In a research project, having clear file names, file formats, and a well-structured folder hierarchy contributes to a good overview, which in turn saves time.
File format
We recommend using open and/or archival-worthy file formats. This ensures that data can be accessed and used in the future. Data stored in a proprietary format may prevent you and others from accessing the data later on.
File names
File names should be short and descriptive, with general information appearing first. Consider what you might search for to find a file. Files are sorted numerically or alphabetically within a folder, so use the date at the beginning if this is relevant.
- Use underscores (_) or hyphens (-) to separate words, never spaces.
- Avoid special characters like ?, ?, ?, #, %, &, “ and similar.
Examples of what might be sensible to include in a file name are:
- Date and time that are relevant to the file's content (written backwards as YYYYMMDD)
- Name of the project or experiment
- Brief information about the file's content
- Name or initials of the researcher
- Unique identifier such as the experiment number or a series
- Finally, include the version number of the file
- Write numbers with a consistent number of digits, like 01 or 001
Good file names contain a lot of information. It can be useful to write down what the date is for, which project the acronym belongs to, which researcher is behind various initials, and so on in a README file.
Folder structure
Recommendations for a good folder structure:
- Plan a structure that can be scaled as needed.
- Create good, descriptive folder names.
- Use subfolders rather than large general folders.
- Let the folder structure follow the workflow of the project.
- Keep active and completed parts of a project separate.
CodeRefinery has examples of how a folder structure should be set up.