= Checklist for Authors of Science Articles in Solar Physics = == Goals : == * Ensure that research is reproducible. * Track information that might affect your analysis * Make it easier for others to retrieve the data that you used (to reviewing or expand your work) * Allow data archives & software authors to find who's using their work, so they can get continued funding. * Allow archives to determine when re-calibration may affect published literature. == Background: == * [http://wiki.esipfed.org/index.php/Interagency_Data_Stewardship/2009AGUTownHall AGU Town Hall on Data Citation] * [http://ipydis.org/data/citations.html "How to Cite a Data Set" from IPY] * [http://sdac.virtualsolar.org/catalogs/catalog_checklist.txt "Catalog Checklist" (for people publishing catalogs)] == Policy : == * Data used in articles should be made publicly available by the time of publication. * If the data is not already available from an archive, it should be included as a supplement to the article. * Observations should be sufficiently described to allow reviewers or other scientists to easily verify the article's claims. ----- == Information to Keep Track of == === When downloading data, keep track of: === * What data did I collect to analyze? * If you collected the data yourself: * When and where did you collect it? * What are the observing characteristics of the instrument(s) used? * Were there any anomalies when observing that might affect the data? * If using existing data: * What archive did I get it from? * Did I use the archive's interface, or use other software like VSO, HELIO, helioviewer, etc? * Was there a specific query that I ran to select the data? * If so, did I use all of the search results, or did I filter it in some way? * If not, what was the selection criteria? * Or, what was the list of files / URLs ? * Note : the above items are saved in the VSO Shopping Cart, so make a note of the 'Cart ID' if you used it) * When did I download the data? === When analyzing data, keep track of: === * What data did I analyze? * Did I exclude any data, and if so, why? (eg, only used AEC or non AEC images) * Did I use full images, or cutouts (aka. active region patches) ? * What processing did I apply before I did my analysis? * What software did I use for processing & analysis? ----- == The Checklist == * Have I described the data that was used in this research? * Including data which yielded a null result? * In terms of the instrument / observatory / observatory group used? * And the specific dataset that was used? (eg, used the PI provided Level 2 data vs. the L0 data that you processed yourself) Note : working on [http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10194 recommendations for data providers to provide consistent names or identifiers to each dataset]. * In terms of day/time being analyzed? * In terms of location being analyzed (if not 'full disk') * In terms of any subsetting done of the data? * If using a lower cadence than the original data: * What cadence was used ('1 per minute' vs. '1 per day') * How the cadence aligned (eg, '1 per day, first image after midnight UT' vs. '1 per day, closest to local solar noon') * If using only a specific observing mode or filter: * 'total brightness' vs. 'polarized brightness' for instruments such as SECCHI/COR2 * Specific wavelengths from SOHO/EIT, STEREO/SECCHI/EUVI, SDO/AIA, etc. * AEC vs. non AEC for SDO/AIA. * If using cutouts from the original data * eg, "200 arcsec patch centered on AR10943" vs. "200 arcsec wide by 400 arcsec high centered on ... " * ... "centered on 400 xSun,-600 ySun" vs "centered on 45W60N" * If using reduced resolution images * The size of the resulting images, and how it was reduced. * '1024x1024 images, 4x4 binned' vs. '2048x2048 images, sampled using the lower left pixel' * In terms of where I obtained it from (from which archive, at what time) * Specified which specific version of the data you used, if the archive provides more than one. * eg, 'daily movies' vs. 'level 0 FITS files' vs. 'level 1 JPEGs' * Have I described any additional processing that I did to the data for analysis? * Flat fielding, point spread removed, etc. * Have I acknowledged software and tools used ... * to find & obtain data (HEK, VSO, HELIO, !AstroGrid, Solar Monitor, etc.) * to visualize data (Helioviewer, JHelioviewer, !SolarWeather Browser, etc.) * to process the data (SolarSoft, PDL, !SunPy, IRAF, etc.) * If there were models or catalogs used: * Have I provided a reference to the article in which they were introduced? * If discussing specific events: * Have I given the time and coordinate of the event(s)? * Have I provided an [http://solarnews.nso.edu/2009/20090801.html#section1 identifier for the event(s)]? * Is the data available for others to review? * Is the data available from an archive online, or have I included it for submission as a suplement to the article? * If I have significantly processed the data, have I included my processed data for submission as a suplement to the article or to an appropriate archive for distribution?