The document provides a comprehensive overview of the evolving landscape surrounding the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Data Management and Sharing (DMS) policy, effective no later than January 2023. Panel discussions and contributions from a range of academic, administrative, and policy leaders detail both anticipated benefits and practical challenges associated with the new requirements for NIH-funded researchers to proactively manage and share research data. The policy reflects a broader push—supported by several federal mandates and initiatives—to foster open science, reproducibility, and the efficient dissemination of research outputs. While these efforts promise significant advances for scientific collaboration and discovery, panelists identify key hurdles in implementation, such as the need for institutional education, cross-functional coordination, evolving compliance monitoring, and managing the financial and administrative burden.
Various organizations, including the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), and academic units like Michigan State University, are developing resources, readiness guides, and collaborative initiatives to support the research community's transition. The document highlights practical experiences, noting variability across campuses in levels of administrative involvement and preparedness. Faculty feedback underscores the additional time, effort, and expertise required to comply, the necessity of budgeting for data management-related personnel, and the complexities of aligning data with NIH requirements and repositories. Collaborative approaches, ongoing training, and cross-institutional partnerships are emphasized as essential to cultivating a robust culture of data sharing and reuse, with initiatives such as FASEB DataWorks! aiming to recognize and reward best practices. Ultimately, the document calls for continued adaptation, resource development, and stakeholder engagement to ensure compliance while realizing the scientific benefits of open data.
