Effective and successful research data management requires planning. A research data management plan records the formal plan for the storage, retention and disposal of, and access to, research data that are created or generated over the course of a research project.

There are a range of issues to consider when planning, including:

• the nature of the research data and the description of the file format(s) (e.g. will new data be generated or collected? Will some existing data be reused and/or transformed? Will the data be in proprietary/non-proprietary formats, converted to other formats and archived in shareable formats?). Whenever possible, open, shareable formats are preferred;
• the description and documentation of the data, in particular the metadata and persistent identifiers (PIDs) collected, the metadata/PIDs standard(s) and format(s) used and the tools and software (including versions) used to capture, read and use the data and the metadata/PIDs;
• the policies and procedures for the organisation, storage, archiving (including backups), deletion and accessibility of research data throughout and after the research project, including whether the data will be deposited to a public repository;
• the institutional, legal, regulatory, ethical, funding and contractual policies, arrangements and requirements applicable to the research data, including privacy, confidentiality and security issues;
• the roles and responsibilities for data management amongst the members of the research team, in particular in relation to data ownership, stewardship and/or custodianship and upon the departure of a team member from the research project or the institution.