR0e38f1d21dd8c05/section-200.334.)
NIST Guidance 5701.00 Ver. 2 (Uncontrolled Copy in Print) Page 4

Consider these questions:

• How will data be stored during the period of performance?

• How will data be stored and archived after the period of performance?

• How will the data be transitioned from short-term storage to long-term storage and archival?

• What is the format of the data files?

• Are the files in a non-proprietary, machine-readable, machine-actionable format?

• How much storage will be required?

IV. PROVIDING PUBLIC ACCESS

Provide your plan for making your data discoverable and available to the public unless such a release is 

not permitted. You are expected to take reasonable measures to safeguard protected personally 

identifiable information and other sensitive information consistent with applicable laws. If data will not 

be made publicly available, justification must be provided, and a waiver granted.

Consider these questions:

• How will the data be made publicly available? (If it won’t be, why not?)

• Are there risks associated with disclosure of the data? (If so, how will they be addressed?)

• How will the data be reviewed prior to release?

• How will the data be made discoverable and accessible?

• Where will the data be published or deposited?

• When will the data be published or deposited? 

• For how long will it be made available to the public?

• Will the data be provided in a non-proprietary, machine-readable, and machine-actionable format?

• How is the public permitted to re-use your data?
NIST Guidance 5701.00 Ver. 2 (Uncontrolled Copy in Print) Page 5

APPENDIX B

EXAMPLE DMP

I. Summary of activities that generate RESEARCH data

Different varieties of edible oils will be purchased in local grocery and natural foods stores. The types of 

oils tested will depend on local availability. We will measure vitamin E as individual tocopherols in 

these oils using liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Oils will be weighed (mass 

manually recorded in lab notebook), spiked with an internal standard (mass manually recorded), and 

saponified following the procedure in J AOAC Int. 1999 Mar-Apr; 82(2):288-96. Tocopherols will be 

extracted. Tocopherols and the internal standard will be separated and measured using a reversed-phase 

chromatographic column with fluorescence detection as described in the above paper. Software 

associated with the instrument will record the fluorescence signal as peaks of interest elute from the 

column, storing the chromatogram on the computer’s hard drive. Peak areas of analytes and internal 

standards will be integrated and peak areas transferred to a spreadsheet, where they will be related 

mathematically to calibration response factors to calculate concentrations in the oil samples. Calibrant 

concentrations will be determined spectrophotometrically with corrections made for purity.

II. Data types and classification

We will collect the following: mass of oil sample, mass of internal standard, peak areas of 

chromatographic peaks in samples and calibrants, absorbance of calibration solutions, analyte purity in 

calibration solutions. These will be used to calculate tococpherol concentrations in the oil samples. The 

tocopherol concentrations (mean and standard deviation) in oil samples will be published. Individual 

values that were used for calculation of summary statistics will be provided upon request. Analytical 

methodology will be provided in the publication that accompanies the data. A readme.txt file will be 

prepared if there are any requests for data in order to explain the meaning of columns names and units for 

tables of tocopherol concentrations in edible oils. The paper itself will be available from the journal as 

well as through NIST’s publications repository, accessible via www.nist.gov/publications.

III. Preservation
NIST Guidance 5701.00 Ver. 2 (Uncontrolled Copy in Print) Page 6

Raw data in the form of chromatograms and integrated peak areas will be stored on the hard drive of 

the instrument’s computer. Integrated peak areas, sample masses, and derived data (i.e., 

concentration calculations) will also be stored in spreadsheets on Elwood, an OISM-managed file 

server that is backed up nightly. Derived data (i.e., integrated peak areas and concentration 

calculations in spreadsheets) will be stored on Elwood. A spreadsheet containing final concentrations 

and summary statistics will be saved as a .csv file and uploaded to Midas, which is also managed by 

OISM. Peak areas are exported by the data acquisition system to a file saved to Elwood. Data in that 

file is combined with manually entered numeric data and manipulated in spreadsheets that are also 

stored in Elwood. The spreadsheet ultimately uploaded from Elwood to Midas. Peak areas are 

exported by the data acquisition system to a file saved to Elwood. Data in that file is combined with 

manually entered numeric data and manipulated in spreadsheets that are also stored in Elwood. The 

spreadsheet ultimately uploaded from Elwood to Midas. Chromatograms in a proprietary format are 

stored on the hard drive of the instrument. Peak areas are stored in Excel files and backed up to 

Elwood nightly. Data made available to the public will be in the form of a .csv file accompanied by a 

readme.txt file. Less than 1 megabyte of storage required for final .csv file stored by Midas.

IV. PROVIDING PUBLIC ACCESS

The paper will indicate that data is available upon request. A record to indicate data availability 

will be created on Midas, which will make the data locatable through data.gov as well. Initially 

data will be made available to the public by request. If a request is made, a readme.txt file will be 

developed, and the dataset will be made publicly available via data.nist.gov. Oils will be described 

generically (e.g., ‘sunflower oil’ without identification of brand names or manufacturers. There are 

no PII, BII, deemed exports, or economic or security risks associated with disclosure of this data. 

Paper and data will be reviewed in accordance with NIST Order 1801.00, 

https://inet.nist.gov/adlp/directives/review-fundamental-research-communications. Data will be 

archived in perpetuity, consistent with federal records retention requirements for public data. The 

public will be able to access the data as long as we determine the data to be valid. Summary 

statistics will be made available in a paper in a peer-reviewed journal. Underlying data will be 

stored in Midas and can be made available to the public upon request. Data will be made available 

to the public through nist.data.gov if one request is received. Data will be deposited when the 

publication is submitted to a journal for consideration, expected by December of this year. Data 

will be archived and can be made available in perpetuity. See 

https://www.nist.gov/topics/data/public-access-nist-research/copyright-fair-use-and-licensingstatements-srd-data-and for licensing and fair use.
NIST Guidance 5701.00 Ver. 2 (Uncontrolled Copy in Print) Page 7

APPENDIX B

RUBRIC FOR EVALUATION OF DATA MANAGEMENT PLANS

I. SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES THAT GENERATE DATA

Performance Criteria Complete Incomplete Did not address

1. Describes the project 

Clearly describes the project

“We will measure vitamin E as individual 

tocopherols in edible oils using liquid 

chromatography with fluorescence 

detection.”

Some description of the project is 

included, but DMP is missing 

information or wouldn’t be well 

understood by someone outside of the 

project

"Tocopherols in oils."

No information about the project is 

included

2. Describes how data will 

be collected, captured, or 

created

Clearly describes how data will be 

collected, captured, or created, including 

methods, instruments, software, or 

infrastructure where relevant

Missing some details regarding how 

some of the data will be produced; 

makes assumptions about reviewer 

knowledge of methods or practices

“LC-fluorescence with an internal 

standard.”

Does not include information 

regarding how the data will be 

collected, captured or created
NIST Guidance 5701.00 Ver. 2 (Uncontrolled Copy in Print) Page 8

“Commercially available edible oils will

be weighed (mass manually recorded in 

lab notebook), spiked with an internal 

standard (mass manually recorded), and 

saponified following the procedure in J 

AOAC Int. 1999 Mar-Apr; 82(2):288-96. 

Tocopherols will be extracted. 

Tocopherols and the internal standard will 

be separated and measured using a 

reversed-phase chromatographic column 

with fluorescence detection. Software 

associated with the instrument will record 

the fluorescence signal as peaks elute 

from the column, storing the 

chromatogram on the computer’s hard 

drive. Peak of analytes and internal 

standards will be integrated and peak 

areas transferred to a spreadsheet, where 

they will be related mathematically to the 

relative response factors for calibrants to 

calculate concentrations in the oil 

samples. Calibration concentrations will 

be determined spectrophotometrically 

with corrections made for purity.”
NIST Guidance 5701.00 Ver. 2 (Uncontrolled Copy in Print) Page 9

II. DATA TYPES AND CLASSIFICATION

Performance Criteria Complete Incomplete Did not address

3. Describes the data that will 

be collected, captured, or 

created

Clearly describes the data that will be 

collected, captured, or created

“We will collect the following: mass of oil 

sample, mass of internal standard, peak areas 

of chromatographic peaks in samples and 

calibrants, absorbance of calibration solutions, 

analyte purity in calibration solutions. These 

will be used to calculate tococpherol 

concentrations in the oil samples.”

Missing some details regarding data that 

will be collected, captured, or created; 

makes assumptions about reviewer 

knowledge

"Tocopherol concentrations."

Does not describe the data that will be 

collected, captured, or created

4. Describes what data will be 

shared

Clearly describes the data that will be shared

“The tocopherol concentrations (mean and 

standard deviation) in edible oil samples will 

be published. Individual values that were 

used for calculation of summary statistics will 

be provided upon request.”

Missing some details regarding what data 

will be shared

“Concentrations.”

Does not describe data that will be 

shared

5. Describes what metadata and 

documentation will be provided 

with the data in order to make it 

reusable

Clearly describes the documentation and 

metadata that will be provided to make the 

data reusable

“Analytical methodology will be provided in 

the publication that accompanies the data. A 

readme file will explain the meaning of 

columns names and units for tables of

tocopherol concentrations in edible oils for 

requested data.”

Missing some details that would make the 

data reusable

“In publication.”

Does not include information regarding 

metadata or documentation
NIST Guidance 5701.00 Ver. 2 (Uncontrolled Copy in Print) Page 10

6. Describes other contextual 

details that are needed to make 

the data captured or collected 

meaningful

Clearly describes any other contextual details 

needed to make the data meaningful

“Different varieties of edible oils will be 

purchased in local grocery and natural foods 

stores. The types of oils tested will depend on 

local availability.”

Missing some details regarding 

contextual details that would make the 

data more meaningful

“Tocopherol concentrations.”

Does not include information regarding 

contextual details

7. Describes how the metadata, 

documentation, and other 

details will be provided

Clearly describes how the metadata, 

documentation, and other details will be 

shared

“A paper published in a peer-reviewed journal 

will be linked, via DOIs, to data, metadata, 

and a readme file made available through 

data.nist.gov. The paper itself will be 

available from the journal as well as through 

NIST’s publications repository, accessible via 

www.nist.gov/publications.”

Missing some details describing how the 

metadata, documentation, and other 

details will be shared

“Will publish.”

Does not include information regarding 

how the data will be collected, captured 

or created

III. PRESERVATION

Performance Criteria Complete Incomplete Did not address
NIST Guidance 5701.00 Ver. 2 (Uncontrolled Copy in Print) Page 11

8. Provides a short-term storage 

plan

Clearly describes how the data will be stored 

in the short term

“Raw data in the form of chromatograms and 

integrated peak areas will be stored on the 

hard drive of the instrument’s computer. 

Integrated peak areas, sample masses, and 

derived data (i.e., concentration calculations) 

will also be stored in spreadsheets on Elwood, 

an OISM-managed file server that is backed 

up nightly.”

Missing some details regarding shortterm storage of the data

"Computer"

Does not describe short-term storage of 

the data

9. Provides a long-term 

storage/archival plan

Clearly describes how the data will be 

stored/archived in the long term

“Derived data (i.e., integrated peak areas and 

concentration calculations in spreadsheets) 

will be stored on Elwood. A spreadsheet 

containing final concentrations and summary 

statistics will be saved as a .csv file and 

uploaded to Midas, which is also managed by 

OISM.”

Missing some details regarding long-term 

storage of the data

“CD”

Does not describe long-term storage of 

the data

10. Provides a plan for 

transitioning from data 

acquisition to short-term 

storage to long-term storage 

and preservation of the data, 

including after the end of the 

award’s period of performance

Clearly describes how data will be moved 

among acquisition and storage systems

“Peak areas are exported by the data 

acquisition system to a file saved to Elwood. 

Data in that file is combined with manually 

entered numeric data and manipulated in 

spreadsheets that are also stored in Elwood. 

The spreadsheet ultimately uploaded from 

Elwood to Midas.”

Missing some details regarding the 

movement of data among systems

“Drag and drop.”

Does not include information regarding 

the movement of data among systems
NIST Guidance 5701.00 Ver. 2 (Uncontrolled Copy in Print) Page 12

11. Identifies the format of 

data that will be stored 

Clearly identifies format(s) of data that will be 

stored, including use of any domain-specific 

metadata standards, and identifies any 

complicating factors that would prevent 

publication of data in a non-proprietary 

machine-readable, machine-actionable format

“Chromatograms in a proprietary format are 

stored on the hard drive of the instrument. 

Peak areas are stored in Excel files and backed 

up to an institutional drive nightly. Data made 

available to the public will be in the form of a 

.csv file accompanied by a readme.txt file.”

Only partially describes data formats that 

will be used for storing data and/or the 

rationale or complicating factors

"System software and Excel”

Does not describe data formats that will 

be used for storing data and does not 

explain rationale or complicating factors

12. Provides an estimate of the 

amount of data storage required

Provides a quantitative estimate of the amount 

of data storage required

“Less than 1 megabyte of storage required for 

final .csv file stored by Midas”

Missing a quantitative estimate of the 

amount of storage required

“Spreadsheets.”

Does not provide an estimate of storage 

requirements

IV. PROVIDING PUBLIC ACCESS

Performance Criteria Complete Incomplete Did not address
NIST Guidance 5701.00 Ver. 2 (Uncontrolled Copy in Print) Page 13

13. Describes how the data will 

be made publicly available, 

including whether it will be 

released to the public or shared 

with restrictions

Provides details about how the data will be 

made publicly available

“The paper will indicate that data is available 

upon request. A record to indicate data 

availability will be created on Midas, which 

will make the data locatable through data.gov 

as well. Initially data will be made available 

to the public by request. If a request is made, 

a readme.txt file will be developed, and the 

dataset will be made publicly available via 

data.nist.gov.

Provides limited information about how 

the data will be made publicly available

"By request."

Does not describe how the data will be 

made publicly available

14. Describes any risks 

associated with disclosure of 

the data; describes security 

measures to prevent 

unauthorized access or other 

means by which risks will be 

mitigated, privacy protected, 

etc.

Clearly describes risks associated with 

disclosure of the data

“Oils will be described generically (e.g., 

‘sunflower oil’ without identification of brand 

names or manufacturers. There are no PII, 

BII, deemed exports, or economic or security 

risks associated with disclosure of this data.”

Missing some details regarding risks 

associated with disclosure of the data

“Not applicable.”

Does not describe risks associated with 

disclosure of the data

15. Describes how the data will 

be reviewed before it is made 

available to the public

Clearly describes how data will be reviewed 

before it is made available to the public

“Paper and data will be reviewed in 

accordance with NIST Order 1801.00, 

https://inet.nist.gov/adlp/directives/reviewfundamental-research-communications.”

Missing some details describing how data 

will be reviewed before it is made 

available to the public

“Peer review.”

Does not describe how data will be 

reviewed before it is made available to 

the public
NIST Guidance 5701.00 Ver. 2 (Uncontrolled Copy in Print) Page 14

16. Describes how the data will 

be made discoverable and 

accessible if it is not being 

published

Provides details about how the data will be 

made discoverable and accessible if it is not 

being published

“Data will be archived in perpetuity, 

consistent with federal records retention 

requirements for public data. The public will 

be able to access the data as long as we 

determine the data to be valid.”

Provides vague information about how 

the data will be made discoverable and 

accessible if it is not being published

“Contact PI.”

Does not describe how data will be made 

discoverable and accessible if it is not 

being published

17. Describes where the data 

will be published or deposited

Provides details describing where the data will 

be published or deposited

“Summary statistics will be made available in 

a paper in a peer-reviewed journal. 

Underlying data will be stored in Midas and 

can be made available to the public upon 

request. Data will be made available to the 

public through nist.data.gov if one request is 

received.”

Provides indeterminate information about

where the data will be published or 

deposited

“Data will be deposited.”

Does not describe where data will be 

published or deposited

18. Describes when the data 

will be published or deposited

Clearly describes when the data will be 

published or deposited

“Data will be deposited when the publication 

is submitted to a journal for consideration, 

expected by December of this year.”

Provides indeterminate information about 

when the data will be published or 

deposited

“Data will be deposited in our repository 

after completion of the project.”

Does not describe when the data will be 

published or deposited

19. Describes how long the data 

will be made available to the 

public.

Clearly describes how long the data will be 

made available to the public

“Data will be archived and can be made 

available in perpetuity.”

Provides indeterminate information about 

long data will be made available to the 

public

"Data will be deposited in our repository 

after completion of the project.”

Does not describe how long data will be 

made available to the public
NIST Guidance 5701.00 Ver. 2 (Uncontrolled Copy in Print) Page 15

20. Describes copyright, fair 

use, and licensing of the data.

Clearly describes copyright, fair use, and 

licensing of the data.

“See 

https://www.nist.gov/topics/data/publicaccess-nist-research/copyright-fair-use-andlicensing-statements-srd-data-and.”

Missing some details or assumes 

knowledge regarding copyright, fair use, 

and licensing of the data.

“Federal data.”

Does not describe risks associated with 

disclosure of the data
NIST Guidance 5701.00 Ver. 2 (Uncontrolled Copy in Print) Page 16

APPENDIX C

REVISION HISTORY

+ Date Responsible Person Description of Change

Initial 6/9/2017 Katherine Sharpless Initial draft

Rev. 0.1 11/22/2017 Dan Cipra Formatting updates only

Rev. 0.2 1/24/2020 Katherine Sharpless Replaced narrative guidance with a 

DMP template, example language, and 

rubric.