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Background and Motivation

NASA's Earth Science Division (ESD) has a long-standing commitment to the full and open sharing of all data with research and applications communities, private industry, academia, and the general public, as defined in the ESD Data and Information Guidance. The principles of this policy are consistent with NASA’s Scientific Information Policy for the Science Mission Directorate (SPD-41a), which established more specific data management responsibilities for SMD-funded researchers, repositories, and missions.

NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) has released guidance for its research community (SMD Open-Source Science Guidance) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the Scientific Information Policy to provide guidelines, best practices, and examples of open-source science to support the SMD scientific community in implementing the requirements of SPD-41a and achieving the broader goal of moving science towards openness.

This page builds upon the SMD Open-Source Science Guidance and provides additional guidance for ESD-funded researchers on how to implement the data management requirements in SPD-41a. The recommendations provided here reflect general best practices and resources for the ESD research community and should be considered alongside any additional guidance provided by specific programs or funding solicitations. This guidance will be updated over time to best support the needs of the community, including feedback obtained during A Year of Open Science.

This page does not establish policy requirements related to SMD-funded activities. While the guidance described here is compliant with SPD-41a and the ESD Data and Information Policy, it may not be comprehensive or complete, and there may be other ways in which to comply with existing or future agreements or requirements not described here.

Research Data in Scope of SPD-41a

Data are defined as scientific or technically relevant information that can be stored digitally and accessed electronically. This includes any scientifically useful data associated with an award. In particular, the information needed to validate the scientific conclusions of peer-reviewed publications must be shared at the time of publication. This does not include laboratory notebooks, preliminary analyses, intermediate data products, drafts of scientific papers, plans for future research, peer review reports, communications with colleagues, or physical objects such as laboratory specimens.

Data subject to specific laws, regulations, or policies (e.g., Export Administration Regulations [EAR] or International Traffic in Arms Regulations [ITAR]) that would prevent the release of this information are exempt from requirements for making data publicly available. Section II-C of SPD-41a lists additional laws, regulations, and policies that generate exceptions to data sharing requirements.

Open Science and Data Management Plans

SPD-41a requires that all SMD-funded scientific activities that are expected to produce scientific data shall include an open science and data management plan (OSDMP) describing the management, preservation, and release of data to facilitate implementation of relevant scientific information policies.

The scope of an OSDMP differs among research proposers, data producers, and NASA Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs). Guidance is provided below for each audience.

OSDMP for Proposals to Earth Science Programs

Starting with ROSES-2023, the proposal DMP will be one component of the broader OSDMP that describes how additional categories of scientific information (e.g., software and publications) will be managed and shared openly. Please follow any directions on preparing an OSDMP that are included in a specific funding solicitation. For general information on the preparation of an OSDMP, see the Open Science and Data Management Plan section of the SMD Open-Source Science Guidance and the associated Earth Science-specific OSDMP template (DOC). See How to Create and Maintain an Open Science and Data Management Plan for Earth Science Research Proposals.

OSDMP for ESD-Funded Data Producers

Each organization funded by NASA to produce data is required to prepare an OSDMP. The OSDMP addresses the management of data from Earth science missions from the time of their data collection/observation to their entry into permanent archives. The OSDMP Template for Data Producers ensures that OSDMPs are in a consistent and useful format.

Open Science and Data Management Plan (OSDMP) Template for Data Producers

OSDMP for Data Repositories

Organizations funded by NASA to archive and/or distribute data are also required to prepare an Open Science and Data Management Plan (OSDMP) to describe their data operations. The purpose of the OSDMP Template for DAACs is to provide the DAACs with guidance on the contents of data management plans.

Open Science and Data Management Plan (OSDMP) Template for DAACs (DOC)

Timeline for Sharing Research Data

Data produced from the proposal shall be made publicly available, and the timeline for that process must be contained within the proposals’ OSDMP.

All scientifically useful data associated with an SMD research award shall be made publicly available by the end of the period of performance of the research award, whether or not the data would be needed to validate the scientific conclusions of a peer-reviewed publication. This includes data required to derive the findings communicated in figures, maps, and tables as well as scientifically useful data from models and simulations.

Scientifically useful data needed to validate the scientific conclusions of peer-reviewed manuscripts resulting from SMD-funded scientific activities, including data from models and simulations developed using SMD funding, shall become publicly available no later than the publication date of the corresponding peer-reviewed article.

There is no period of exclusive access. PIs may request a reasonable period for calibration and validation of data, but should discuss if this period will exceed 6 months and the timeframe of dependencies. Extended delays without reasonable justification will not be viewed favorably.

Where to Share Data

Data shall be published (i.e., shared and archived) in locations that ensure its accessibility and preservation. In general, ESD-funded researchers should follow the guidance for how to share data as described in their funding solicitation. For most mission-funded researchers, the designated repository will be an ESDIS data repository. However, ESDIS is not able to consider unsolicited data archival requests at this time.

Additional options to share NASA research data include:

  • In a non-SMD, federally supported data repository (e.g., data.nasa.gov); if using a different federally supported repository, this should be indicated in the data management plan
  • In public repositories already in use by the scientific community that have characteristics consistent with Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories for Federally Funded Research; further examples will be provided but see examples provided by the NIH and USGS
  • If appropriate for the field or journal, as machine-readable tables in the supplemental material of a peer-reviewed publication; this may be the best solution for small datasets or individual tables that accompany a peer-reviewed publication, but the use of a community-recognized repository is encouraged
  • NASA’s resource Where to Share Data provides additional guidance and a list of alternative repositories that meet SPD-41a requirements. 

The method for sharing the data must be described as part of the OSDMP. Especially for very large datasets that might not fit into existing guidance, the PI must describe in their OSDMP how they will share the data, what is appropriate to share, and include the costs for preparing data for archiving in their budget.