Frequently asked questions
Something not working? See Troubleshooting.
General
What is the difference between a Plan and an Asset?
A Plan is the Output Management Plan itself (a DMP, an SMP, and so on), with its title, contacts, funders, and access rights. An Asset is an entry in the plan about one research output, such as a dataset or a piece of software; a plan can hold many. See Plans and Assets.
What is the difference between a Blueprint and an Asset Template?
A Blueprint defines the structure of a plan: its sections, plan-level fields, and the asset templates each section offers. An Asset Template defines the questions of an asset. See Blueprints and Asset Templates.
Can I use OpenCDMP without an external repository (Zenodo, Dataverse, etc.)?
Yes. You can create, edit, download, and evaluate plans without publishing them. Publishing to a repository is needed only to get a DOI.
Can I have multiple versions of a plan?
Yes. Once a plan is finalized, Start new version on the plan overview creates a copy that you can change. Earlier versions are reached from the Version dropdown, where you can also compare two versions. See Versions.
Plans and assets
Why can't I edit a finalized plan or asset?
Finalized plans and assets are locked. Move them back to a draft status, if the workflow allows it, or start a new version of the plan. Ask your administrator if neither is offered. See Plan workflow.
How do I invite collaborators to my plan?
Open the Collaborators panel from the plan overview or the plan editor, click Share, pick an existing collaborator or enter an email address, choose a role, and click Send invite. Only plan owners can invite, and only before the plan is finalized. See Work together.
How do I add a value that is not in the reference list?
Click Insert it manually under the field's search bar, enter the Name and any details, and click Add. See Add a reference manually.
What file formats are supported for download and import?
Plans download as PDF, Word, RDA JSON, RAiD JSON, or XML, and import from XML, RDA JSON, or RAiD JSON. The formats offered depend on the file transformer services your installation runs; XML is always available. See Which format? and Import a plan.
Can I import an existing DMP from another tool?
Yes, if the tool exports RDA maDMP JSON. During the import, you choose a blueprint and map each entry of the file to an asset template and section. See Import a plan.
Deposit and DOI
What is a DOI and how do I get one?
A DOI is a permanent, citable identifier. You get one by publishing a finalized plan to a repository such as Zenodo with Publish; it then appears on the plan overview. Publishing is not the same as making a plan public: see Public plan and Publish. See Publish a plan.
Do I need to log in to Zenodo (or another repository) to deposit?
Only when you publish under your own repository account. Under Publish as, the organisation's account needs no login; your own account uses the credentials saved in your profile, typed in the dialog, or, for Zenodo, a sign-in pop-up. Your organisation decides which of the two you may use.
Publishing failed. What now?
The dialog says why, and nothing was published. See Publishing fails and no DOI is returned.
Evaluation
Which evaluator should I use?
| Goal | Evaluator |
|---|---|
| Check compliance with the RDA maDMP JSON schema | Evaluator RDA maDMP |
| Assess alignment with open science and the OSTrails framework | Evaluator OSTrails |
| Check the published records of the plan's assets against the FAIR principles | Evaluator OpenAIRE FAIR |
Your installation may offer others. See Evaluate a plan or asset.
The OpenAIRE FAIR evaluator reports assets as "Not evaluated". Why?
The evaluator assesses the published record behind each asset's persistent identifier, typically a DOI. An asset without one has nothing to assess. Publish the output, record its identifier in the asset, and evaluate again. See Evaluator OpenAIRE FAIR.
Configuration (administrators)
What are semantics and do I need to configure them?
Semantics are tags on blueprint and template questions that say what each question means. Download formats, repositories, prefilling sources, and evaluators use them to find the right answers. Assign them when you use any of these. See Semantics.
What is the difference between a plan status and the internal status?
A status is a state that you name, such as "Under Review". What it counts as (draft, finalised, or a step in between) decides whether the plan can still be edited, published, or versioned. See What a status counts as.
Why do users not see a blueprint, template, or status?
Usually because it is not finalized, belongs to another organisation, or the workflow does not lead to it. See Troubleshooting for administrators.
How can I see how a question was answered across all plans in my organisation?
Use Research Insights in the Analytics group of the admin menu. It counts the answers to a question across the organisation, with breakdowns and a CSV export. See Research Insights.
Can OpenCDMP notify an external system when a plan changes?
Yes, with webhooks: signed HTTP POST requests sent when, for example, a plan is finalized or published. A system administrator must enable them for the installation. See Webhooks.
Can I move an organisation's content to another installation or copy it to another organisation?
Yes. A system administrator exports, imports, copies, or purges an organisation's content on the Data Transfer page (Installation > Data Transfer). See Data Transfer.
Can I create a custom evaluator, file transformer, or deposit service?
Yes. Each plugin is a separate Spring Boot service built on the OpenCDMP base packages. Once deployed, a system administrator registers it for the installation, or an organisation administrator connects it with Add plugin under Settings > Plugins. See Plugins.