Abstract
There is a general trend in science towards more open data. But sharing data is much less useful if other scientists can't use it, which happens when it is not directly comparable with theirs, i.e. the data is not standardized. Unfortunately, this is the present situation in the field of juvenile particle studies aimed at better understanding primary magma fragmentation. Different laboratories have their own favorite methodologies to measure particle size, shapes, internal textures (crystal and vesicles) and particle surface features. Although juvenile particles have been studied for decades by many workers, a methodological consensus has not yet emerged. For example, there is no agreement on what size fraction to use, which imaging device, which shape factors, how many grains, etc. This means that juvenile particle data from different laboratories or eruptions can be very difficult to compare. To move forward, the "juvenile particle" community should aim to converge on a standardized methodology. This would allow us to progressively assemble a large open international database of comparable measurements from different eruptive styles and fragmentation mechanisms. The advantages of this strategy include more synergy between researchers from different institutions and countries, and ultimately a better understanding of magma fragmentation. Nevertheless, standardization efforts also have potential downsides, including social friction, so we should proceed carefully. In this presentation we will summarize a proposed standardized workflow recently published in Bull. Volc. This workflow and any alternative ideas will be further discussed at a two-day workshop immediately after the conference.