Managing Research Data for Public Access: Getting Started

This Resource Guide was prepared by CTC & Associates LLC for the Transportation Research and Connectivity pooled fund study, TPF-5(442), under the guidance of the following members of the study's technical advisory committee:

• Ned Parrish, Idaho Transportation Department
• Laura Wilt, Oregon DOT
• Michael Molina, Oklahoma Transportation Library (lead state technical contact)

This guide is a living document that is intended to be revised and updated to incorporate new resources. To suggest a resource for inclusion, please contact one of the committee members listed above.

Publication date: December 2021.

In 2013, a White House memorandum established new requirements for improving the public’s access to the results of federally funded research, including relevant research data. The 2015 U.S. DOT Public Access Plan laid out a strategy focused on publications, data and projects, including the requirement that all U.S. DOT-funded projects follow a data management plan and submit their research data to a publicly accessible repository.

► Learn more: 

• Public Access Plan FAQs, National Transportation Library, March 2021.
  • Info for Researchers > How to Comply
  • Creating Data Management Plans (DMPs)
  • Training Resources
• TRB Webinars: USDOT Public Access Plan: Overview and Data Management Primer, Transportation Research Board, 2016.
  A series of short webinars on data management and U.S. DOT requirements.

These resources provide an introduction to the principles of open data and data management.

Data Best Practices and Case Studies, resource guide, Stanford University Libraries, last updated November 2021.

Create Metadata for Your Research Project, resource guide, Stanford University Libraries, last updated November 2021.

Data Management Workshop, presentation, California Digital Library, UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies, September 2018. 

Workshop topics include the U.S. DOT Public Access Plan and its requirements, guidance for writing a data management plan, best practices in managing data, and archiving and publishing data.

Data Management Plan (DMP) Template for Iowa DOT Research Projects, Iowa DOT, May 2016.

► Related Resources: 

• Sample data management plan, Iowa DOT.
• Guidance on Data Management Plan (DMP) Requirements for Federally Funded Research Projects, Version 2, Iowa DOT, May 2016.
• Data Management Plan (DMP) Guide: Iowa DOT DMPs, Iowa State University, last updated November 2021.

The Transportation Research and Connectivity pooled fund study, TPF-5(442), is a consortium of state departments of transportation (DOTs) and other partners that supports the coordinated development of transportation libraries as well as research organizations without dedicated libraries. Study focus areas include communication and networking, digitization, research report accessibility, and developing online resource guides and a toolkit for non-librarians.

How to Share Publications and Datasets Under the USDOT Public Data Access Plan, presentation, National Transportation Library, February 2018.

Data Management Checklist, Part 5, Section 3 of TRB Webinar series "U.S. DOT Public Access Plan and Data Management Primer," 2016.