The AAMC Dec. 10 submitted comments to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in response to a request for information (RFI) on proposed provisions to serve as a foundation for a data management and sharing policy for NIH-funded research.
In its letter, the AAMC expressed support for efforts to increase sharing and reuse of scientific data generated through NIH-funded research and for the agency to develop a clear and consistent policy on data sharing. The letter also emphasized that:
- Any policy developed should reflect the recognition that the benefits and utility of data sharing vary significantly across datasets;
- The AAMC encourages the NIH to ensure that the new policy be evaluated regularly and be sufficiently flexible to keep pace with rapidly changing technologies;
- The AAMC supports a requirement to include a data sharing and management plan as a part of applications and proposals to the NIH, but this component should not be factored into the overall grant impact score; and
- The NIH must ensure that it is providing adequate training, education, and guidance, increasing available financial resources, and leading the development of tools and infrastructure in order to enable and facilitate implementation of a data sharing policy.
Feedback gathered from the RFI and other outreach efforts will help inform a draft NIH policy, which is expected to be released for an additional public comment period.