[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":419},["ShallowReactive",2],{"answers-\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-data\u002Fwrite-a-data-management-plan":3,"answers-cluster-research-data":110,"answers-related-\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-data\u002Fwrite-a-data-management-plan":130},{"id":4,"title":5,"answer":6,"body":7,"cluster":72,"description":73,"extension":74,"faq":75,"heading":78,"intro":66,"kind":79,"meta":80,"navigation":81,"order":82,"outbound":83,"path":90,"primaryQuery":91,"product":92,"related":93,"seo":96,"sources":97,"stem":108,"updated":101,"__hash__":109},"answers\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-data\u002Fwrite-a-data-management-plan.md","How to Write a Data Management Plan","Answer six questions: what data you will produce, how it will be documented, where it will be stored and backed up, how it will be protected, what will be shared and where, and who is responsible. Most funder templates are a rearrangement of those six.",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":65},"minimark",[10,14,17,20,23,26,29,32,35,40,43,46,49,53,56,59,62],[11,12,13],"p",{},"The plan is usually written the week a grant is due, by someone who has not yet lost any data, which is why so many read as compliance rather than as a working document. The version worth writing is the one you would actually follow, and that turns out to be shorter and more specific than the compliance version.",[11,15,16],{},"Start with what the data physically is. Interview recordings and transcripts, survey exports, instrument output, code, images, field notes. For each, the format, the approximate volume, and whether it contains anything identifying. That inventory takes twenty minutes and it determines every other answer in the plan.",[11,18,19],{},"Write the inventory at the level of detail a reviewer can check. The NIH guidance asks for each dataset's modality, level of aggregation, level of processing, approximate format, and how it will be produced, and it asks for this before the project begins (Gonzales et al., 2022, pp. 2-3). That maps onto a thesis as separate lines for interview audio, transcripts, consent records, coded qualitative files, survey exports, scripts, and derived tables, with each one marked raw, cleaned, anonymised, or analysis-ready. The plan is a description of the whole data life cycle, from collection through organisation, quality control, documentation, preservation, and sharing, and it is peer-reviewed alongside the proposal (Michener, 2015, p. 1).",[11,21,22],{},"Documentation is the section most often left thin and the one that matters most three years later. What will let someone else, including future you, understand the files: a readme, a codebook, variable definitions, the version of the instrument used. A dataset nobody can interpret is not preserved in any useful sense.",[11,24,25],{},"Name the standards, not just the intention to document. The relevant ones are file formats, data dictionaries, data identifiers, unique identifiers, variable definitions, and the supporting documentation itself (Gonzales et al., 2022, p. 4). Choose standardised and preferably open formats where the analysis allows it, so a CSV export rather than a proprietary Excel workbook, and state the format of the data dictionary as well as its content (Gonzales et al., 2022, p. 5).",[11,27,28],{},"Storage needs three copies in two places, with one off site, and it needs to be somewhere your institution supports rather than a personal cloud account. Say who checks the backups and how often, because a backup nobody has ever restored from is a hope rather than a plan.",[11,30,31],{},"The standard recommendation is at least three copies in at least two geographically distributed locations, with regular duplication and tests that show the files can actually be retrieved (Michener, 2015, p. 5). Pair that with the error side of the same section. The listed quality assurance and quality control measures include researcher training, instrument calibration, verification tests, double-blind data entry, and statistical or visual checks such as scatterplots and maps for finding anomalies, and which of them apply depends on the study and the sponsor (Michener, 2015, p. 5). A twelve-interview project should not promise instrument calibration, and a survey project should say which coding and entry checks it will run.",[11,33,34],{},"Then sharing. What will be made available, where, under what licence, and when. If your consent forms do not permit sharing, that is the answer and you should say so plainly, along with what you will share instead, such as metadata or a synthetic dataset.",[36,37,39],"h2",{"id":38},"what-do-funders-actually-check","What do funders actually check?",[11,41,42],{},"Whether the plan is specific to your project rather than generic, whether the storage and backup arrangements exist, whether the sharing plan is compatible with your ethics approval and consent, and whether someone is named as responsible. Vagueness is what gets flagged, not ambition.",[11,44,45],{},"The consent question is the one that catches people. A plan promising open data alongside a consent form that promised participants their data would not be shared is an internal contradiction, and reviewers who read both notice it.",[11,47,48],{},"Name the repository rather than saying data will be deposited in an appropriate repository. Naming it shows you checked that one exists and accepts your data type.",[36,50,52],{"id":51},"how-long-does-a-data-management-plan-need-to-be","How long does a data management plan need to be?",[11,54,55],{},"Usually one to three pages, and the template decides. Length is not the quality signal. A two-page plan that names the repository, the file formats, the retention period, and the person responsible is stronger than six pages of general commitment to good practice.",[11,57,58],{},"There is no universal template, because professional societies, funders, and institutions each set their own requirements (Hassenstein and Jung, 2025, p. 7). Some are very specific. The NIH policy, effective January 2023, requires a one to two page Data Management and Sharing Plan for every funded project (Gonzales et al., 2022, pp. 1-2). Read the requirement your funder publishes before you write, and if none applies, borrow a published one rather than inventing headings.",[11,60,61],{},"Write it so a new team member could follow it. That is the test that distinguishes a plan from a statement of intent, and it is also what makes it worth keeping once the grant is awarded.",[11,63,64],{},"Revisit it when the project changes. A plan written for a study that became something else is worse than useless, and updating it takes ten minutes at a point where you already know what changed.",{"title":66,"searchDepth":67,"depth":67,"links":68},"",4,[69,71],{"id":38,"depth":70,"text":39},2,{"id":51,"depth":70,"text":52},"research-data","What a data management plan has to cover, what funders actually check when they read one, and how long the document needs to be to satisfy a review panel.","md",[76,77],{"q":39,"a":42},{"q":52,"a":55},"How do I write a data management plan?","answer",{},true,1,[84,87],{"label":85,"to":86},"Knowledge bases and what goes in them","\u002Fdocs\u002Fcore-concepts\u002Fknowledge-bases",{"label":88,"to":89},"Deleting research data across stores","\u002Fdocs\u002Freference\u002Fsettings-and-api-keys","\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-data\u002Fwrite-a-data-management-plan","how to write a data management plan",null,[94,95],"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-methods\u002Fwork-out-your-sample-size","\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-methods\u002Fhow-many-interviews-is-enough",{"title":5,"description":73},[98,102,105],{"label":99,"url":100,"checked":101},"Michener, Ten Simple Rules for Creating a Good Data Management Plan, PLoS Computational Biology (2015)","https:\u002F\u002Fdoi.org\u002F10.1371\u002Fjournal.pcbi.1004525","2026-08-06",{"label":103,"url":104,"checked":101},"Gonzales et al., Ten simple rules for maximizing the recommendations of the NIH data management and sharing plan, PLoS Computational Biology (2022)","https:\u002F\u002Fdoi.org\u002F10.1371\u002Fjournal.pcbi.1010397",{"label":106,"url":107,"checked":101},"Hassenstein and Jung, Ten simple rules for effective research data management, PLoS Computational Biology (2025)","https:\u002F\u002Fdoi.org\u002F10.1371\u002Fjournal.pcbi.1013779","answers\u002Fresearch-data\u002Fwrite-a-data-management-plan","gMjxFJg0tK_N0aK-rEz3vAhH5bwzHANV-xVSFYZ24z4",[111,112,116,121,125],{"path":90,"heading":78,"description":73,"order":82},{"path":113,"heading":114,"description":115,"order":70},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-data\u002Ffair-data-principles-in-practice","What are the FAIR data principles?","What FAIR data actually requires beyond the acronym, what making data FAIR involves in day-to-day practice, and why FAIR does not mean open.",{"path":117,"heading":118,"description":119,"order":120},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-data\u002Forganize-research-data-files","How do I organize research data files?","How to organize research data files so the structure still works in year three, what makes a good file naming convention, and how to version files without chaos.",3,{"path":122,"heading":123,"description":124,"order":67},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-data\u002Fwhat-preregistration-is","What is preregistration in research?","What preregistration involves, whether it stops you exploring your data, and how a registered report differs from an ordinary preregistered study.",{"path":126,"heading":127,"description":128,"order":129},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-data\u002Fanonymize-qualitative-data","How do I anonymize qualitative interview data?","How to anonymize interview transcripts properly, the difference between anonymization and pseudonymization, and whether anonymized transcripts can be shared.",5,[131,134,137,140,143,146,149,152,155,158,161,164,167,170,173,176,179,182,185,188,191,194,197,200,203,206,209,212,215,218,221,224,227,230,233,236,239,242,245,248,251,254,257,260,263,266,269,272,275,278,281,284,287,290,293,296,299,302,305,308,311,314,317,320,323,326,329,332,335,338,341,344,347,350,353,356,359,362,365,366,367,368,369,370,373,376,379,382,385,388,391,394,397,400,402,405,408,411,414,417],{"path":132,"heading":133},"\u002Fanswers\u002Facademic-writing\u002Fdraft-without-stopping-for-citations","How do I draft when I keep stopping to look up citations?",{"path":135,"heading":136},"\u002Fanswers\u002Facademic-writing\u002Fhow-long-should-a-literature-review-chapter-be","How long should a literature review chapter be?",{"path":138,"heading":139},"\u002Fanswers\u002Facademic-writing\u002Fparaphrase-without-plagiarizing","How do I paraphrase a source without plagiarizing?",{"path":141,"heading":142},"\u002Fanswers\u002Facademic-writing\u002Fstructure-a-phd-thesis","How do I structure a PhD thesis chapter by chapter?",{"path":144,"heading":145},"\u002Fanswers\u002Facademic-writing\u002Fthesis-by-publication-or-monograph","Should I do a thesis by publication or a monograph?",{"path":147,"heading":148},"\u002Fanswers\u002Facademic-writing\u002Fwrite-a-discussion-section","How do I write a discussion section without repeating the results?",{"path":150,"heading":151},"\u002Fanswers\u002Facademic-writing\u002Fwrite-a-methodology-chapter","How do I write a methodology chapter?",{"path":153,"heading":154},"\u002Fanswers\u002Facademic-writing\u002Fwrite-a-thesis-introduction","How do I write a thesis introduction?",{"path":156,"heading":157},"\u002Fanswers\u002Facademic-writing\u002Fwrite-an-abstract","How do I write an abstract for a research paper?",{"path":159,"heading":160},"\u002Fanswers\u002Facademic-writing\u002Fwrite-consistently-during-a-phd","How do I write consistently during a PhD?",{"path":162,"heading":163},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fai-in-research\u002Fai-for-systematic-review-screening","Can I use AI for screening in a systematic review?",{"path":165,"heading":166},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fai-in-research\u002Fare-ai-detectors-reliable","Are AI detectors reliable?",{"path":168,"heading":169},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fai-in-research\u002Fcan-an-ai-be-an-author","Can an AI tool be listed as an author on a paper?",{"path":171,"heading":172},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fai-in-research\u002Fcan-i-use-ai-for-a-literature-review","Can I use AI for a literature review?",{"path":174,"heading":175},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fai-in-research\u002Fcan-you-trust-an-ai-summary","Can I trust AI summaries of research papers?",{"path":177,"heading":178},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fai-in-research\u002Fdisclose-ai-use-in-a-paper","Do I need to disclose AI use in a research paper?",{"path":180,"heading":181},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fai-in-research\u002Fhow-to-cite-chatgpt","How do I cite ChatGPT in APA 7?",{"path":183,"heading":184},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fai-in-research\u002Fis-using-chatgpt-plagiarism","Is using ChatGPT for academic writing plagiarism?",{"path":186,"heading":187},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fai-in-research\u002Fusing-ai-in-a-phd-thesis","Can I use AI in a PhD thesis?",{"path":189,"heading":190},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fai-in-research\u002Fusing-ai-to-write-a-peer-review","Can I use AI to help write a peer review?",{"path":192,"heading":193},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fai-in-research\u002Fverify-ai-generated-citations","How do I check whether AI-generated citations are real?",{"path":195,"heading":196},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fai-in-research\u002Fwhy-ai-answers-better-on-your-own-pdfs","Why does an AI answer better when it reads my own PDFs?",{"path":198,"heading":199},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fai-in-research\u002Fwhy-chatgpt-invents-references","Why does ChatGPT make up references?",{"path":201,"heading":202},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fcitations\u002Fcheck-every-claim-against-its-citation","How do I check that every claim in my thesis is supported by its citation?",{"path":204,"heading":205},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fcitations\u002Fcite-the-paper-you-read-or-the-original","Should I cite the paper I read or the original study it references?",{"path":207,"heading":208},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fcitations\u002Fcited-source-does-not-say-that","What do I do when a paper's cited source does not support its claim?",{"path":210,"heading":211},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fcitations\u002Fciting-a-paper-you-cannot-access","Can I cite a paper I cannot get hold of?",{"path":213,"heading":214},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fcitations\u002Fciting-a-review-instead-of-the-original","Is citing a review instead of the original research bad practice?",{"path":216,"heading":217},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fcitations\u002Fdo-i-need-to-cite-everything","Do I need to cite absolutely everything in a thesis?",{"path":219,"heading":220},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fcitations\u002Fhow-much-self-citation","How much self-citation is acceptable?",{"path":222,"heading":223},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fcitations\u002Fjournal-page-number-or-pdf-page-number","Do I use the journal page number or the PDF page number in a citation?",{"path":225,"heading":226},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fcitations\u002Fquoting-a-source-in-another-language","How do I quote a source in another language in an English thesis?",{"path":228,"heading":229},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fcitations\u002Fwhere-does-the-citation-go","Where should a citation go when only one clause in a sentence needs support?",{"path":231,"heading":232},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fcitations\u002Fyou-described-a-result-too-broadly","How do I fix a sentence that describes a study's result too broadly?",{"path":234,"heading":235},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fcitations\u002Fzotero-or-mendeley","Should I use Zotero or Mendeley for a PhD?",{"path":237,"heading":238},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fliterature-review\u002Fbuild-a-synthesis-matrix","How do I build a synthesis matrix when my themes keep changing as I read?",{"path":240,"heading":241},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fliterature-review\u002Fkeep-a-literature-review-current","How do I keep a literature review current over a multi-year PhD?",{"path":243,"heading":244},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fliterature-review\u002Fliterature-review-synthesis-or-summary","How do I know if my literature review is synthesis or just a summary?",{"path":246,"heading":247},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fliterature-review\u002Fliterature-review-too-descriptive","What does it mean when a supervisor says a literature review is too descriptive?",{"path":249,"heading":250},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fliterature-review\u002Fnarrative-scoping-or-systematic-review","What is the difference between a narrative literature review and a systematic review?",{"path":252,"heading":253},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fliterature-review\u002Forganize-literature-review-by-argument","How do I organize a literature review by argument instead of by paper?",{"path":255,"heading":256},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fliterature-review\u002Freview-that-leads-to-your-question","How do I write a literature review that leads logically to my research question?",{"path":258,"heading":259},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fliterature-review\u002Fscreening-abstracts-for-a-review","How do I screen hundreds of abstracts for a systematic review?",{"path":261,"heading":262},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fliterature-review\u002Fstudies-with-opposite-conclusions","What do I write when two studies on the same question reach opposite conclusions?",{"path":264,"heading":265},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fliterature-review\u002Fsynthesis-matrix-into-paragraphs","How do I turn a synthesis matrix into literature review paragraphs?",{"path":267,"heading":268},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fliterature-review\u002Fsystematic-review-search-strategy","How do I build a search strategy for a systematic review?",{"path":270,"heading":271},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fliterature-review\u002Fwhen-to-stop-searching-for-papers","How do I know when to stop searching for papers for a literature review?",{"path":273,"heading":274},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fphd-life\u002Fdefend-your-methodology-in-a-viva","How do I defend my methodology in a viva?",{"path":276,"heading":277},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fphd-life\u002Fimposter-syndrome-in-a-phd","How do I deal with imposter syndrome during a PhD?",{"path":279,"heading":280},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fphd-life\u002Fplan-a-realistic-phd-timeline","How do I plan a realistic PhD timeline?",{"path":282,"heading":283},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fphd-life\u002Fpostdoc-or-industry","Should I do a postdoc or go to industry after my PhD?",{"path":285,"heading":286},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fphd-life\u002Fprepare-for-a-phd-viva","How do I prepare for a PhD viva?",{"path":288,"heading":289},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fphd-life\u002Fstop-procrastinating-on-your-phd","How do I stop procrastinating on my PhD?",{"path":291,"heading":292},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fphd-life\u002Fwhat-happens-if-a-viva-goes-badly","What happens if you fail a PhD viva?",{"path":294,"heading":295},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fphd-life\u002Fwhen-your-supervisor-is-not-supportive","What do I do when my PhD supervisor is not supportive?",{"path":297,"heading":298},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fphd-life\u002Fwrite-an-academic-cv","How do I write an academic CV for a postdoc application?",{"path":300,"heading":301},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fpublishing\u002Fchoose-a-journal","How do I choose a journal for my paper?",{"path":303,"heading":304},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fpublishing\u002Fdo-you-pay-to-publish-open-access","Do I have to pay to publish open access?",{"path":306,"heading":307},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fpublishing\u002Fhow-author-order-is-decided","How is author order decided on a paper?",{"path":309,"heading":310},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fpublishing\u002Fhow-peer-review-works","How does journal peer review actually work?",{"path":312,"heading":313},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fpublishing\u002Fhow-to-cite-a-preprint","How do I cite a preprint?",{"path":315,"heading":316},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fpublishing\u002Fjournal-submission-cover-letter","How do I write a cover letter for a journal submission?",{"path":318,"heading":319},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fpublishing\u002Frespond-to-reviewer-comments","How do I respond to peer reviewer comments?",{"path":321,"heading":322},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fpublishing\u002Fshould-you-post-a-preprint","Should I post my paper as a preprint?",{"path":324,"heading":325},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fpublishing\u002Fspot-a-predatory-journal","How do I tell if a journal is predatory?",{"path":327,"heading":328},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fpublishing\u002Fwhy-papers-get-desk-rejected","Why was my paper desk rejected?",{"path":330,"heading":331},"\u002Fanswers\u002Freading-and-notes\u002Ffind-the-paper-you-half-remember","How do I find a paper when I only remember the argument it made?",{"path":333,"heading":334},"\u002Fanswers\u002Freading-and-notes\u002Fhighlighting-pdfs-stops-working","Why can I never find my PDF highlights again?",{"path":336,"heading":337},"\u002Fanswers\u002Freading-and-notes\u002Fhow-many-papers-can-you-read-a-day","How many papers can a PhD student realistically read in a day?",{"path":339,"heading":340},"\u002Fanswers\u002Freading-and-notes\u002Fkeep-up-with-new-papers","How do I keep up with new papers without reading everything?",{"path":342,"heading":343},"\u002Fanswers\u002Freading-and-notes\u002Fnon-english-studies-in-a-review","How do I include non-English studies in a literature review?",{"path":345,"heading":346},"\u002Fanswers\u002Freading-and-notes\u002Fnote-system-takes-too-long","What do I do when my note-taking system takes longer than reading the papers?",{"path":348,"heading":349},"\u002Fanswers\u002Freading-and-notes\u002Forganize-100-papers","How do I organize and extract information from more than 100 papers?",{"path":351,"heading":352},"\u002Fanswers\u002Freading-and-notes\u002Freading-papers-in-a-second-language","How do I read research papers efficiently when English is my second language?",{"path":354,"heading":355},"\u002Fanswers\u002Freading-and-notes\u002Fremember-what-a-paper-said","How do I remember what was in papers I read months ago?",{"path":357,"heading":358},"\u002Fanswers\u002Freading-and-notes\u002Frestart-a-project-after-months-away","How do I get back into a research project after months away?",{"path":360,"heading":361},"\u002Fanswers\u002Freading-and-notes\u002Ftrack-connections-between-papers","How do I keep track of connections between papers?",{"path":363,"heading":364},"\u002Fanswers\u002Freading-and-notes\u002Ftriage-pdfs-before-reading","How do I triage 200 PDFs before deciding which ones to read in full?",{"path":126,"heading":127},{"path":113,"heading":114},{"path":117,"heading":118},{"path":122,"heading":123},{"path":90,"heading":78},{"path":371,"heading":372},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-gaps\u002Fchoose-a-theoretical-framework","How do I choose a theoretical framework for my thesis?",{"path":374,"heading":375},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-gaps\u002Ffind-a-research-gap","How do I identify a research gap in the literature?",{"path":377,"heading":378},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-gaps\u002Fis-my-research-gap-original","How do I know if my research gap is original?",{"path":380,"heading":381},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-gaps\u002Fnarrow-a-broad-research-question","How do I narrow down a research question that is too broad?",{"path":383,"heading":384},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-gaps\u002Fresearch-question-changed-mid-phd","Can a research question change during a PhD?",{"path":386,"heading":387},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-gaps\u002Fresearch-question-or-hypothesis","What is the difference between a research question and a hypothesis?",{"path":389,"heading":390},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-gaps\u002Fturn-a-topic-into-a-research-question","How do I turn a research topic into a research question?",{"path":392,"heading":393},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-gaps\u002Fwhat-makes-a-good-research-question","What makes a good research question in a PhD thesis?",{"path":395,"heading":396},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-gaps\u002Fwrite-a-research-gap-statement","How do I write a research gap statement?",{"path":398,"heading":399},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-methods\u002Fchoose-a-statistical-test","How do I choose which statistical test to use?",{"path":95,"heading":401},"How many interviews are enough for a qualitative study?",{"path":403,"heading":404},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-methods\u002Fhow-to-do-thematic-analysis","How do I do thematic analysis step by step?",{"path":406,"heading":407},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-methods\u002Finductive-or-deductive-coding","What is the difference between inductive and deductive thematic analysis?",{"path":409,"heading":410},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-methods\u002Fintegrate-mixed-methods-data","How do I integrate qualitative and quantitative data in a mixed methods study?",{"path":412,"heading":413},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-methods\u002Frigour-in-qualitative-research","How do I show rigour in qualitative research?",{"path":415,"heading":416},"\u002Fanswers\u002Fresearch-methods\u002Fwhat-a-p-value-means","What does a p value actually mean?",{"path":94,"heading":418},"How do I calculate the sample size for a study?",1786014769504]