Open Data and the 2023 NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy

As the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world, the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) new Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Policy is a large step toward shifting the culture of medical research toward a broader sharing of scientific data. Librarians in the health sciences support researchers by assisting with data management plans, research dissemination, abiding by publisher/grant requirements on data sharing, and suggesting recommended repositories for data preservation. This article will serve as a primer on open data, data sharing, the NIH's DMS Policy and its implications, and how librarians can support researchers in this landscape.