Welcome to DMP Assistant.

DMP Assistant is a national, online, bilingual data management planning tool developed by the Digital Research Alliance of Canada (the Alliance) in collaboration with host institution University of Alberta to assist researchers in preparing data management plans (DMPs). This tool is freely available to all researchers, and develops a DMP through a series of key data management questions, supported by best-practice guidance and examples.

DMPs are one of the foundations of good research data management (RDM), an international best practice, and increasingly required by institutions and funders, including the Canadian Tri-Agencies as outlined in their Research Data Management Policy.

Getting started:

• Brief Guide – Data Management Plans
• Brief Guide – Create an Effective Data Management Plan
• Primer – Data Management Plan
• How to Manage Your Data
• Tutorial Videos:
  • Introduction to Data Management Plans (DMPs)
  • Introduction to DMP Assistant
  • Managing DMPs with DMP Assistant
• Webinars:
  • Supporting researchers in meeting DMP requirements - introducing a new DMP template!
  • Support Your Research with DMP Assistant 2.0
  • Support Your Research with Data Management Planning

For more resources and training materials spanning the entire research data life cycle, see the Alliance Training Resources.

DMP Assistant was adapted from the Digital Curation Centre (DCC)’s DMPonline tool, and uses the DMP Roadmap codebase developed by DCC and the University of California Curation Center (UC3).

DMP Assistant was originally developed for Canada by the Portage Network, then a part of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL). In 2021, Portage Network and its portfolio of platforms and services merged into the Digital Research Alliance of Canada. In 2023 and 2024, we have undertaken a rebrand of the platform, several templates and the organization previously called Portage have transitioned to Alliance branding.