Because good research needs good data

Update to ESRC template in DMPonline

Sarah Jones | 04 June 2020

The ESRC template in DMPonline is based on the ESRC policy and DMP guidance for ESRC researchers provided by the UK Data Service. The sections and guidance suggested in the UKDS guidance are used to provide context to the short bulleted list of requirements provided in the policy.

We periodically review the various inputs used to create DMP templates and make updates where necessary to ensure our content is as up-to-date as possible. A few minor changes were made to the template in DMPonline on 4th June 2020. These don't change the content significantly and only introduce a few slight rewordings and fix broken links. 

  • In the plan details overview, we have added a bracket to the second bullet on the requirements of ESRC grant applicants to stay in line with policy. This addition reads "(ESRC reserves the right to demand additional information and apply sanctions should data not be deposited in a timely manner)"
  • The description of the Discover UK Data Service provided in guidance on existing data was changed to 7000 collections not 6000 datasets.
  • The guidance link to the RCUK Gateway To Research was updated
  • There was a slight rewording to the quality assurance guidance to add a new sentence from the UKDS guide "Quality control of data is an integral part of a research process" and to say the examples "may include" not "could be"
  • We amended the data security and backup question to "Describe the data security and backup procedures you will adopt..." It previously didn't mention data security explicitly
  • Under Difficulties in data sharing there was a slight rewording of the question to "Identify any potential obstacles" and changes to guidance to expand the DPA and FoI acromyms
  • Under Copyright and IPR, the question changed to "State" rather than "Please state" and we updated the link to guidance on IPR

It is also worth noting that the ESRC guidelines for peer-reviewers have a slightly different structure to the ESRC policy and UKDS guide. These omit the Curation and Consent sections and have a heading called "Preparation of data for sharing and archiving." The assessment questions listed here refer to documentation and deposit so should already be covered under the Curation, Sharing and Responsibilities sections in the DMPonline template. Having consulted with the funder and data archive in the past, we have been advised to use the policy and UKDS guide so have not amended section headings in light of this.

Since the template in DMPonline has been updated, any institutions who have customised the template will need to transfer and republish these customisations to the new version. Guidance on how to do this is provided in the user manual

Useful links are provided below: