Effective April 27, 2026, the Data Management and Sharing Plan (DMSP) required to be submitted with all U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) proposals will change formats, from a PDF upload to a webform in Research.gov.
These changes reflect the supplemental policy notice NSF 26-202 published January 22, 2026. A Research.gov advisory was also posted on January 27, 2026, notifying the research community that the new form will be effective on this date.
- Effective April 27, 2026, the proposal's DMSP will be collected through a webform built directly into Research.gov.
- The webform will be generated based on the primary Directorate of the proposal​ selected at the time of proposal creation.
- The webform must be completed to submit a proposal unless a justification is provided.
- Documents uploaded before April 27, 2026, will be accessible on the Data Management and Sharing Plan page.
- However, once data is saved in the new form, the previously uploaded PDF will be overwritten.
- If your proposal is submitted on or before April 27, 2026, a proposal file update is not required.
- Additional information on each section of the webform is also available on Research.gov.
