diff --git a/.github/workflows/check_on_branch.yml b/.github/workflows/check_on_branch.yml
index d2d3ca48..35c6fca6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check_on_branch.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check_on_branch.yml
@@ -17,4 +17,4 @@ jobs:
     permissions:
       contents: read
     steps:
-      - uses: inbo/actions/check_pkg@checklist-0.3.2
+      - uses: inbo/actions/check_pkg@main
diff --git a/.github/workflows/check_on_main.yml b/.github/workflows/check_on_main.yml
index ffc8ff1d..ac9d760d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check_on_main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check_on_main.yml
@@ -19,4 +19,4 @@ jobs:
       GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
       ZENODO_SANDBOX: ${{ secrets.ZENODO_SANDBOX }}
     steps:
-      - uses: inbo/actions/check_pkg@checklist-0.3.2
+      - uses: inbo/actions/check_pkg@main
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 8445d7a5..3b2f57d3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -19,10 +19,13 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
       - name: Get tag message
         run: |
-          TAG_BODY=$(git tag --contains ${{ github.sha }} -n100 | awk '(NR>1)')
-          echo "::set-output name=TAG_BODY::$TAG_BODY"
+          TAG=$(git tag --contains $(git rev-parse HEAD))
+          TAG_BODY=$(git tag --contains {{ github.sha }} -n100 | awk '(NR>1)')
+          echo "TAG=$TAG" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "TAG_BODY=$TAG_BODY" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
         id: tag-body
       - uses: ncipollo/release-action@v1
         with:
-          name: Release ${{ github.ref }}
+          name: Release ${{ steps.tag-body.outputs.TAG }}
+          tag: ${{ steps.tag-body.outputs.TAG }}
           body: ${{ steps.tag-body.outputs.TAG_BODY }}
diff --git a/.zenodo.json b/.zenodo.json
index c57c48ca..02d8a46b 100644
--- a/.zenodo.json
+++ b/.zenodo.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "title": "checklist: A Thorough and Strict Set of Checks for R Packages and Source Code",
-  "version": "0.3.2",
+  "version": "0.3.3",
   "license": "GPL-3.0",
   "upload_type": "software",
   "description": "<p>An opinionated set of rules for R packages and R source code\nprojects.<\/p>",
diff --git a/CITATION.cff b/CITATION.cff
index 390340d5..60d0d5cb 100644
--- a/CITATION.cff
+++ b/CITATION.cff
@@ -25,4 +25,4 @@ identifiers:
   value: 10.5281/zenodo.4028303
 - type: url
   value: https://inbo.github.io/checklist/
-version: 0.3.2
+version: 0.3.3
diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 97d9ae54..3777df73 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Type: Package
 Package: checklist
 Title: A Thorough and Strict Set of Checks for R Packages and Source Code
-Version: 0.3.2
+Version: 0.3.3
 Authors@R: c(
     person("Thierry", "Onkelinx", , "thierry.onkelinx@inbo.be", role = c("aut", "cre"),
            comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0001-8804-4216", affiliation = "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)")),
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index c06b6e98..80a51fbd 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ export(is_workdir_clean)
 export(menu_first)
 export(new_branch)
 export(orcid2person)
+export(organisation)
 export(prepare_ghpages)
 export(read_checklist)
 export(set_tag)
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ export(tidy_desc)
 export(update_citation)
 export(use_author)
 export(validate_email)
+export(validate_orcid)
 export(write_checklist)
 export(write_citation_cff)
 export(write_zenodo_json)
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 05f88ca7..4a184bb0 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,19 @@
+# checklist 0.3.3
+
+* New `organisation()` class to hold the requirements of the organisation.
+  For the time being this is hard-coded to the Research Institute for Nature
+  and Forest (INBO).
+* Author affiliations must match one of the affiliations set in
+  `organisation()`.
+  The membership of an author is determined by their e-mail or their
+  affiliation.
+  This is checked when creating or using author information and when updating
+  citation information.
+* `read_checklist()` looks for `checklist.yml` in parent folders when it can't
+  find it in the provided path.
+* `validate_orcid()` checks the format and the checksum of the ORCID.
+* Add `vignette("folder", package = "checklist")`.
+
 # checklist 0.3.2
 
 * `citation_meta()` gains support for [`bookdown`](https://pkgs.rstudio.com/bookdown/) reports.
diff --git a/R/check_description.R b/R/check_description.R
index 471d094d..564674ab 100644
--- a/R/check_description.R
+++ b/R/check_description.R
@@ -287,21 +287,31 @@ Please send a pull request if you need support for this license.",
 #' @importFrom utils person
 check_authors <- function(this_desc) {
   authors <- this_desc$get_authors()
-  inbo <- person(
-    given = "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)",
-    role = c("cph", "fnd"), email = "info@inbo.be"
+  org <- organisation$new()
+  stopifnot(
+    "TO DO: handle funder not equal to rightsholder" =
+      org$get_rightsholder == org$get_funder
   )
-  problems <- paste(
-    "`Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)` must be listed as",
-    "copyright holder and funder and use info@inbo.be as email."
-  )[!inbo %in% authors]
-  authors <- lapply(authors, unlist, recursive = FALSE)
-  authors <- authors[!authors %in% inbo]
-  orcid <- sapply(authors, `[[`, "comment")
-  c(
-    problems,
-    "Every author and contributor must have an ORCID"[
-      any(names(orcid) != "ORCID")
-    ]
+  rightsholder <- person(
+    given = org$get_rightsholder, role = c("cph", "fnd"), email = org$get_email
   )
+  problems <- sprintf(
+    "`%s` must be listed as copyright holder and funder and use `%s` as email.",
+    org$get_rightsholder, org$get_email
+  )[!rightsholder %in% authors]
+  authors <- authors[!authors %in% rightsholder]
+  vapply(
+    authors, FUN.VALUE = vector(mode = "list", length = 1L),
+    FUN = function(author) {
+      email <- format(author, include = "email", braces = list(email = ""))
+      this_org <- org$get_organisation[[gsub(".*@", "", email)]]
+      format(author, include = c("given", "family")) |>
+        sprintf(fmt = "ORCID required for `%s`") -> problem
+      list(
+        problem[isTRUE(this_org$orcid) && !has_name(author$comment, "ORCID")]
+      )
+    }
+  ) |>
+    unlist() |>
+    c(problems)
 }
diff --git a/R/citation_bookdown.R b/R/citation_bookdown.R
index a70c2f95..3e2bbedf 100644
--- a/R/citation_bookdown.R
+++ b/R/citation_bookdown.R
@@ -121,8 +121,8 @@ yaml_author <- function(yaml) {
     data.frame(contributor = nrow(author) + 1, role = "funder") |>
       rbind(roles) -> roles
     data.frame(
-      id = nrow(author) + 1, given = "", family = yaml$funder, orcid = "",
-      affiliation = ""
+      id = nrow(author) + 1, given = yaml$funder, family = "", orcid = "",
+      affiliation = "", organisation = known_affiliation(yaml$funder)
     ) |>
       rbind(author) -> author
   }
@@ -130,8 +130,9 @@ yaml_author <- function(yaml) {
     data.frame(contributor = nrow(author) + 1, role = "copyright holder") |>
       rbind(roles) -> roles
     data.frame(
-      id = nrow(author) + 1, given = "", family = yaml$rightsholder,
-      orcid = "", affiliation = ""
+      id = nrow(author) + 1, given = yaml$rightsholder, family = "",
+      orcid = "", affiliation = "",
+      organisation = known_affiliation(yaml$rightsholder)
     ) |>
       rbind(author) -> author
   }
@@ -144,7 +145,8 @@ yaml_author <- function(yaml) {
 yaml_author_format <- function(person) {
   person_df <- data.frame(
     given = character(0), family = character(0), orcid = character(0),
-    affiliation = character(0), contact = logical(0)
+    affiliation = character(0), contact = logical(0),
+    organisation = character(0)
   )
   if (!is.list(person)) {
     attr(person_df, "errors") <- list("person must be a list")
@@ -170,7 +172,8 @@ yaml_author_format <- function(person) {
     affiliation = paste0(person$affiliation, ""),
     contact = ifelse(
       is.null(person$corresponding), FALSE, person$corresponding
-    )
+    ),
+    organisation = known_affiliation(paste0(person$affiliation, ""))
   )
   c(
     "person `name` element is missing a `given` element"[
diff --git a/R/citation_description.R b/R/citation_description.R
index 5a40f86a..6836b83d 100644
--- a/R/citation_description.R
+++ b/R/citation_description.R
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ citation_description <- function(meta) {
     upload_type = "software", description = abstract
   ) |>
     c(
-      authors$meta, keywords$meta, communities$meta, urls$meta,
+      authors, keywords$meta, communities$meta, urls$meta,
       access_right = "open"
     ) -> cit_meta
   lang <- descript$get_field("Language", default = "")
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ citation_description <- function(meta) {
   list(
     meta = cit_meta,
     errors = c(urls$errors, keywords$errors), warnings = communities$warnings,
-    notes = c(authors$notes, communities$notes)
+    notes = authors$notes
   )
 }
 
@@ -58,31 +58,10 @@ description_author <- function(authors) {
     family = format(authors, include = "family")
   ) |>
     merge(
-      unique(roles[, c("contributor", "orcid", "affiliation")]), by.x = "id",
-      by.y = "contributor"
+      unique(roles[, c("contributor", "orcid", "affiliation", "organisation")]),
+      by.x = "id", by.y = "contributor"
     ) -> contributors
-  contributors[
-    contributors$given == "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)",
-  ] |>
-    merge(
-      roles[, c("contributor", "role")], by.x = "id", by.y = "contributor"
-    ) -> inbo_roles
-  notes <- c(
-    paste(
-      "`Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)` not listed as",
-      "copyright holder in `DESCRIPTION`."
-    )[!"copyright holder" %in% inbo_roles$role],
-    paste(
-      "`Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)` not listed as funder",
-      "in `DESCRIPTION`."
-    )[!"funder" %in% inbo_roles$role]
-  )
-  list(
-    meta = list(
-      authors = contributors, roles = roles[, c("contributor", "role")]
-    ),
-    notes = notes
-  )
+  list(authors = contributors, roles = roles[, c("contributor", "role")])
 }
 
 description_author_format <- function(i, x) {
@@ -93,6 +72,9 @@ description_author_format <- function(i, x) {
       cph = "copyright holder", fnd = "funder", rev = "reviewer"
     )[x[[i]]$role]
   )
+  formatted$organisation <- ifelse(
+    is.null(x[[i]]), "", gsub(".*@", "", x[[i]]$email)
+  )
   if (is.null(x[[i]]$comment)) {
     formatted$orcid <- ""
     formatted$affiliation <- ""
@@ -104,9 +86,34 @@ description_author_format <- function(i, x) {
   formatted$affiliation <- ifelse(
     is.na(x[[i]]$comment["affiliation"]), "", x[[i]]$comment["affiliation"]
   )
+  if (formatted$organisation[1] == "" && formatted$affiliation[1] != "") {
+    formatted$organisation <- known_affiliation(formatted$affiliation[1])
+  }
   return(list(formatted))
 }
 
+#' @importFrom assertthat assert_that
+known_affiliation <- function(target) {
+  target <- gsub("([.|()\\^{}+$*?]|\\[|\\])", "\\\\\\1", target)
+  org <- organisation$new()$get_organisation
+  vapply(
+    names(org), FUN.VALUE = logical(1), target = target, org = org,
+    FUN = function(x, org, target) {
+      grepl(target, org[[x]]$affiliation) |>
+        any()
+    }
+  ) -> org
+  assert_that(
+    sum(org) < 2,
+    msg = paste(
+      "multiple matching organisations:",
+      paste(names(org)[org], collapse = "; ")
+    )
+  )
+  c(names(org)[org], "") |>
+    head(1)
+}
+
 description_url <- function(urls) {
   urls <- urls[!grepl("https://github.com/", urls)]
   doi_regexp <- "https://doi.org/(.*)"
@@ -146,20 +153,19 @@ description_keywords <- function(keywords) {
 
 description_communities <- function(communities) {
   if (length(communities) == 0) {
+    org <- organisation$new()
     return(
       list(
-        meta = list(), notes = character(0),
+        meta = list(),
         warnings = paste(
           "no communities found in `DESCRIPTION`.",
-          "Please add them with `Config/checklist/communities: inbo; second`"
+          "Please add them with `Config/checklist/communities:",
+          org$get_community
         )
       )
     )
   }
-  communities <- strsplit(communities, "; ")[[1]]
-  notes <-
-    "inbo not listed as community in `DESCRIPTION`"[!"inbo" %in% communities]
   list(
-    meta = list(community = communities), warnings = character(0), notes = notes
+    meta = list(community = communities), warnings = character(0)
   )
 }
diff --git a/R/citation_meta_class.R b/R/citation_meta_class.R
index b049bd35..683a9d96 100644
--- a/R/citation_meta_class.R
+++ b/R/citation_meta_class.R
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ citation_meta <- R6Class(
       assert_that(is.string(path), noNA(path))
       path <- path_real(path)
       assert_that(is_dir(path), msg = "path is not an existing directory")
-
       private$path <- path
       if (is_file(path(path, "_bookdown.yml"))) {
         private$type <- "bookdown"
@@ -40,10 +39,15 @@ citation_meta <- R6Class(
       private$errors <- meta$errors
       private$notes <- meta$notes
       private$warnings <- meta$warnings
+      if (length(private$errors) == 0) {
+        validated <- validate_citation(self)
+        private$errors <- c(private$errors, validated$errors)
+        private$notes <- c(private$notes, validated$notes)
+      }
       if (length(private$errors) > 0) {
         warning(
           "Errors found parsing citation meta data. ",
-          "Citation files not updated."
+          "Citation files not updated.", call. = FALSE, noBreaks. = TRUE
         )
         return(invisible(self))
       }
@@ -160,6 +164,64 @@ citation_print <- function(errors, meta, notes, path, warnings) {
   }
 }
 
+#' @importFrom assertthat assert_that
+validate_citation <- function(meta) {
+  assert_that(inherits(meta, "citation_meta"))
+  org <- organisation$new()
+  roles <- meta$get_meta$roles
+  authors <- meta$get_meta$authors
+  rightsholder_id <- roles$contributor[roles$role == "copyright holder"]
+  funder_id <- roles$contributor[roles$role == "funder"]
+  notes <- c(
+    sprintf("rightsholder differs from `%s`", org$get_rightsholder)[
+      authors$given[authors$id == rightsholder_id] != org$get_rightsholder
+    ],
+    sprintf("funder differs from `%s`", org$get_funder)[
+      authors$given[authors$id == funder_id] != org$get_funder
+    ]
+  )
+  errors <- c(
+    sprintf("invalid ORCID for %s %s", authors$given, authors$family)[
+      !validate_orcid(authors$orcid)
+    ],
+    sprintf("missing required Zenodo community `%s`", org$get_community)[
+      !org$get_community %in% meta$get_meta$community
+    ]
+  )
+  authors <- authors[authors$given != org$get_rightsholder, ]
+  authors <- authors[authors$given != org$get_funder, ]
+  authors <- authors[authors$organisation %in% names(org$get_organisation), ]
+  vapply(
+    seq_along(authors$organisation),
+    FUN.VALUE = vector(mode = "list", length = 1), org = org$get_organisation,
+    FUN = function(i, org) {
+      paste(
+        "Non standard affiliation for %s %s as member of `%s`. ",
+        "Please use any of the following", collapse = ""
+      ) |>
+        sprintf(
+          authors$given[i], authors$family[i], authors$organisation[i]
+        ) -> error
+      error <- error[
+        !authors$affiliation[i] %in% org[[authors$organisation[i]]]$affiliation
+      ]
+      if (org[[authors$organisation[i]]]$orcid) {
+        error <- c(
+          error,
+          sprintf(
+            "No ORCID for %s %s. This is required for `%s`", authors$given[i],
+            authors$family[i], authors$organisation[i]
+          )[is.na(authors$orcid[i]) || authors$orcid[i] == ""]
+        )
+      }
+      return(list(error))
+    }
+  ) |>
+    unlist() |>
+    c(errors) -> errors
+  list(notes = notes, errors = errors)
+}
+
 #' @importFrom assertthat assert_that has_name
 #' @importFrom fs path
 #' @importFrom jsonlite toJSON
diff --git a/R/citation_readme.R b/R/citation_readme.R
index 13eb2a37..79d611c4 100644
--- a/R/citation_readme.R
+++ b/R/citation_readme.R
@@ -183,12 +183,12 @@ readme_author <- function(text) {
     head(1) -> empty_line
   text$text[seq_len(empty_line - 1)] |>
     gsub(pattern = ";\\s*$", replacement = "") -> authors
-  authors_aff <- authors
-  authors_aff[!grepl("\\[\\^.*\\]", authors_aff)] <- ""
-  gsub(".*?\\[\\^(.*?)\\]", "\\1;", authors_aff) |>
+  orgs <- authors
+  orgs[!grepl("\\[\\^.*\\]", orgs)] <- ""
+  gsub(".*?\\[\\^(.*?)\\]", "\\1;", orgs) |>
     gsub(pattern = "(aut|cph|cre|ctb|fnd|rev);", replacement = "") |>
     gsub(pattern = ";$", replacement = "") |>
-    strsplit(split = ";") -> authors_aff
+    strsplit(split = ";") -> orgs
   data.frame(
     contributor = grep("\\[\\^aut\\]", authors),
     role = rep("author", , sum(grepl("\\[\\^aut\\]", authors)))
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ readme_author <- function(text) {
   affiliations <- text$text[grepl("\\[\\^.*?\\]:", text$text)]
   aff_code <- gsub(".*\\[\\^(.*?)\\]:.*", "\\1", affiliations)
   aff_code_check <- vapply(
-    authors_aff, FUN.VALUE = logical(1), aff_code = aff_code,
+    orgs, FUN.VALUE = logical(1), aff_code = aff_code,
     FUN = function(z, aff_code) {
       all(z %in% aff_code)
     }
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ readme_author <- function(text) {
   gsub("\\[\\^(.*?)\\]:\\s*(.*)", "\\2", affiliations) |>
     setNames(aff_code) -> affiliations
   authors_aff <- vapply(
-    authors_aff, FUN.VALUE = character(1), z = affiliations,
+    orgs, FUN.VALUE = character(1), z = affiliations,
     FUN = function(y, z) {
       paste(z[y], collapse = "; ")
     }
@@ -275,11 +275,13 @@ readme_author <- function(text) {
     ]
   )
 
+  orgs[vapply(orgs, length, integer(1)) == 0] <- NA
   text$text <- text$text[!grepl("\\[\\^.*?\\]:", text$text)]
   text$meta$authors <- data.frame(
     id = seq_along(authors), given = gsub(".*,\\s*(.*)", "\\1", authors),
     family = ifelse(grepl(",", authors), gsub("(.*),.*", "\\1", authors), ""),
-    affiliation = authors_aff, orcid = authors_orcid
+    affiliation = authors_aff, orcid = authors_orcid,
+    organisation = unlist(orgs)
   )
   return(text)
 }
@@ -308,18 +310,14 @@ readme_community <- function(text) {
   community_line <- grep(community_regexp, text$text)
   text$warnings <- c(
     text$warnings,
-    "No community information found in README.md"[length(community_line) == 0]
+    "No Zenodo community information found in README.md"[
+      length(community_line) == 0
+    ]
   )
   if (length(community_line) > 0) {
     text$meta$community <- gsub(
       community_regexp, "\\1", text$text[community_line]
     )
-    text$notes <- c(
-      text$notes,
-      "`inbo` not listed as a community"[
-        !"inbo" %in% text$meta$community
-      ]
-    )
     text$text <- text$text[-community_line]
   }
   return(text)
diff --git a/R/create_package.R b/R/create_package.R
index 3e5fb1e9..ba96329a 100644
--- a/R/create_package.R
+++ b/R/create_package.R
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #' @param communities An optional vector of Zenodo community id's.
 #' @export
 #' @importFrom assertthat assert_that is.string
+#' @importFrom desc description
 #' @importFrom fs dir_create dir_ls file_copy is_dir path
 #' @importFrom gert git_add git_init
 #' @importFrom tools toTitleCase
@@ -64,8 +65,10 @@ create_package <- function(
       maintainer <- c(maintainer, author2person())
     }
   }
-
   assert_that(inherits(maintainer, "person"))
+  org <- organisation$new()
+  maintainer <- c(maintainer, org$as_person)
+
   assert_that(is_dir(path), msg = sprintf("`%s` is not a directory", path))
   assert_that(is.string(package))
   assert_that(valid_package_name(package))
@@ -90,44 +93,32 @@ create_package <- function(
   write_checklist(x)
   git_add("checklist.yml", repo = repo)
 
+
+  # create DESCRIPTION
+  desc <- desc::description$new("!new")
+  desc$set("Package", package)
+  desc$set("Title", toTitleCase(title))
+  desc$set_version("0.0.0")
+  desc$set_authors(maintainer)
+  desc$set("Description", description)
+  desc$set("License", ifelse(license == "MIT", "MIT + file LICENSE", license))
+  desc$set_urls(sprintf("https://github.com/%s/%s", org$get_github, package))
+  desc$set(
+    "BugReports",
+    sprintf("https://github.com/%s/%s/issues", org$get_github, package)
+  )
   if (length(communities)) {
-    communities <- sprintf(
-      "Config/checklist/communities: %s\n",
-      paste(communities, collapse = "; ")
+    desc$set(
+      "Config/checklist/communities", paste(communities, collapse = "; ")
     )
-  } else {
-    communities <- ""
   }
-
-  # create DESCRIPTION
-  sprintf(
-"Type: Package
-Package: %1$s
-Title: %2$s
-Version: 0.0.0
-Authors@R:
-  c(%3$s,
-    person(given = \"Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)\",
-           role = c(\"cph\", \"fnd\"),
-           email = \"info@inbo.be\"))
-Description: %4$s
-License: %7$s
-URL: https://github.com/inbo/%1$s
-BugReports: https://github.com/inbo/%1$s/issues
-%9$sConfig/checklist/keywords: %8$s
-Encoding: UTF-8
-Language: %6$s
-Roxygen: list(markdown = TRUE)
-RoxygenNote: %5$s
-",
-    package, toTitleCase(title),
-    paste(format(maintainer, style = "R"), collapse = "\n"),
-    description, installed.packages()["roxygen2", "Version"], language,
-    ifelse(license == "MIT", "MIT + file LICENSE", license),
-    paste(keywords, collapse = "; "), communities
-  ) |>
-    writeLines(path(path, "DESCRIPTION"))
-  tidy_desc(path)
+  desc$set("Config/checklist/keywords", paste(keywords, collapse = "; "))
+  desc$set("Encoding", "UTF-8")
+  desc$set("Language", language)
+  desc$set("Roxygen", "list(markdown = TRUE)")
+  desc$set("RoxygenNote", installed.packages()["roxygen2", "Version"])
+  desc$del("Maintainer")
+  desc$write(path(path, "DESCRIPTION"))
   git_add("DESCRIPTION", repo = repo)
 
   # create NAMESPACE
@@ -203,14 +194,12 @@ RoxygenNote: %5$s
     file_copy(license_file)
   if (license == "MIT") {
     paste0("YEAR: ", format(Sys.Date(), "%Y")) |>
-      c("COPYRIGHT HOLDER: Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)") |>
+      c(sprintf("COPYRIGHT HOLDER: %s", org$get_rightsholder)) |>
       writeLines(path(path, "LICENSE"))
     git_add("LICENSE", repo = repo)
     mit <- readLines(license_file)
     mit[3] <- gsub("<YEAR>", format(Sys.Date(), "%Y"), mit[3])
-    mit[3] <- gsub("<COPYRIGHT HOLDER>",
-                   "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)",
-                   mit[3])
+    mit[3] <- gsub("<COPYRIGHT HOLDER>", org$get_rightsholder, mit[3])
     writeLines(mit, license_file)
   }
   git_add("LICENSE.md", repo = repo)
diff --git a/R/organisation_class.R b/R/organisation_class.R
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..db927ff0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/organisation_class.R
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+#' @title The organisation R6 class
+#' @description A class with the organisation defaults
+#' @export
+#' @importFrom R6 R6Class
+#' @family class
+organisation <- R6Class(
+  "organisation",
+  public = list(
+    #' @description Initialize a new `organisation` object.
+    initialize = function() {
+      invisible(self)
+    },
+    #' @description Print the `organisation` object.
+    #' @param ... currently ignored.
+    print = function(...) {
+      dots <- list(...)
+      c(
+        "rightsholder:  %s", "funder:        %s", "organisation email:  %s",
+        "GitHub organisation: %s", "Zenodo community:    %s",
+        "email domain settings"
+      ) |>
+        paste(collapse = "\n") |>
+        sprintf(
+          self$get_rightsholder, self$get_funder, self$get_email,
+          self$get_github, self$get_community
+        ) |>
+        cat()
+      org <- self$get_organisation
+      for (domain in names(org)) {
+        cat(
+          "\n-", domain, "\n  mandatory ORCID iD"[org[[domain]]$orcid],
+          "\n  affiliations",
+          sprintf(
+            "\n    %s: %s", names(org[[domain]]$affiliation),
+            org[[domain]]$affiliation
+          )
+        )
+      }
+      return(invisible(NULL))
+    }
+  ),
+  active = list(
+    #' @field as_person The default organisation funder and rightsholder.
+    #' @importFrom utils person
+    as_person = function() {
+      person(
+        given = private$rightsholder, email = private$email,
+        role = c("cph", "fnd")
+      )
+    },
+    #' @field get_community The default organisation Zenodo communities.
+    get_community = function() {
+      private$community
+    },
+    #' @field get_email The default organisation email.
+    get_email = function() {
+      private$email
+    },
+    #' @field get_funder The default funder.
+    get_funder = function() {
+      private$funder
+    },
+    #' @field get_github The default GitHub organisation domain.
+    get_github = function() {
+      private$github
+    },
+    #' @field get_organisation The organisation requirements.
+    get_organisation = function() {
+      private$organisation
+    },
+    #' @field get_rightsholder The default rightsholder.
+    get_rightsholder = function() {
+      private$rightsholder
+    }
+  ),
+  private = list(
+    community = "inbo",
+    email = "info@inbo.be",
+    funder = "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)",
+    github = "inbo",
+    organisation = list(
+      "inbo.be" = list(
+        affiliation = c(
+          en = "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)",
+          nl = "Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek (INBO)",
+          fr = "Institut de Recherche sur la Nature et les For\u00eats (INBO)",
+          de = "Institut f\u00fcr Natur- und Waldforschung (INBO)"
+        ),
+        orcid = TRUE
+      )
+    ),
+    rightsholder = "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)"
+  )
+)
diff --git a/R/read_checklist.R b/R/read_checklist.R
index f5854465..fb50399c 100644
--- a/R/read_checklist.R
+++ b/R/read_checklist.R
@@ -4,12 +4,17 @@
 #' file in the root of a project.
 #' This function reads this configuration.
 #' It is mainly used by the other functions inside the package.
+#' If no `checklist.yml` file is found at the path,
+#' the function walks upwards through the directory structure until it finds
+#' such file.
+#' The function returns an error when it reaches the root of the disk without
+#' finding a `checklist.yml` file.
 #' @param x Either a `checklist` object or a path to the source code.
 #' Defaults to `.`.
 #' @return A `checklist` object.
 #' @export
 #' @importFrom assertthat assert_that has_name is.string
-#' @importFrom fs is_dir is_file path path_real
+#' @importFrom fs is_dir is_file path path_real path_split
 #' @importFrom yaml read_yaml
 #' @family both
 read_checklist <- function(x = ".") {
@@ -18,28 +23,17 @@ read_checklist <- function(x = ".") {
   }
 
   assert_that(is.string(x), is_dir(x))
-  x <- path_real(x)
-  checklist_file <- path(x, "checklist.yml")
-  if (!is_file(checklist_file)) {
-    # no check list file found
-    desc_file <- path(x, "DESCRIPTION")
-    if (!is_file(desc_file)) {
-      message(
-        "No `checklist.yml` or `DESCRIPTION` found. ",
-        "Assuming this is a project."
-      )
-      x <- checklist$new(x = x, language = "en-GB", package = FALSE)
-      x <- x$allowed()
-      return(x)
-    }
-    message(
-      "No `checklist.yml` found and existing `DESCRIPTION`. ",
-      "Assuming this is a package."
-    )
-    x <- checklist$new(x = x, package = TRUE)
-    x <- x$allowed()
-    return(x)
+  current <- path_real(x)
+  checklist_file <- path(current, "checklist.yml")
+  while (!is_file(checklist_file) && length(path_split(current)[[1]]) > 1) {
+    path(current, "..") |>
+      path_real() -> current
+    checklist_file <- path(current, "checklist.yml")
   }
+  assert_that(
+    is_file(checklist_file),
+    msg = sprintf("no checklist.yml found `%s` or its parents", x)
+  )
 
   # read existing check list file
   allowed <- read_yaml(checklist_file)
@@ -48,7 +42,12 @@ read_checklist <- function(x = ".") {
     allowed$spelling <- list(default = "en-GB")
   }
   if (allowed$package) {
-    x <- checklist$new(x = x, package = TRUE)
+    x <- checklist$new(
+      x = x, package = TRUE,
+      language = ifelse(
+        has_name(allowed$spelling, "default"), allowed$spelling$default, "en-GB"
+      )
+    )
   } else {
     x <- checklist$new(
       x = x, package = FALSE,
diff --git a/R/setup_package.R b/R/setup_package.R
index 83ab60d9..d1141b03 100644
--- a/R/setup_package.R
+++ b/R/setup_package.R
@@ -33,6 +33,15 @@ setup_package <- function(path = ".", license = c("GPL-3", "MIT")) {
 
   assert_that(is_workdir_clean(repo = path))
 
+  # add checklist.yml
+  if (!file_exists(path(path, "checklist.yml"))) {
+    x <- checklist$new(x = path, language = "en-GB", package = TRUE)
+    x$set_required()
+    x$set_ignore(c(".github", "LICENSE.md"))
+    write_checklist(x)
+    git_add("checklist.yml", force = TRUE, repo = path)
+  }
+
   # make DESCRIPTION tidy
   suppressMessages(tidy_desc(path))
   git_add(files = "DESCRIPTION", force = TRUE, repo = path)
@@ -73,16 +82,6 @@ setup_package <- function(path = ".", license = c("GPL-3", "MIT")) {
     )
   }
 
-  # add checklist.yml
-  suppressMessages({
-    x <- read_checklist(x = path)
-  })
-  x$package <- TRUE
-  x$set_required()
-  x$set_ignore(c(".github", "LICENSE.md"))
-  write_checklist(x)
-  git_add("checklist.yml", force = TRUE, repo = path)
-
   # add codecov.yml
   insert_file(
     repo = path, filename = "codecov.yml", template = "package_template",
diff --git a/R/setup_project.R b/R/setup_project.R
index fb2b57e7..7941178b 100644
--- a/R/setup_project.R
+++ b/R/setup_project.R
@@ -226,12 +226,16 @@ create_readme <- function(path) {
         ) -> badges
     }
   }
+  org <- organisation$new()
   c(
     "<!-- badges: start -->", badges, "<!-- badges: end -->", "",
     paste("#", title), "", author,
-    "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)[^cph][^fnd]", "", footnote,
-    "", keywords, "", "<!-- community: inbo -->", "",
-    "<!-- description: start -->",
+    paste0(org$get_rightsholder, "[^cph][^fnd]"), "", footnote,
+    "", keywords, "",
+    sprintf(
+      "<!-- community: %s -->", paste(org$get_community, collapse = "; ")
+    ),
+    "", "<!-- description: start -->",
     "Replace this with a short description of the project.",
     "It becomes the abstract of the project in the citation information.",
     "And the project description at https://zenodo.org",
@@ -247,18 +251,24 @@ create_readme <- function(path) {
 #' @importFrom utils menu
 #' @importFrom yaml read_yaml write_yaml
 preferred_protocol <- function() {
+  config <- list()
   R_user_dir("checklist", which = "config") |>
     path("config.yml") -> config_file
-  config <- ifelse(file_exists(config_file), read_yaml(config_file), list())
+  if (file_exists(config_file)) {
+    config <- read_yaml(config_file)
+  }
   if (
     !has_name(config, "git") || !has_name(config$git, "protocol") ||
     !has_name(config$git, "organisation")
   ) {
-    config[["git"]][["organisation"]] <- readline(
-      "What is your default GitHub organisation. Leave empty for `inbo`."
-    )
+    org <- organisation$new()
+    sprintf(
+      "What is your default GitHub organisation. Leave empty for `%s`.",
+      org$get_github
+    ) |>
+      readline() -> config[["git"]][["organisation"]]
     if (config[["git"]][["organisation"]] == "") {
-      config[["git"]][["organisation"]] <- "inbo"
+      config[["git"]][["organisation"]] <- org$get_github
     }
     c("https (easy)", "ssh (more secure)") |>
       menu_first(title = "Which protocol do you prefer?") -> protocol
@@ -297,8 +307,7 @@ renv_activate <- function(path) {
   if (
     isFALSE(
       ask_yes_no(
-        "Use `renv` to lock package versions with the project?",
-        default = !identical(Sys.getenv("TESTTHAT"), "true")
+        "Use `renv` to lock package versions with the project?", default = FALSE
       )
     )
   ) {
diff --git a/R/sysdata.rda b/R/sysdata.rda
index fbe51c85..42fed4ff 100644
Binary files a/R/sysdata.rda and b/R/sysdata.rda differ
diff --git a/R/use_author.R b/R/use_author.R
index 5991555d..63f874e4 100644
--- a/R/use_author.R
+++ b/R/use_author.R
@@ -22,12 +22,21 @@ use_author <- function() {
     sprintf("%s, %s", current$family, current$given) |>
       c("new person") |>
       menu_first("Which person information do you want to use?") -> selected
+    if (selected < 1) {
+      cat("You must select a person\n")
+      next
+    }
+    if (selected > nrow(current)) {
+      current <- new_author(current = current, root = root)
+    }
     cat(
       "given name: ", current$given[selected],
       "\nfamily name:", current$family[selected],
       "\ne-mail:     ", current$email[selected],
       "\norcid:      ", current$orcid[selected],
-      "\naffiliation:", current$affiliation[selected])
+      "\naffiliation:", current$affiliation[selected]
+    )
+    current <- validate_author(current = current, selected = selected)
     final <- menu_first(choices = c("use ", "update", "other"))
     if (final == 1) {
       break
@@ -37,11 +46,12 @@ use_author <- function() {
       next
     }
   }
-  current$usage[selected] <- current$usage[selected] + 1
+  current$usage[selected] <- pmax(current$usage[selected], 0) + 1
   write.table(
     current, file = path(root, "author.txt"), sep = "\t", row.names = FALSE,
     fileEncoding = "UTF8"
   )
+  message("author information stored at ", path(root, "author.txt"))
   return(current[selected, ])
 }
 
@@ -69,6 +79,7 @@ update_author <- function(current, selected, root) {
       "\norcid:      ", current$orcid[selected],
       "\naffiliation:", current$affiliation[selected]
     )
+    current <- validate_author(current = current, selected = selected)
     command <- menu(
       choices = c(item, "save and exit", "undo changes and exit"),
       title = "\nWhich item to update?"
@@ -91,6 +102,7 @@ update_author <- function(current, selected, root) {
     current, file = path(root, "author.txt"), sep = "\t", row.names = FALSE,
     fileEncoding = "UTF8"
   )
+  message("author information stored at ", path(root, "author.txt"))
   return(current)
 }
 
@@ -100,15 +112,31 @@ new_author <- function(current, root) {
     given = readline(prompt = "given name:  "),
     family = readline(prompt = "family name: "),
     email = readline(prompt = "e-mail:      "),
-    orcid = readline(prompt = "orcid:       "),
-    affiliation = readline(prompt = "affiliation: "),
-    usage = 0
-  ) |>
-    rbind(current) -> current
+    orcid = ask_orcid(prompt = "orcid:       ")
+  ) -> extra
+  org <- organisation$new()$get_organisation
+  gsub(".*@", "", extra$email) |>
+    grepl(names(org), ignore.case = TRUE) |>
+    which() -> which_org
+  if (extra$email != "" && length(which_org) > 0) {
+    org <- org[which_org]
+    while (org[[1]]$orcid && extra$orcid == "") {
+      cat("An ORCID is required for", names(org))
+      extra$orcid <- ask_orcid(prompt = "orcid: ")
+    }
+    names(org[[1]]$affiliation) |>
+      menu_first(title = "Which default language for the affiliation?") -> lang
+    extra$affiliation <- org[[1]]$affiliation[lang]
+  } else {
+    extra$affiliation <- readline(prompt = "affiliation: ")
+  }
+  extra$usage <- 0
+  rbind(current, extra) -> current
   write.table(
     current, file = path(root, "author.txt"), sep = "\t", row.names = FALSE,
     fileEncoding = "UTF8"
   )
+  message("author information stored at ", path(root, "author.txt"))
   return(current)
 }
 
@@ -136,6 +164,7 @@ author2person <- function(role = "aut") {
   )
 }
 
+#' @importFrom utils tail
 author2badge <- function(role = "aut") {
   df <- use_author()
   sprintf("[^%s]", role) |>
@@ -157,8 +186,20 @@ author2badge <- function(role = "aut") {
   if (is.na(df$affiliation) || df$affiliation == "") {
     return(badge)
   }
+  org <- organisation$new()$get_organisation
+  vapply(
+    names(org), FUN.VALUE = vector(mode = "list", length = 1L),
+    FUN = function(x) {
+      data.frame(domain = x, affiliation = org[[x]]$affiliation) |>
+        list()
+    }
+  ) |>
+    do.call(what = rbind) -> aff_domain
+  aff <- aff_domain$domain[aff_domain$affiliation == df$affiliation]
   gsub(".*\\((.+)\\).*", "\\1", df$affiliation) |>
-    gsub(pattern = "[a-z]*\\s*", replacement = "") -> aff
+    abbreviate() |>
+    c(aff) |>
+    tail(1) -> aff
   sprintf("%s[^%s]", badge, aff) |>
     `attr<-`(
       which = "footnote",
@@ -167,3 +208,79 @@ author2badge <- function(role = "aut") {
       )
     )
 }
+
+validate_author <- function(current, selected) {
+  org <- organisation$new()$get_organisation
+  names(org) |>
+    gsub(pattern = "\\.", replacement = "\\\\.") |>
+    paste(collapse = "|") |>
+    sprintf(fmt = "@%s$") -> rg
+  if (!grepl(rg, current$email[selected], ignore.case = TRUE)) {
+    return(current)
+  }
+  this_org <- org[gsub(".*@", "", current$email[selected])]
+  while (
+    this_org[[1]]$orcid &&
+    (is.na(current$orcid[selected]) || current$orcid[selected] == "")
+  ) {
+    cat("\nAn ORCID is required for", names(this_org))
+    current$orcid[selected] <- ask_orcid(prompt = "orcid: ")
+  }
+  if (current$affiliation[selected] %in% this_org[[1]]$affiliation) {
+    return(current)
+  }
+  names(this_org[[1]]$affiliation) |>
+    menu_first(
+      title = sprintf(
+        "\nNon standard affiliation for `%s`.\n
+Which default language for the affiliation?",
+        names(this_org)
+      )
+    ) -> lang
+  current$affiliation[selected] <- this_org[[1]]$affiliation[lang]
+  return(current)
+}
+
+#' Validate the structure of an ORCID id
+#'
+#' Checks whether the ORCID has the proper format and the checksum.
+#' @param orcid A vector of ORCID
+#' @returns A logical vector with the same length as the input vector.
+#' @export
+#' @importFrom assertthat assert_that noNA
+#' @family utils
+validate_orcid <- function(orcid) {
+  assert_that(is.character(orcid), noNA(orcid))
+  format_ok <- grepl("^(\\d{4}-){3}\\d{3}[\\dX]$", orcid, perl = TRUE)
+  if (all(!format_ok)) {
+    return(orcid == "" | format_ok)
+  }
+  gsub("-", "", orcid[format_ok]) |>
+    strsplit(split = "") |>
+    do.call(what = cbind) -> digits
+  checksum <- digits[16, ]
+  seq_len(15) |>
+    rev() |>
+    matrix(ncol = 1) -> powers
+  apply(digits[-16, , drop = FALSE], 1, as.integer, simplify = FALSE) |>
+    do.call(what = rbind) |>
+    crossprod(2 ^ powers) |>
+    as.vector() -> total
+  remainder <- (12 - (total %% 11)) %% 11
+  remainder <- as.character(remainder)
+  remainder[remainder == "10"] <- "X"
+  format_ok[format_ok] <- remainder == checksum
+  return(orcid == "" | format_ok)
+}
+
+ask_orcid <- function(prompt = "orcid: ") {
+  orcid <- readline(prompt = prompt)
+  if (orcid == "") {
+    return(orcid)
+  }
+  while (!validate_orcid(orcid)) {
+    cat("\nPlease provide a valid ORCiD in the format `0000-0000-0000-0000`\n")
+    orcid <- readline(prompt = prompt)
+  }
+  return(orcid)
+}
diff --git a/_pkgdown.yml b/_pkgdown.yml
index 0cc3d926..b48526ec 100644
--- a/_pkgdown.yml
+++ b/_pkgdown.yml
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ articles:
   contents:
   - philosophy
   - folder
+  - path
   - getting_started
   - getting_started_project
   - spelling
diff --git a/inst/CITATION b/inst/CITATION
index b1056616..142157aa 100644
--- a/inst/CITATION
+++ b/inst/CITATION
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@ citHeader("To cite `checklist` in publications please use:")
 # begin checklist entry
 bibentry(
   bibtype = "Manual",
-  title = "checklist: A Thorough and Strict Set of Checks for R Packages and Source Code. Version 0.3.2",
+  title = "checklist: A Thorough and Strict Set of Checks for R Packages and Source Code. Version 0.3.3",
   author = c( author = c(person(given = "Thierry", family = "Onkelinx"))),
   year = 2023,
   url = "https://inbo.github.io/checklist/",
   abstract = "An opinionated set of rules for R packages and R source code projects.",
-  textVersion = "Onkelinx, Thierry (2023) checklist: A Thorough and Strict Set of Checks for R Packages and Source Code. Version 0.3.2. https://github.com/inbo/checklist/; https://inbo.github.io/checklist/",
+  textVersion = "Onkelinx, Thierry (2023) checklist: A Thorough and Strict Set of Checks for R Packages and Source Code. Version 0.3.3. https://github.com/inbo/checklist/; https://inbo.github.io/checklist/",
   keywords = "quality control; documentation; publication",
   doi = "10.5281/zenodo.4028303",
 )
diff --git a/inst/bookdown/index.Rmd b/inst/bookdown/index.Rmd
index 8ebf5d4a..00ded660 100644
--- a/inst/bookdown/index.Rmd
+++ b/inst/bookdown/index.Rmd
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 title: Dummy report for unit testing
 author:
   - name:
-      given: Josiah 
+      given: Josiah
       family: Carberry
     email: carberry@junk.com
     orcid: 0000-0002-1825-0097
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ reviewer:
     orcid: 0000-0002-1825-0097
     affiliation: Wesleyan University
 lang: nl
-keywords: "checklist; unit test"
-community: "inbo"
+keywords: checklist; unit test
+community: inbo
 publication_type: report
 funder: Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
 rightsholder: Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
diff --git a/inst/generic_template/gitignore b/inst/generic_template/gitignore
index 1b9dd10b..c9155065 100644
--- a/inst/generic_template/gitignore
+++ b/inst/generic_template/gitignore
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 .DS_Store
-.Rproj.user
-.Rhistory
 .RData
+.Renviron
+.Rhistory
+.Rproj.user
 .Ruserdata
 .httr-oauth
 *.dbf
diff --git a/inst/package_template/release.yml b/inst/package_template/release.yml
index 8445d7a5..3b2f57d3 100644
--- a/inst/package_template/release.yml
+++ b/inst/package_template/release.yml
@@ -19,10 +19,13 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
       - name: Get tag message
         run: |
-          TAG_BODY=$(git tag --contains ${{ github.sha }} -n100 | awk '(NR>1)')
-          echo "::set-output name=TAG_BODY::$TAG_BODY"
+          TAG=$(git tag --contains $(git rev-parse HEAD))
+          TAG_BODY=$(git tag --contains {{ github.sha }} -n100 | awk '(NR>1)')
+          echo "TAG=$TAG" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "TAG_BODY=$TAG_BODY" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
         id: tag-body
       - uses: ncipollo/release-action@v1
         with:
-          name: Release ${{ github.ref }}
+          name: Release ${{ steps.tag-body.outputs.TAG }}
+          tag: ${{ steps.tag-body.outputs.TAG }}
           body: ${{ steps.tag-body.outputs.TAG_BODY }}
diff --git a/man/ask_yes_no.Rd b/man/ask_yes_no.Rd
index e338cca2..44c2679b 100644
--- a/man/ask_yes_no.Rd
+++ b/man/ask_yes_no.Rd
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ Other utils:
 \code{\link{store_authors}()},
 \code{\link{use_author}()},
 \code{\link{validate_email}()},
+\code{\link{validate_orcid}()},
 \code{\link{yesno}()}
 }
 \concept{utils}
diff --git a/man/bookdown_zenodo.Rd b/man/bookdown_zenodo.Rd
index cd1adb12..897e0c09 100644
--- a/man/bookdown_zenodo.Rd
+++ b/man/bookdown_zenodo.Rd
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ Other utils:
 \code{\link{store_authors}()},
 \code{\link{use_author}()},
 \code{\link{validate_email}()},
+\code{\link{validate_orcid}()},
 \code{\link{yesno}()}
 }
 \concept{utils}
diff --git a/man/c_sort.Rd b/man/c_sort.Rd
index 6dfd12a4..e375db8f 100644
--- a/man/c_sort.Rd
+++ b/man/c_sort.Rd
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ Other utils:
 \code{\link{store_authors}()},
 \code{\link{use_author}()},
 \code{\link{validate_email}()},
+\code{\link{validate_orcid}()},
 \code{\link{yesno}()}
 }
 \concept{utils}
diff --git a/man/checklist.Rd b/man/checklist.Rd
index f6b22e96..1c94219e 100644
--- a/man/checklist.Rd
+++ b/man/checklist.Rd
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ A class which contains all checklist results.
 \seealso{
 Other class: 
 \code{\link{citation_meta}},
+\code{\link{organisation}},
 \code{\link{spelling}}
 }
 \concept{class}
diff --git a/man/citation_meta.Rd b/man/citation_meta.Rd
index fa9bea01..01b15acf 100644
--- a/man/citation_meta.Rd
+++ b/man/citation_meta.Rd
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ A class which contains citation information.
 \seealso{
 Other class: 
 \code{\link{checklist}},
+\code{\link{organisation}},
 \code{\link{spelling}}
 }
 \concept{class}
diff --git a/man/clean_git.Rd b/man/clean_git.Rd
index d3543632..92778c1d 100644
--- a/man/clean_git.Rd
+++ b/man/clean_git.Rd
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ Other utils:
 \code{\link{store_authors}()},
 \code{\link{use_author}()},
 \code{\link{validate_email}()},
+\code{\link{validate_orcid}()},
 \code{\link{yesno}()}
 }
 \concept{utils}
diff --git a/man/create_hexsticker.Rd b/man/create_hexsticker.Rd
index f06c1ac5..1eb8f31b 100644
--- a/man/create_hexsticker.Rd
+++ b/man/create_hexsticker.Rd
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ Other utils:
 \code{\link{store_authors}()},
 \code{\link{use_author}()},
 \code{\link{validate_email}()},
+\code{\link{validate_orcid}()},
 \code{\link{yesno}()}
 }
 \concept{utils}
diff --git a/man/defunct.Rd b/man/defunct.Rd
index 8c68d6e9..95c64d8d 100644
--- a/man/defunct.Rd
+++ b/man/defunct.Rd
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ Other utils:
 \code{\link{store_authors}()},
 \code{\link{use_author}()},
 \code{\link{validate_email}()},
+\code{\link{validate_orcid}()},
 \code{\link{yesno}()}
 }
 \concept{utils}
diff --git a/man/execshell.Rd b/man/execshell.Rd
index 67c2d940..a2220a3b 100644
--- a/man/execshell.Rd
+++ b/man/execshell.Rd
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ Other utils:
 \code{\link{store_authors}()},
 \code{\link{use_author}()},
 \code{\link{validate_email}()},
+\code{\link{validate_orcid}()},
 \code{\link{yesno}()}
 }
 \concept{utils}
diff --git a/man/is_repository.Rd b/man/is_repository.Rd
index a17f3788..ec650a2b 100644
--- a/man/is_repository.Rd
+++ b/man/is_repository.Rd
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ Other utils:
 \code{\link{store_authors}()},
 \code{\link{use_author}()},
 \code{\link{validate_email}()},
+\code{\link{validate_orcid}()},
 \code{\link{yesno}()}
 }
 \concept{utils}
diff --git a/man/is_workdir_clean.Rd b/man/is_workdir_clean.Rd
index e16111b9..2ae6578b 100644
--- a/man/is_workdir_clean.Rd
+++ b/man/is_workdir_clean.Rd
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ Other utils:
 \code{\link{store_authors}()},
 \code{\link{use_author}()},
 \code{\link{validate_email}()},
+\code{\link{validate_orcid}()},
 \code{\link{yesno}()}
 }
 \concept{utils}
diff --git a/man/menu_first.Rd b/man/menu_first.Rd
index 80d28f98..4e3bd0d3 100644
--- a/man/menu_first.Rd
+++ b/man/menu_first.Rd
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ Other utils:
 \code{\link{store_authors}()},
 \code{\link{use_author}()},
 \code{\link{validate_email}()},
+\code{\link{validate_orcid}()},
 \code{\link{yesno}()}
 }
 \concept{utils}
diff --git a/man/new_branch.Rd b/man/new_branch.Rd
index 49be2981..befa4869 100644
--- a/man/new_branch.Rd
+++ b/man/new_branch.Rd
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ Other utils:
 \code{\link{store_authors}()},
 \code{\link{use_author}()},
 \code{\link{validate_email}()},
+\code{\link{validate_orcid}()},
 \code{\link{yesno}()}
 }
 \concept{utils}
diff --git a/man/organisation.Rd b/man/organisation.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..242d1a8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/organisation.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/organisation_class.R
+\name{organisation}
+\alias{organisation}
+\title{The organisation R6 class}
+\description{
+A class with the organisation defaults
+}
+\seealso{
+Other class: 
+\code{\link{checklist}},
+\code{\link{citation_meta}},
+\code{\link{spelling}}
+}
+\concept{class}
+\section{Active bindings}{
+\if{html}{\out{<div class="r6-active-bindings">}}
+\describe{
+\item{\code{as_person}}{The default organisation funder and rightsholder.}
+
+\item{\code{get_community}}{The default organisation Zenodo communities.}
+
+\item{\code{get_email}}{The default organisation email.}
+
+\item{\code{get_funder}}{The default funder.}
+
+\item{\code{get_github}}{The default GitHub organisation domain.}
+
+\item{\code{get_organisation}}{The organisation requirements.}
+
+\item{\code{get_rightsholder}}{The default rightsholder.}
+}
+\if{html}{\out{</div>}}
+}
+\section{Methods}{
+\subsection{Public methods}{
+\itemize{
+\item \href{#method-organisation-new}{\code{organisation$new()}}
+\item \href{#method-organisation-print}{\code{organisation$print()}}
+\item \href{#method-organisation-clone}{\code{organisation$clone()}}
+}
+}
+\if{html}{\out{<hr>}}
+\if{html}{\out{<a id="method-organisation-new"></a>}}
+\if{latex}{\out{\hypertarget{method-organisation-new}{}}}
+\subsection{Method \code{new()}}{
+Initialize a new \code{organisation} object.
+\subsection{Usage}{
+\if{html}{\out{<div class="r">}}\preformatted{organisation$new()}\if{html}{\out{</div>}}
+}
+
+}
+\if{html}{\out{<hr>}}
+\if{html}{\out{<a id="method-organisation-print"></a>}}
+\if{latex}{\out{\hypertarget{method-organisation-print}{}}}
+\subsection{Method \code{print()}}{
+Print the \code{organisation} object.
+\subsection{Usage}{
+\if{html}{\out{<div class="r">}}\preformatted{organisation$print(...)}\if{html}{\out{</div>}}
+}
+
+\subsection{Arguments}{
+\if{html}{\out{<div class="arguments">}}
+\describe{
+\item{\code{...}}{currently ignored.}
+}
+\if{html}{\out{</div>}}
+}
+}
+\if{html}{\out{<hr>}}
+\if{html}{\out{<a id="method-organisation-clone"></a>}}
+\if{latex}{\out{\hypertarget{method-organisation-clone}{}}}
+\subsection{Method \code{clone()}}{
+The objects of this class are cloneable with this method.
+\subsection{Usage}{
+\if{html}{\out{<div class="r">}}\preformatted{organisation$clone(deep = FALSE)}\if{html}{\out{</div>}}
+}
+
+\subsection{Arguments}{
+\if{html}{\out{<div class="arguments">}}
+\describe{
+\item{\code{deep}}{Whether to make a deep clone.}
+}
+\if{html}{\out{</div>}}
+}
+}
+}
diff --git a/man/read_checklist.Rd b/man/read_checklist.Rd
index 9f09eb77..fb4f7f24 100644
--- a/man/read_checklist.Rd
+++ b/man/read_checklist.Rd
@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ The checklist package stores configuration information in the \code{checklist.ym
 file in the root of a project.
 This function reads this configuration.
 It is mainly used by the other functions inside the package.
+If no \code{checklist.yml} file is found at the path,
+the function walks upwards through the directory structure until it finds
+such file.
+The function returns an error when it reaches the root of the disk without
+finding a \code{checklist.yml} file.
 }
 \seealso{
 Other both: 
diff --git a/man/spelling.Rd b/man/spelling.Rd
index 4e4dca9a..6e67caca 100644
--- a/man/spelling.Rd
+++ b/man/spelling.Rd
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ A class with the configuration for spell checking
 \seealso{
 Other class: 
 \code{\link{checklist}},
-\code{\link{citation_meta}}
+\code{\link{citation_meta}},
+\code{\link{organisation}}
 }
 \concept{class}
 \section{Active bindings}{
diff --git a/man/store_authors.Rd b/man/store_authors.Rd
index 0ee053c6..03b5610b 100644
--- a/man/store_authors.Rd
+++ b/man/store_authors.Rd
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ Other utils:
 \code{\link{orcid2person}()},
 \code{\link{use_author}()},
 \code{\link{validate_email}()},
+\code{\link{validate_orcid}()},
 \code{\link{yesno}()}
 }
 \concept{utils}
diff --git a/man/use_author.Rd b/man/use_author.Rd
index b4036b7c..4132a779 100644
--- a/man/use_author.Rd
+++ b/man/use_author.Rd
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ Other utils:
 \code{\link{orcid2person}()},
 \code{\link{store_authors}()},
 \code{\link{validate_email}()},
+\code{\link{validate_orcid}()},
 \code{\link{yesno}()}
 }
 \concept{utils}
diff --git a/man/validate_email.Rd b/man/validate_email.Rd
index 8aa1b28c..ac2b80f6 100644
--- a/man/validate_email.Rd
+++ b/man/validate_email.Rd
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ Other utils:
 \code{\link{orcid2person}()},
 \code{\link{store_authors}()},
 \code{\link{use_author}()},
+\code{\link{validate_orcid}()},
 \code{\link{yesno}()}
 }
 \concept{utils}
diff --git a/man/validate_orcid.Rd b/man/validate_orcid.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..13761dc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/validate_orcid.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/use_author.R
+\name{validate_orcid}
+\alias{validate_orcid}
+\title{Validate the structure of an ORCID id}
+\usage{
+validate_orcid(orcid)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{orcid}{A vector of ORCID}
+}
+\value{
+A logical vector with the same length as the input vector.
+}
+\description{
+Checks whether the ORCID has the proper format and the checksum.
+}
+\seealso{
+Other utils: 
+\code{\link{ask_yes_no}()},
+\code{\link{bookdown_zenodo}()},
+\code{\link{c_sort}()},
+\code{\link{clean_git}()},
+\code{\link{create_hexsticker}()},
+\code{\link{execshell}()},
+\code{\link{is_repository}()},
+\code{\link{is_workdir_clean}()},
+\code{\link{menu_first}()},
+\code{\link{new_branch}()},
+\code{\link{orcid2person}()},
+\code{\link{store_authors}()},
+\code{\link{use_author}()},
+\code{\link{validate_email}()},
+\code{\link{yesno}()}
+}
+\concept{utils}
diff --git a/man/yesno.Rd b/man/yesno.Rd
index c27068f7..03c3f7c9 100644
--- a/man/yesno.Rd
+++ b/man/yesno.Rd
@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ Other utils:
 \code{\link{orcid2person}()},
 \code{\link{store_authors}()},
 \code{\link{use_author}()},
-\code{\link{validate_email}()}
+\code{\link{validate_email}()},
+\code{\link{validate_orcid}()}
 }
 \author{
 Hadley Wickham \href{mailto:Hadley@Rstudio.com}{Hadley@Rstudio.com}
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_a_author.R b/tests/testthat/test_a_author.R
index 1b7b16fc..9520b28d 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test_a_author.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_a_author.R
@@ -1,11 +1,17 @@
 library(mockery)
 test_that("author tools", {
+  stub(ask_orcid, "readline", mock(""))
+  expect_equal(ask_orcid(), "")
+  stub(ask_orcid, "readline", mock("junk", "0000-0002-1825-0097"))
+  expect_equal(ask_orcid(), "0000-0002-1825-0097")
+
   root <- tempfile("author")
   expect_false(is_dir(root))
   expect_is(stored_authors(root), "data.frame")
   expect_true(is_dir(root))
   expect_is(stored_authors(root), "data.frame")
-  stub(new_author, "readline", mock("John", "Doe", "", "", ""))
+  stub(new_author, "readline", mock("John", "Doe", "", ""))
+  stub(new_author, "ask_orcid", "")
   expect_output(new_author(current = data.frame(), root = root))
   expect_true(file_exists(path(root, "author.txt")))
   current <- stored_authors(root)
@@ -44,22 +50,24 @@ test_that("author tools", {
   })
   expect_equal(ab, badge)
 
-  stub(update_author, "menu", mock(3, 6))
-  stub(update_author, "readline", "john@doe.com", depth = 2)
-  expect_output(update_author(current = current, selected = 1, root = root))
-  current$email <- "john@doe.com"
-  expect_identical(current, stored_authors(root))
-
+  org <- organisation$new()
   stub(update_author, "menu", mock(5, 6))
-  stub(update_author, "readline", "University of Life", depth = 2)
+  stub(
+    update_author, "readline", org$get_organisation[["inbo.be"]]$affiliation[1],
+    depth = 2
+  )
   expect_output(update_author(current = current, selected = 1, root = root))
-  current$affiliation <- "University of Life"
+  current$affiliation <- org$get_organisation[["inbo.be"]]$affiliation[1]
   expect_identical(current, stored_authors(root))
   badge <- paste0(
     "[Doe, John![ORCID logo](https://info.orcid.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/",
-    "11/orcid_16x16.png)](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1825-0097)[^aut][^UL]"
+    "11/orcid_16x16.png)]",
+    "(https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1825-0097)[^aut][^inbo.be]"
+  )
+  attr(badge, "footnote") <- c(
+    "[^aut]: author",
+    paste("[^inbo.be]:", org$get_organisation[["inbo.be"]]$affiliation[1])
   )
-  attr(badge, "footnote") <- c("[^aut]: author", "[^UL]: University of Life")
   expect_output({
     ab <- author2badge()
   })
@@ -69,8 +77,22 @@ test_that("author tools", {
   })
   expect_is(ap, "person")
 
+  stub(update_author, "menu", mock(3, 6))
+  stub(update_author, "readline", "noreply@inbo.be", depth = 2)
+  expect_output(update_author(current = current, selected = 1, root = root))
+  current$email <- "noreply@inbo.be"
+  expect_identical(current, stored_authors(root))
+  expect_output({
+    ap <- author2person()
+  })
+  expect_is(ap, "person")
+
   expect_null(coalesce(NULL))
   expect_identical(coalesce(NULL, "a"), "a")
   expect_identical(coalesce(NULL, "a", "b"), "a")
   expect_identical(coalesce("a", NULL, "b"), "a")
+
+  stub(new_author, "readline", mock("Jane", "Doe", "noreply@inbo.be"))
+  stub(new_author, "ask_orcid", mock("", "0000-0002-1825-0097"))
+  expect_output(new_author(current, root = root))
 })
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_a_organisation.R b/tests/testthat/test_a_organisation.R
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..eb84267a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_a_organisation.R
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+test_that("organisation class", {
+  org <- organisation$new()
+  expect_output(print(org), regexp = "rightsholder")
+})
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_a_read_checklist.R b/tests/testthat/test_a_read_checklist.R
index 68dce3b3..f40e7eee 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test_a_read_checklist.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_a_read_checklist.R
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 test_that("read_checklist works", {
   target <- tempfile("checklist")
-  dir.create(target)
-  # no checklist.yml
+  dir_create(target)
+  defer(dir_delete(target))
+  checklist$new(target, language = "en-GB", package = FALSE) |>
+    write_checklist()
   suppressMessages(expect_is(x <- read_checklist(target), "checklist"))
   expect_identical(read_checklist(x), x)
   expect_identical(x$get_path, path_real(target))
@@ -11,5 +13,4 @@ test_that("read_checklist works", {
   expect_length(x$.__enclos_env__$private$allowed_notes, 0)
   expect_length(x$.__enclos_env__$private$allowed_warnings, 0)
   expect_identical(x$default, "en-GB")
-  unlink(target, recursive = TRUE)
 })
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_b_check_environment.R b/tests/testthat/test_b_check_environment.R
index a60d68d1..b6b19f92 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test_b_check_environment.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_b_check_environment.R
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 test_that("check_environment() works", {
   tmp_dir <- tempfile()
-  dir.create(tmp_dir)
+  dir_create(tmp_dir)
   defer(file_delete(tmp_dir))
+  checklist$new(tmp_dir, language = "en-GB", package = FALSE) |>
+    write_checklist()
   old_gha <- Sys.getenv("GITHUB_ACTIONS")
   old_codecov <- Sys.getenv("CODECOV_TOKEN")
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_b_check_filename.R b/tests/testthat/test_b_check_filename.R
index b5c09973..ab46cabe 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test_b_check_filename.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_b_check_filename.R
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ test_that("check_filename() works", {
   path <- tempfile("check_filename")
   dir_create(path)
   defer(unlink(path, recursive = TRUE))
+  checklist$new(path, language = "en-GB", package = FALSE) |>
+    write_checklist()
 
   # fail on white space in folder names
   dir_create(path(path, "with space"))
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_c_create_package.R b/tests/testthat/test_c_create_package.R
index 3c970468..76597b3d 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test_c_create_package.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_c_create_package.R
@@ -4,7 +4,10 @@ test_that("create_package() works", {
   maintainer <- person(
     given = "Thierry", family = "Onkelinx", role = c("aut", "cre"),
     email = "thierry.onkelinx@inbo.be",
-    comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0001-8804-4216")
+    comment = c(
+      ORCID = "0000-0001-8804-4216",
+      affiliation = "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)"
+    )
   )
   path <- tempfile("create_package")
   dir.create(path)
@@ -25,7 +28,8 @@ test_that("create_package() works", {
 
   r_user_dir <- tempfile("author")
   dir.create(r_user_dir)
-  stub(new_author, "readline", mock("John", "Doe", "john@doe.com", "", ""))
+  stub(new_author, "readline", mock("John", "Doe", "john@doe.com", ""))
+  stub(new_author, "ask_orcid", mock(""))
   expect_output(new_author(current = data.frame(), root = r_user_dir))
   stub(store_authors, "R_user_dir", r_user_dir)
   expect_invisible(store_authors(repo))
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_d_check_license.R b/tests/testthat/test_d_check_license.R
index ba83943a..af646b53 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test_d_check_license.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_d_check_license.R
@@ -42,11 +42,13 @@ test_that("check_license() works", {
   git_config_set(name = "user.email", value = "junk@inbo.be", repo = repo)
   gert::git_commit("initial commit", repo = repo)
 
+  org <- organisation$new()
   mit <- readLines(path(repo, "LICENSE.md"))
   expect_identical(
     mit[3],
-    paste0("Copyright (c) ", format(Sys.Date(), "%Y"),
-           " Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)")
+    sprintf(
+      "Copyright (c) %s %s", format(Sys.Date(), "%Y"), org$get_rightsholder
+    )
   )
   expect_identical(
     file.exists(path(repo, "LICENSE")),
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_d_check_spelling.R b/tests/testthat/test_d_check_spelling.R
index 38f2394d..386bcfc9 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test_d_check_spelling.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_d_check_spelling.R
@@ -123,7 +123,8 @@ test_that("check_spelling() on a project", {
 
   r_user_dir <- tempfile("author")
   dir.create(r_user_dir)
-  stub(new_author, "readline", mock("John", "Doe", "john@doe.com", "", ""))
+  stub(new_author, "readline", mock("John", "Doe", "john@doe.com", ""))
+  stub(new_author, "ask_orcid", mock(""))
   expect_output(new_author(current = data.frame(), root = r_user_dir))
   stub(create_project, "R_user_dir", r_user_dir, depth = 5)
   stub(create_project, "readline", "test")
@@ -137,9 +138,10 @@ test_that("check_spelling() on a project", {
     }
   )
 
-  path(path, "spelling", "bookdown") |>
+  path(path, "spelling", "source", "bookdown") |>
     dir_create()
-  path(path, "spelling", "bookdown", c("_bookdown.yml", "test.Rproj")) |>
+  path |>
+    path("spelling", "source", "bookdown", c("_bookdown.yml", "test.Rproj")) |>
     fs::file_create()
 
   stub(store_authors, "R_user_dir", r_user_dir)
@@ -182,7 +184,8 @@ test_that("check_spelling() on a project", {
 
   r_user_dir <- tempfile("author")
   dir.create(r_user_dir)
-  stub(new_author, "readline", mock("John", "Doe", "john@doe.com", "", ""))
+  stub(new_author, "readline", mock("John", "Doe", "john@doe.com", ""))
+  stub(new_author, "ask_orcid", mock(""))
   expect_output(new_author(current = data.frame(), root = r_user_dir))
 
   hide_author <- tempfile(fileext = ".txt")
@@ -198,7 +201,8 @@ test_that("check_spelling() on a project", {
   sink()
   expect_is(check_project(path(path, "spelling"), quiet = TRUE), "checklist")
 
-  x <- read_checklist(path)
+  path(path, "spelling") |>
+    read_checklist() -> x
   stub(change_language_interactive, "menu", 3)
   stub(change_language_interactive2, "menu", 1, 2)
   expect_is(
@@ -325,6 +329,8 @@ test_that("check_spelling() works on a quarto project", {
   path <- tempfile("quarto")
   dir_create(path)
   defer(unlink(path, recursive = TRUE))
+  checklist$new(path, language = "en-GB", package = FALSE) |>
+    write_checklist()
   dir_create(path, "source")
   writeLines(
     c("project:", "  type: book"),
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_d_update_citation.R b/tests/testthat/test_d_update_citation.R
index 4393ceae..24962a85 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test_d_update_citation.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_d_update_citation.R
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 test_that("update_citation() works", {
   maintainer <- person(
     given = "Thierry", family = "Onkelinx", role = c("aut", "cre"),
-    email = "thierry.onkelinx@inbo.be"
+    email = "thierry.onkelinx@inbo.be",
+    comment = c(
+      ORCID = "0000-0001-8804-4216",
+      affiliation = "Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)"
+    )
   )
   path <- tempfile("citation")
   dir.create(path)
@@ -45,7 +49,8 @@ test_that("update_citation() works", {
 
   this_description <- desc(path(path, package))
   this_description$add_urls("https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4028303")
-  this_description$del_author("Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)")
+  org <- organisation$new()
+  this_description$del_author(org$get_rightsholder)
   this_description$add_author(given = "unit", family = "test", role = "ctb")
   this_description$add_author(given = "test", family = "unit", role = "cph")
   this_description$write(path(path, package))
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_e_bookdown_zenodo.R b/tests/testthat/test_e_bookdown_zenodo.R
index aa0fc377..47745f31 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test_e_bookdown_zenodo.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_e_bookdown_zenodo.R
@@ -29,12 +29,6 @@ test_that("bookdown_zenodo() works", {
     )
   )
   sink()
-  output <- readLines(zenodo_out)
-  output <- output[!grepl("\\|(\\s|=|\\.)+\\|", output, perl = TRUE)]
-  output <- output[!grepl("^(\\s|\\|)*$", output, perl = TRUE)]
-  output <- output[!grepl("pandoc.+--to.+--from.+--output", output)]
-  output <- output[!grepl("Nothing to remove", output)]
-  expect_length(output, 0)
   manager <- zen4R::ZenodoManager$new(sandbox = TRUE, token = sandbox_token)
   expect_true(
     manager$deleteRecord(x$record_id),
diff --git a/vignettes/path.Rmd b/vignettes/path.Rmd
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dbe186fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vignettes/path.Rmd
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+---
+title: "File paths in code"
+output: rmarkdown::html_vignette
+vignette: >
+  %\VignetteIndexEntry{File paths in code}
+  %\VignetteEngine{knitr::rmarkdown}
+  %\VignetteEncoding{UTF-8}
+---
+
+```{r setup, include = FALSE}
+library(knitr)
+opts_chunk$set(collapse = TRUE, comment = "#>")
+```
+
+## Do not use absolute file paths
+
+An absolute file path defines the location of a file or folder starting from the root of a disk.
+For example `C:\tmp\test.txt` on a Windows machine or `/tmp/test.txt` on a Unix machine.
+Using an absolute path in your code will likely break the code as soon as you run it on a different machine.
+Because that file or folder is probably located somewhere else on the other machine.
+
+`check_lintr()` looks for absolute paths in your code and turns them into an error.
+This check is optional (but strongly recommended) with `check_project()` and mandatory with `check_package()`.
+
+## Easiest solution: use relative paths within the project
+
+In `vignette("folder", package = "checklist")` we recommend what folder structure to use in an R project.
+
+We expect users to run the scripts with the base RStudio project as working directory.
+The base RStudio project is the one containing the `checklist.yml` file.
+Make every path relative to the location of this file.
+
+In case of **Rmarkdown** files, use paths relative to the location of the main Rmarkdown file.
+And make sure to work in an RStudio project at the location of that file.
+Note that you can have "nested" RStudio projects.
+
+Let's illustrate this with an example.
+We assume a base RStudio project with a `checklist.yml` file at its root.
+Suppose the main Rmarkdown file is `source/bookdown/index.Rmd`.
+We have an RStudio project at `source/bookdown`, so that the working directory is by default at this location.
+In one of the code chunks you want to read `data/observations.txt`.
+Then point the read function to `../../data/observations.txt`.
+`..` moves one step towards the root of the disk.
+The working directory within the Rmarkdown files will be `source/bookdown`.
+A single `..` points in this case at `source`.
+`../..` points from `source/bookdown` to the root of the project.
+Then we need to move up into the `data` folder by using `../../data`.
+
+Another option is to use the `get_path` method on the `checklist` object to get this location.
+Then use that information to define the absolute location of the files within the project.
+
+```{r checklist, eval = FALSE}
+library(checklist)
+x <- read_checklist()
+file.path(x$get_path, "data", "observations.txt")
+```
+
+## Alternative solution: use relative paths between projects
+
+Sometimes you need to store the data outside of the project.
+For example because several projects share the same data.
+In such case you can place the projects and the data in a shared folder structure.
+Then you can still rely on relative paths to point to the common data outside of the project.
+Note that this requires that every user complies to use the same structure.
+The maintainer should document this structure and give the user instructions on how to set up a project.
+A good example can be found in the [data storage vignette](https://inbo.github.io/n2khab/articles/v020_datastorage.html) of the [`n2khab`](https://inbo.github.io/n2khab/index.html) package.
+
+```
+superproject
+|-- shared_data
+|-- project_a
+  |-- source
+|-- project_b
+  |-- source
+```
+
+## Fallback solution: ask the user to specify the path
+
+This solution relies on setting a system variable on the computer of the user.
+Simply create a `.Renviron` text file at the root of the RStudio project.
+This file contains a list of key-value pairs as shown in the example below.
+Please choose a more suitable name than `MYPROJECT_DATA`.
+Using a project specific name minimises the potential of multiple projects using the same system variables.
+
+Content of `.Renviron`
+```
+MYPROJECT_DATA="C:\temp"
+```
+
+Starting the RStudio project will load the system variables set in `.Renviron`.
+Keep in mind that you need might a `.Renviron` in every RStudio project where you use this trick.
+
+Location of `.Renviron`
+```
+project_a
+|-- .Renviron
+|-- project_a.Rproj
+|-- data
+|-- source
+  |-- bookdown
+    |-- .Renviron
+    |-- bookdown.Rproj
+    |-- index.Rmd
+  |-- script.R
+```
+
+The following R code chunk illustrates how to read and use the system variable.
+Besides writing good documentation, you should check the content of the system variable.
+Your code should provide helpful errors when the user fails to set the correct system variable.
+In the example below we use `stopifnot()`.
+This function uses named expressions.
+Every expression must yield a single `TRUE` or `FALSE`.
+When the expression yields `FALSE`, the function returns an error using the name of the expression.
+When the expression yields `TRUE`, the code continues without a message.
+
+```{r sys-getenv, eval = FALSE}
+data_path <- Sys.getenv("MYPROJECT_DATA", NA)
+stopifnot(
+  "System variable `MYPROJECT_DATA` not set" = !is.na(data_path),
+  "`MYPROJECT_DATA` is not an existing directory" = file_test("-d", data_path)
+)
+file.path(data_path, "data", "observations.txt")
+```