NIH and NIDA Data Sharing Policies

NIH Policy

• Investigators submitting an NIH application seeking $500,000 or more in direct costs in any single year are expected to include a plan for data sharing or state why data sharing is not possible. General information about the NIH data sharing policy is available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing/
• An additional NIH data sharing policy specific to genome-wide association studies has been in effect since 2007 (see http://gwas.nih.gov/03policy2.html), and a related fact sheet with policy updates was released on August 28, 2008 (see http://gwas.nih.gov/pdf/Background%20on%20GWAS%20policy%20update.pdf (PDF, 37KB))
• The NIH Guide published a notice in 2009 about development of policy for advanced sequencing technologies, which remains pending (see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-HG-10-006.html)

NIDA Policy

• NIDA requires data for all NIDA-funded human genetics studies to be available for sharing, independent of direct costs, membership in the NIDA Genetics Consortium, or the type of genetics data generated, as outlined in Answers 9-13 of the FAQ at http://www.drugabuse.gov/researchers/research-resources/genetics-research-resources/frequently-asked-questions-about-nida-ge
• If a data sharing plan was not included in the application, a program official will request one prior to the notice of award

NIDA Harmonization for Human Studies

• NIDA has developed a series of core elements for assessing and harmonizing demographic information and substance use history for genetic studies. The core elements can be accessed here. NIDA strongly encourages all applicants to discuss how these core elements are addressed in their data sharing plan by either assessing them directly or indirectly by proxy measures