NIH Policies on Sharing of Model Organisms and Related Research Resources

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has long recognized that the sharing of research materials and data is critically important to the progress of biomedical research. Effective sharing of research resources benefits the public by facilitating and promoting discovery across the full spectrum of the research community. In this spirit, the NIH Model Organism Sharing Policy builds upon extant NIH sharing policies to allow the NIH to continue to support and promote broad and enabling research effectively and efficiently. This chapter provides guidance, sample plans, approaches, and other resources for investigators considering how best to share model organisms and related research resources with the research community.