Document naming - sparklabnyc/resources GitHub Wiki

When you create document drafts (manuscripts, abstracts etc.) that will have several round of versions, say in Word, this a brief guide to what we do in the group.

1. Naming a document

  • Don't use underscores in the title, please just use spaces.

  • Please never call files names like 'doc_final.docx'. It is almost never the final version of a document.

  • Please name the document with a brief title of the document and then the date. So if your document has a title 'Hazardous heat exposure among incarcerated people in the United States', and today's date is January 30th 2024, the name of the document (assuming it is a .docx file) should be something like:

hazardous heat incarcerated 2024 01 30.docx

i.e., NAME YYYY MM DD.docx

  • If you are saving a document which has more than one version on a given day, just add a letter onto the next version, e.g.,:

hazardous heat incarcerated 2024 01 30B.docx etc.

2. Editing a document you have been sent and then sending back

  • Please use track changes to edit a document, and provide comments where there are questions.

  • When sending a document back that you have edited with track changes, please edit and send with your initials on the end, e.g.,

hazardous heat incarcerated 2024 01 30 RMP.docx

3. Providing a new version of a document that you are the lead on

  • Clean up the comments from co-authors as much as you can. It's OK to leave some comments in there, but generally the file should have as few comments and track changes as possible, so go through and clean up please.

  • Rename file latest date without initials, .e.g., if you received some comments on the file you sent out to co-authors and got back a file called

hazardous heat incarcerated 2024 01 30 RMP XYZ ABC.docx

then tidy it up and call it whatever the new date is, say if it is now February 5th 2024:

hazardous heat incarcerated 2024 02 05.docx

If we stick to this, we'll never have multiple parallel versions flying around, and the files should store in order in a folder! Please feel free to edit and suggest further changes to this system though, as nothing is ever perfect.