Data Management and Sharing Plans and OSF

Government and private funders increasingly expect thorough data management and sharing plans (DMSP) for all proposed research projects. OSF is a strong candidate for complying with many of these funder policies.

This page provides example language that you can include in your DMSP, using the NIH DMSP template as a reference.

Include OSF as your repository in funding proposals and budget requests

List Open Science Framework (OSF) in your proposal request
1. In Element 2, Related Tools, Software and/or Code, you can include a variation of the following:
  1. The dataset generated by this project uses the OSF found at https://osf.io, a free research collaboration and management platform that launched in 2012, and can be accessed via the OSF API found at https://api.osf.io/v2/. The OSF and OSF API are open-source software, licensed with Apache 2.0, and the source code and related libraries can be found on the COS Github page at https://github.com/CenterForOpenScience
2. In Element 3, Standards, you can include a variation of the following:
  1. The data generated by the project will be made available through the OSF JSON API, using the JSON API v1 specification (https://jsonapi.org/format/1.0/). OSF leverages key metadata that provide the most effective ways for you to describe your research. OSF utilizes a unique metadata model that facilitates FAIRness (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) as well as enabling connections across the research lifecycle. The OSF Metadata Profile describes the community vocabularies and persistent identifiers that the OSF uses, the relationships available between metadata fields, the metatags used to enable enhanced web discovery, and an overall map of the metadata implementation. The metadata for the OSF data uses many common metadata standards. , and the metadata profile for OSF data can be found at https://help.osf.io/article/573-osf-metadata-profile
3. In Element 4, Data Preservation, Access, and Associated Timelines, you can use variations of the following:
  1. Repository where scientific data and metadata will be archived: The project generated data and metadata will be archived in the OSF, an NIH-recommended generalist repository, member of the NIH Generalist Repository Ecosystem Initiative (GREI), which meets the NIH’s Desirable Characteristics for Data Repositories. See our self assessment here: https://www.cos.io/blog/how-osf-meets-desirable-characteristics-for-data-repositories
  2. How scientific data will be findable and identifiable: As a public dataset on OSF, the data will receive a persistent identifier through registration of a DOI with Datacite, and with rich metadata using the Datacite metadata schema. The metadata for the OSF data will follow the OSF metadata profile (provided in Element 3), which maps to the Datacite community-developed metadata schema, which includes title, description, authors, license, subject, language, resource type, publication date, modification date.
  3. When and how long the scientific data will be made available: Data [is already/will be] available publicly on OSF and through the OSF API. Data made public on OSF is supported by the COS preservation policy: COS established a $400,000 preservation fund for hosted data in the event that COS had to close. If activated, the preservation fund will preserve and maintain read access to hosted public data. This fund is sufficient for many years of read access hosting at present costs beyond the current COS hosting. COS will incorporate growth of the preservation fund as part of its funding model as data storage scales. Public link to the COS preservation policy: https://help.osf.io/article/546-getting-started-faq-s.
4. In Element 5: Access, Distribution, or Reuse Considerations, you can include a variation of the following:
  1. Factors affecting subsequent access, distribution, or reuse of scientific data: OSF data is generated by OSF users doing actions in their public projects, components, registrations, and preprints. All OSF users agree to the Terms of Use, https://github.com/CenterForOpenScience/cos.io/blob/master/TERMS_OF_USE.md and Privacy Policy, https://github.com/CenterForOpenScience/cos.io/blob/master/PRIVACY_POLICY.md
  2. Whether access to scientific data will be controlled: Access to the OSF public log data is made accessible through the OSF API which is licensed under Apache 2.0 and in the public domain for use.
  3. Protections for privacy, rights, and confidentiality of human research participants: The data generated by the project and available through the OSF API is licensed Apache 2.0 (https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html). The data is only from activity logs on public OSF nodes (projects, components, registrations, preprints). OSF data is generated by OSF users doing actions in their public projects, components, registrations, and preprints. All OSF users agree to the Terms of Use, https://github.com/CenterForOpenScience/cos.io/blob/master/TERMS_OF_USE and Privacy Policy, https://github.com/CenterForOpenScience/cos.io/blob/master/PRIVACY_POLICY.md. The OSF data used for research is not considered human subjects research since the data accessible is publicly available information with no log-in required and there will be no interactions with the person who posted the information. We will use best practices for observation and analysis of public online data.
5. For some additional help check out one of our own DMSPs, and this annotated DMSP from members of the scholarly communications community
Include the line item in your budget, "OSF repository cost"
1. You only need to purchase additional storage if your materials needs exceed the free storage allotment available on your OSF content (more info on OSF Storage can be found here). Refer to the OSF Usage Calculator if you need to purchase storage.
Include in the budget justification of your proposal “Costs associated with sharing and preserving research outputs, such as data, code, materials, papers, and preregistrations on OSF”.
1. If you are making extensive use of the OSF in your proposed project, we recommend including 10-15% of the funds to support the sustainability and growth of the platform. If you receive the award, these funds will ultimately be shared via a gift to the Center for Open Science (COS).

If you have questions regarding data availability or are seeking help to make your own data available on OSF, reach out to the OSF Support Team at support@osf.io.

For guidance on how to incorporate a data availability statement for your OSF data, visit the Data Availability Statement support page.