NCCIH Research Blog

In October 2020, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued the Final NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing (DMS), effective for competing applications with due dates on or after January 25, 2023, to promote the sharing of scientific data. In a 2022 post on this blog, my colleagues Drs. D. Craig Hopp and Emmeline Edwards announced new web resources to help applicants understand the policy. Today, I’ll answer a few questions we are often asked at the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) Office of Grants Management and highlight a new implementation requirement taking effect October 1, 2024. 

Why is DMS important to NCCIH? 

Responsible DMS will enhance access to high-value datasets, promote data reuse for additional scientific studies, increase research integrity and reproducibility, accelerate discovery in complementary and integrative health research, and expedite adoption of evidence-based complementary and integrative health interventions. 

What’s the new requirement for reporting on my DMS activities? 

If you receive a grant award that is subject to the DMS policy, you’ll be required to include your progress on DMS activities in your annual, interim, and final Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs). This change is part of the implementation of the policy and intended to ensure compliance with your approved DMS plan. The new “Forms-I” application package being released this fall will include a new section: C.5, “Data Management and Sharing.” You’ll need to include information on the data type identified in your DMS plan that was approved with your competing award or subsequent revisions. This information will include the status of data sharing, the names of the repositories, and the unique identifiers for the data being shared. NCCIH programmatic staff will assess your submission for the progress of and compliance with the approved DMS plan.