Using DMPTool

To draft the DMS Plan for your NIH applications, UNMC requires that you use DMPTool (log in with UNMC credentials), an online Data Management Plan builder, where you can use NIH 2023 template to guide you through the process. See the information below on how to access and begin using this tool, as well as how to download your DMS Plan from DMPTool once it is ready.

Why use DMPTool to write your data management and sharing plan?

• DMPTool allows for deeper engagement and reflection on the data that you collect:
  • The Tool has built-in, customized commentary from the NIH, DMPTool, and UNMC
  • Commentary is built by NIH’s Office of Data Science, the California Digital Library, and UNMC data professionals.
• You can “Request Feedback” with a push of a button
  • The “Request Feedback” tab allows UNMC’s data professionals to review the plan and make comments for improving the Plan.
• Using DMPTool helps UNMC make decisions about investing in further data management and curation of our research data
  • UNMC will be better informed and situated to find gaps in researcher knowledge, types of data used on campus, and build momentum for a more fully fleshed-out data management infrastructure.
• A group of researchers and librarians from across the country are in the process of evaluating the grant-writing burden and are using resources like DMPTool in the hopes of lightening the burden on research requirements in the future.

How to Access the DMPTool

Step-by-step instructions on how to access the DMPTool and start a plan:

1. Go to DMPTool’s website at: https://dmptool.org/
2. On the right-hand side of the screen, there is a Sign in/Sign up section
3. Enter your UNMC email address for access
4. Press Continue
5. The screen will automatically recognize your email address and ask if you want to sign in through the UNMC system
6. Press Okay
7. Enter your UNMC credentials
8. Once signed in, you will see My Dashboard, which displays the data management plans that you have written using DMPTool
9. To create a new plan, click Create Plan in the lower left-hand side of the screen
10. Enter the title of you research project
11. If not automatically entered, select University of Nebraska Medical Center (unmc.edu) as your primary research organization
12. Begin to type NIH into Select the primary funding organization
13. Click on National Institutes of Health (nih.gov)
14. You will then be prompted to choose a template
15. Choose NIH-GEN DMSP (2023) from the drop-down menu.
16. Click Create plan

How to Download your DMS Plan from DMPTool

Step-by-step instructions on how to download your data management and sharing plan:

1. Click on the Download tab at the far-right header.
2. You will see options for Format, Download Settings, and PDF Formatting.
3. DMPTool Automatically defaults to PDF Download; however, you can also download as a Word Doc, A Text File, a JSON file, or a CSV by choosing the file format option in the Format drop-down menu.
4. If you choose the default PDF Format:
   1. Focus on the four options for download settings.
   2. There are two automatically checked options, “section headings” and “question text”:
   3. Un-check the “question text” option.
      • When you un-check the “question text” option, you will not get the extra DMPTool summaries for each element. This helps to keep your DMPTool to the appropriate length without the directions, examples, or summaries from DMPTool.
   4. Choose the appropriate font type (sans-serif), size of the font (11-point), and margins according to the NIH guidelines.
   5. Click the Download Plan button at the bottom of the page.
5. If you choose docx format (downloaded as a Word document):
   1. You will only have the four download settings
   2. There are two automatically checked options, “section headings” and “question text”:
   3. Un-check the “question text” option.
      • When you un-check the “question text” option, you will not get the extra DMPTool summaries for each element. This helps to keep your DMPTool to the appropriate length without the directions, examples, or summaries from DMPTool.
   4. Click Download Plan at the bottom of the page. Your document will download as a Word document, where you can make further changes to the font type, font size, margins, and further add or revise the document.
   5. When you are ready for upload, save your Word document as a PDF for upload with your application using the “Save As” under File in Word.