Policy

Policies are one way funders, publishers and institutions are encouraging and requiring data sharing. Many agencies require research data produced as part of a funded project to be made publicly available, and many have instituted requirements for data sharing and formal data management plans,
 

Government

Government strategies and policies for supporting data sharing and access. In order to promote open access to research data, many government funding agencies require research data produced as part of a funded project to be made publicly available. Many agencies have instituted requirements for data sharing and formal data management plans, including NSF, NIH, NEH.

Agency plans based on the OSTP memo (as of March 2, 2015)

Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ)
Department of Defense (DOD)
Department of Energy (DOE) 
Data management plan requirements and guidance (Department of Energy Statements on Digital Data Management)
Plan to Increase Access to Results of FDA-Funded Scientific Research
Health and Human Services (HHS) Open Government Plan
HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Manuscript Submission for VA Investigators

• Comprehensive Brief on Research Data Management Policies (2015) – prepared by Kathleen Shearer, looks at RDM policies in Canada and around the world. As well as policies, the report covers administration, implementation, costs, and challenges.
• NIH Policy on Genomic Data Sharing (2014) – Policyrep effective for funding applications starting on January 25, 2015. 
• Executive Order - Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for Government Information (2013) – President Obama’s executive order stating that data shall be managed as an asset throughout its life cycle to promote interoperability and openness, to ensure that data are released to the public in ways that make the data easy to find, accessible, and usable.

Journals

Journals’ policies for making data available to readers. Publishers may have specific requirements regarding the availability and retention of data that supports conclusions they publish.

• Joint Data Archiving Policy – A policy supported by many journals requiring that as a condition for publication, data supporting the results in a paper should be archived in an appropriate public archive.
• Nature’s policies for submitting accompanying data with publications (2013) – A condition for publication in the Nature journals is that authors make data promptly available to readers. Details about this policy and author guidelines are listed.

Institutions

Institutions are also implementing policies for research data management infrastructure across the entire research data lifecycle. Institutional policies and procedures might include guidelines, protocols and standards for good research data management. It is important to look into your organization’s policies around data. 

• Creating a data management framework – Australian National Data Service.
• Do You Have An Institutional Data Policy? (2015) – A Review of the Current Landscape of Library Data Services and Institutional Data Policies. Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication.
• Retention of and Access to Research Data  – Example Institution Data Policy from New York University. Also information on how to go about making an institutional data policy and examples of institutions with data policies.

Advocacy

• Starting the Conversation: University-wide Research Data Management Policy (2013) – OCLC report summarizing the benefits of systematic data management planning and identifying campus stakeholders and their concerns. This report is targeted for library directors and encourages them to proactively discuss data management and points to cover to get buy-in among campus stakeholders. The report also offers points that need to be addressed and a checklist of issues.
• Implementing an Open Data Policy (2013) – A primer developed by SPARC for research funders. Addresses key issues that these organizations encounter when considering the adoption and implementation of an open data policy.

Research

• Codifying Collegiality: Recent Developments in Data Sharing Policy in the Life Sciences (2014) – Policies have been effective, but still room for improvement (article in PLOS One).
• Policy Implications of Big Data in the Health Sector (2018) – From the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, an overview of health sector policy implications.