There are many advantages of machine-actionable DMPs (maDMPs); see e.g. Miksa et al. (2018) [1]. However, there is one aspect of maDMPs that I’d like to hear your opinion on. In their guide on research data management (RDM), Corti et al. (2014:26) [2] say: “[A] data management plan should not be treated as a simple administrative task for which standardized text can be pasted from model templates, with little intention to implement the planned measures early on […].” One of the prerequisites for enabling maDMPs is “avoiding free text and providing structured information whenever possible” (Miksa et al. 2018:10) [1]. Therefore, by implementing maDMPs there might be a danger of making DMPs even more of a disengaging administrative burden for researchers. This was at least the feeling I was left with after selecting lots of predefined values in the easyDMP tool, which already has some of the characteristics of an maDMPs [3].
 
Any thoughts on this? What is the DMP Roadmap approach to this kind of questions?
 
Best,
Philipp
 
References:
[1] Miksa, Tomasz, Simms, Stephanie, Mietchen, Daniel, & Jones, Sarah. (2018). Ten simple rules for machine-actionable data management plans (preprint) (Version preprint). http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1172673
[2] Louise Corti, Veerle Van den Eynden, Libby Bishop and Matthew Woollard (2014): Managing and Sharing Research Data: a Guide to Good Practice. Los Angeles: Sage.
[3] https://easydmp.sigma2.no/