As you are writing your data management plan with an eye to data preservation, consider:

• What are your departmental, institutional, or programmatic policies on data retention? How will these influence your plan, and how will you adhere to these policies?
• How long will data be retained or preserved and why?
• What data are needed to validate your research? What data directly support publications based on the research? What data have the greatest potential for reuse? You may wish to archive only one part of your data depending on answers to these questions.
• What hardware, campus or commercial services will be used to assure data preservation? Which archive, repository, or database have you identified as the best place to deposit your data?
• What data preparation, description, or cleaning procedures will be necessary to prepare data for archiving and sharing (e.g. quality or consistency checks, de-identification, ensuring compliance with IRB requirements, obtaining consent from project members or other stakeholders)?
• What are the costs for any of these activities or services? These may be included in your proposal budget.

You may wish to place your data in a subject-specific repository, depending on your particular needs, preferences, and funder requirements. The following should assist you in finding the appropriate repository for your purposes.