Did you know that South Africa has a National Open Science Policy

South Africa now has a National Open Science Policy — and your Data Management Plan is key to navigating it?

In December 2025, the South African government approved a National Open Science Policy requiring that research outputs arising from public funding be made openly accessible. However, the policy is guided by the principle of “as open as possible, as closed as necessary” — recognising that sensitive, personal, or proprietary data may legitimately remain restricted. This means that openly sharing your data is encouraged where possible, but that participant consent, confidentiality obligations, and POPIA compliance always take precedence.

A well-structured Data Management Plan (DMP) is your roadmap for navigating this balance. It helps you think through how your data will be collected, stored, shared, and preserved from the outset of your project — documenting not only what can be shared openly, but also what must remain closed and why. SunDMP, SU’s online DMP tool (available at https://dmp.sun.ac.za/), guides you through this process step by step.

Contact Research Data Services in the Library for support.