ARCHON Open Science Award

Archon invites students to submit their research for consideration for the Archon Open Science Award. The aim of this award is to recognise efforts to make archaeological research FAIR: findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. Eligible projects will have produced Open Data and/or Open Methods, and are accompanied by an Open Access research paper.

Open Access implies that the reviewed research paper is available via DOI at a reputable open access repository or journal. Reputable repositories include: SocArxiv, bioRxiv, Zenodo, Figshare, HAL, university library repositories, etc. Unacceptable services include academia.edu, researchgate.net, github.com, personal web pages and others that do not provide DOIs. Note that many traditional journals allow you to post open access pre-prints in parallel to publication of the article behind a paywall (check here: https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/).

For Open Data, the research data should not only be made available via DOI at a reputable repository, but also use non-proprietary formats and include metadata and a readme file to enable reuse by others. By ‘data’ we mean the computer files (e.g., containing text, raw structured data, images, etc.) that were analyzed or otherwise used to create some or all of the figures, tables, and quantitative results that appear in a report or publication. Reputable data repositories include those listed here: https://www.nature.com/sdata/policies/repositories and similar institutional and governmental repositories that provide DOIs.

For Open Methods, the methods used to generate the quantitative results should similarly be made available via DOI at a reputable repository, but also include step-by-step instructions of how the data were manipulated and analysed to obtain the quantitative results presented in the report or publication. This can take the form of code files of an Open Source programming language such as R or Python that enable another researcher to reproduce the published analysis, or instructions for execution of the analysis in an Open Source software package, such as QGIS. A useful list of Open Source software is found here: open-archaeo.info/.

Submissions should be accompanied by a motivational letter of 500 words maximum, detailing how the data and/or methods meet the FAIR criteria, and include DOIs to the open materials. We recognise that data sharing is not always possible, for reasons beyond the researcher’s control. Similarly we recognise that in team-authored papers, Open Access is not always an option. In those cases, you should detail the limitations to Open Access and its reasons.

Submissions will be ranked by an expert panel. Submissions are due on 22 December 2023 and the panel’s decision will be announced on the ARCHON Day in October. The award consists of a 250 euro subsidy to cover costs related to academic research (conferences, membership fees, publication costs etc.), and a certificate.

Here are the award criteria summarized:

• Submissions consist of Open Data and/or Open Methods, accompanied by an Open Access research paper
• Materials are made available through DOI (Findable) and in Open Access (Accessible); however, if restrictions apply to full Open Access of data, this condition may be relaxed
• Materials are Interoperable, i.e. using non-proprietary data formats with proper metadata, and making use of Open Source software
• Materials are Reusable, i.e. accompanied by clear instructions on re-use.

You can apply for this subsidy by sending all documents to either our coordinator or Archon’s scientific director, Dr. Philip Verhagen.

Please note that the ARCHON Open Science Award is restricted to registered members of ARCHON.