NIH Updates Required Elements for Data Management and Sharing Plans

By: Yvette Seger
Thursday, March 12, 2026
On February 25, the National Institutes of Health issued a Guide Notice updating the required elements for data management and sharing plans (DMSPs). Framed as part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to increase efficiency and minimize applicant burden, the Notice supersedes NOT-OD-21-014, Supplemental Information for Data Management and Sharing: Elements of a Data Management and Sharing Plan issued on October 29, 2020. Applicants will be required to utilize a new DMSP Format page for all funding requests submitted on or after May 25, 2026.

NIH is updating DMSP elements following a staff review of more than 1,100 submitted plans, which determined that many included extraneous details and/or exceeded the recommended length. To streamline both plan content and compliance monitoring, NIH has simplified and provided more structure to the required elements for a DMSP. The updated DMSP Format page is being implemented as a pilot and will be reevaluated to determine the need for additional updates over the next year.