Policy on data management and sharing

1. The mission of the Wellcome Trust is to foster and promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health. In order to further this mission, the Trust wishes to ensure that the outputs of the research it funds, including research data, are managed and used in ways that maximise public benefit. The Trust considers that the benefits gained from research data will be maximised when they are made widely available to the research community as soon as feasible, so that they can be verified, built upon and used to advance knowledge.

2. In support of this position the Trust expects the researchers that it funds to maximise the availability of research data with as few restrictions as possible. This is in line with the Trust's position on open and unrestricted access to published research and its Guidelines on Good Research Practice.

3. Therefore, the Trust regards it is good research practice for all researchers to consider at the research proposal stage how they will manage and share the data they will generate.

4. In specific cases where applications for Trust funding involve the creation or development of a resource for the research community as the primary goal, or involve the generation of a significant quantity of data that could potentially be shared for added benefit, the Trust will:

• require that the applicants provide a data management and sharing plan as part of their application; and
• review these data management and sharing plans, including any costs involved in delivering them, as an integral part of the funding decision.

5. In addition to the responsibilities of those generating data, the Trust believes that data sharing for the benefit of the research community as a whole will only proceed if those using the data also adopt good research practice. In recognition of the contribution of the researchers and teams generating data, the Trust expects all users of data to acknowledge the sources of their data and abide by the terms and conditions under which they accessed the original data.

6. In support of this policy, the Trust will continue to:

• take a lead in developing data management and sharing strategies for the major initiatives it supports
• work with others to ensure sustainable funding for key data resources for the research community
• contribute to policy discussions relevant to these issues.

7. The Trust will keep this policy under review. Further information is available in a Q&A document on the data management and sharing policy.

January 2007