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Best practices for it
It is a text document which provides a clear and concise description of all relevant details about data collection, processing, analysis, and naming convention.
It should be easy to write and easy to read in order to be understandable by yourself and others in the future.
- Creating a README file at the beginning of your research process, and updating it consistently throughout your research, will help you to compile a final README file when your data is ready for deposit.
- Write your README file as a plain text file and avoid proprietary formats whenever possible. However, PDF is acceptable when formatting is important.
- Follow the scientific conventions for your discipline.
- Store a README file with each distinct dataset that explains your file naming convention along with any abbreviations or codes you have used and any other necessary documentation.
- Locate the README file at the root of the project rather than in a sub-folder
- Use blank lines or dashes to separate the document into paragraphs, and use bullet points or ordered lists instead of long paragraphs
- Paragraphs order and title sections are not fixed, simply make it understandable