The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will require all existing awards and applications subject to the NIH DMS Policy to transition and align with the updated DMS Plan format. This requirement applies to all active awards that produce scientific data - even those that were submitted prior to the implementation of the 2023 Data Management and Sharing Policy.
To help Ohio State researchers navigate this process and learn more about how to maintain compliance, University Libraries will hold a webinar on Navigating the New 2026 NIH Data Management & Sharing (DMS) Plan Format on Sept. 9 at 3 p.m. Register today.
All NIH awards and applications subject to the DMS Policy must transition to the updated NIH DMS Plan format by FY 2027. NIH will no longer require prior approval to modify an approved DMS Plan. Instead, researchers must document changes in annual progress reporting.
- Researchers with active awards will need to submit a revised DMS Plan using the new format through their next Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) (or the next RPPR if the FY2026 report has already been submitted).
- Researchers with applications submitted before May 25, 2026 that have not yet been awarded must convert their DMS Plan to the new format during the Just-in-Time (JIT) process.
- Effective October 1, 2026, changes to an approved DMS Plan will be reported through the RPPR (Section C.5.c.) rather than through a separate prior approval request.