Why Nanoscience Needs Standardized Protocols─And How to Get There

Nanoscience is a relatively young research field that has been built on the shoulders of consolidated areas ranging from solid-state physics to biology. Its interdisciplinary nature imposes the flow of heterogeneous data from various domains of predefined conventions that ultimately prevents workflow standardization, raising the possibility of further fragmentation and compromising the reproducibility. This is the time to establish good practices for experimental nanoscientists. This work proposes a set of simple rules that can facilitate data management and improve their reusability. Implementing the proposed protocol can have high initial cognitive costs but can also save energy and time in the long term. By adopting these practices, researchers can ensure the reusability of their data early in a project and accelerate the writing process.