# ConductScience Open Field Test Analyzer: method and validation record

This record fixes the calculation behind the free Open Field Test Analyzer at https://conductscience.com/tools/open-field-test-analyzer, and the worked examples that check it.

## What the tool computes

From tracked positions of each animal in a square, rectangular or round arena:

- distance travelled and mean velocity;
- time in the center zone, % center time and center entries;
- a thigmotaxis index, the % of time in the band along the walls;
- the same measures in equal time bins, and group means, SDs and SEMs.

## Files

| File | Contents |
| --- | --- |
| `METHODS.md` | Formulas, zone definitions, conventions, references, and changes from the page before this record |
| `cases.json`, `cases.csv` | The worked examples: inputs, expected outputs and where each expected answer comes from |
| `validation-report.json` | The engine's output for every case, pass or fail, and the SHA-256 of each engine file |
| `engine/` | The calculation source files the report fingerprints (when included) |
| `data_dictionary.csv` | Columns of `cases.csv` |
| `CITATION.cff`, `LICENSE`, `MANIFEST.json` | Citation metadata, licence, and byte count and SHA-256 of every file |

## How to cite

ConductScience. ConductScience Open Field Test Analyzer [software]. 2026. https://doi.org/10.55157/csd.tool.openfield.2026.001

In a methods section: "Distance travelled, time in a center zone covering [25]% of the arena, center entries and time within the outer 10% of the arena were calculated from tracked positions with the ConductScience Open Field Test Analyzer (https://doi.org/10.55157/csd.tool.openfield.2026.001)."