The International Committee on Open Phytolith Science (ICOPS): A community effort to improve the collection, preservation and sharing of phytolith data.

This presentation was given at the European Association of Archaeology Conference on 31st August 2024 by Celine Kerfant and Emma Karoune on behalf of the International Committee on Open Phytolith Science. Conference Abstract: Phytoliths are plant microfossils used worldwide to answer a variety of questions in fields as diverse as archaeology, palaeoecology and palaeontology. The result is a profusion of phytolith terms and methodologies that partially hamper commensurable communication and sharing of knowledge among research communities. The International Committee on the Open Science of Phytoliths (ICOPS) was established in 2021 to improve this situation and start moving towards implementing open scientific principles and practices. This presentation aims to outline the objectives and achievements of this community group, which include: The implementation of training workshops in digital tools such as GitHub for researchers and students. The creation of a website, using the GitHub environment, designed to store and share all data relating to ICOPS actions in a transparent way. An open publishing guide to help researchers publish and share phytolith (raw) data. The beginnings of the first ontology for phytolith research, designed in accordance with the International Code for Phytolith Nomenclatures (ICPN 1.0 and 2.0) to facilitate the accessibility and interoperability of phytolith data. A community survey and FAIR assessment of existing phytolith data to establish FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data guidelines for phytolith research. Future plans for 2024 include talks from experts in open and FAIR science and clinic sessions to help and support researchers to implement open and FAIR practices in their research projects and data.