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NHGRI Guidance on Writing a Resource Sharing Plan

This page provides an overview of Resource Sharing Plans, a required document in most NIH funding applications. 

Most applicants for NIH funding must provide a Resource Sharing Plan (RSP) documenting plans for sharing resources that result from their federally funded work. NIH Policies that govern the sharing of resources include the NIH Model Organism Sharing Policy and the NIH Research Tools Policy.

What types of resources should be addressed in a Resource Sharing Plan?

 

Please review the NIH webpage on the Research Tools Policy for the NIH definition of “research tools,” principles of disseminating research tools, dissemination expectations, and more.

 

Almost all NHGRI-supported research, spanning the various research areas (e.g., genomic science, genomic medicine, ELSI research), produces research tools that need to be addressed in the Resource Sharing Plan. Resources that should be addressed in NHGRI Resource Sharing Plans include (but are not limited to):

 

  • Educational materials (e.g., curriculum content)

     
  • Methods (e.g., analytical methods)

     
  • Models (e.g., AI/ML models, PRS models, including parameter specifications and training protocols)

     
  • Physical products, materials, and reagents (e.g., animal models, antibodies, cell lines, clones and cloning tools, combinatorial chemistry and DNA libraries, growth factors, laboratory equipment and machines)

     
  • Protocols (e.g.,data collection instruments, consent materials, laboratory protocols, new formats/standards, SOP manuals)

     
  • Research findings and products (e.g., best practices, frameworks, reports)

     
  • Software (e.g., algorithms, APIs, applications, code)

 

Please note that resources do not include data and there is a separate set of NIH policies regarding the sharing of scientific data. As of January 25, 2023, plans for sharing scientific data and genomic data are to be documented via a Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Plan. Read more about the NIH and NHGRI data sharing policies and expectations. If you have questions about the distinction between scientific data and resources, consult the relevant NHGRI Program Director.

NHGRI guidelines for conscientious sharing of resources

 

NHGRI encourages researchers to consider addressing: (1) format of the resources they intend to share; (2) structures and facilities for long-term maintenance of the resources to be developed; and (3) whether there should be opportunities for community input and feedback (e.g., feature requests, problem reports, etc.) in their Resource Sharing Plan.

 

Applicants should consider whether the research tool contains or may be used to obtain personally identifiable information and should factor the consideration of privacy in the development of their Resource Sharing Plan. 

 

Software

  • Applicants sharing software are encouraged to consider the NIH Best Practices for Sharing Research Software and FAIR Principles for Research Software (FAIR4RS), and to use software licenses that allow for unrestricted redistribution and modification of the software.
     
  • Source code should be freely available to biomedical researchers and educators in the non-profit sector, such as institutions of education, research institutions, and government laboratories. The terms of software availability should permit the commercialization of enhanced or customized versions of the software, or incorporation of the software or pieces of it into other software packages. 

  • NHGRI encourages making software citable with persistent identifiers such as a DOI or a citation.cff. 
     
  • To preserve utility to the community, the software should be transferable such that another individual or team can continue development in the event that the original investigators are unwilling or unable to do so. 
     
  • Software should promote reproducibility and use of automated pipelines where possible. 

  • Applicants should take responsibility for creating the original and subsequent “official” versions of a piece of software.

Where to share resources

 

NHGRI encourages investigators to disseminate model organisms and research tools via a stable, public repository instead of or in addition to a lab website. Researchers are also encouraged to consider the benefit to the communities involved in and/or affected by the research when deciding how and where to disseminate resources.

 

While NHGRI does not promote the use of particular repositories for this purpose, the following list is provided to assist researchers:

 

  • Cell lines, iPSCs, plasmids
    • ATCC
    • Corriell
       
  • ELSI research findings and products
    • The Center for ELSI Resources and Analysis
       
  • Models
    • Hugging Face
       
  • Preprints, Publications
    • ArXiv
    • BioRxiv
    • Figshare
    • MedRxiv
    • Peer reviewed journals
    • PubMed Central (Note: See the Public Access Policy regarding the NIH requirement to submit final, peer-reviewed publications in PubMed Central)
       
  • Protocols
    • Include in parent publication
    • Protocols and methods journals
    • Protocols.io
    • Web platforms for video and text protocols, some peer-reviewed
       
  • Software, code
    • Bitbucket
    • Deployment repositories:
      • Bioconductor
      • Conda
      • CRAN
      • Dockstore
      • PyPi
    • Figshare
    • Github
    • GitLab
    • Open Science Framework
    • Software Heritage(for long-term archiving)
    • Synapse Docker Registry
    • Zenodo

Timeline for sharing resources

Resources should be shared by the end of the award period.

Inventions and patents

NHGRI encourages researchers to work with their institutions and technology transfer staff well in advance of anticipated publication or resource release, to start evaluating any potential inventions for patent protection and ensure resources can be made accessible by the end of the award period.

Last updated: October 23, 2024