GEO Data Management and Sharing Plan Guidance

The U.S. National Science Foundation requires a Data Management and Sharing Plan (DMSP) that details how an NSF-funded project will manage, disseminate and share research results.

Beyond the data management and sharing plan guidelines outlined in the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG), the NSF Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) may have additional instruction for its divisions and offices. Some funding opportunities in GEO and across the agency may also have unique requirements that will be outlined in those opportunity announcements.

Although DMSPs will have unique aspects across research communities, each DMSP should be appropriate for the data being generated and reflect the best practices and standards in the proposed area of research.

The four Earth Sciences programs require that all data and sample metadata underlying peer-reviewed scholarly publications resulting from program support must be made publicly accessible at or before the time of publication and no later than two years after completion of data collection or generation via appropriate long-lived FAIR-aligned repositories. 

For reference, the EAR Data Management and Sharing Plan Guidance page includes guidance and resources published in July 2023, as well as archived guidance from 2018 and 2017.