diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 6a6cac2..ac31a2a 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ Collate:
     'collapse_2_rgn.R'
     'data.R'
     'read_git_csv.R'
+    'score_check.R'
     'shp_to_geojson.R'
     'trace_git_csv_value.R'
     'mapvalues.R'
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index c5fee0c..01b71b7 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ export(read_git_csv)
 export(score.clamp)
 export(score.max)
 export(score.rescale)
+export(score_check)
 export(shp_to_geojson)
 export(trace_git_csv_value)
 exportClasses(Conf)
diff --git a/R/CalculatePressuresAll.R b/R/CalculatePressuresAll.R
index 0c5cf5a..9d21003 100644
--- a/R/CalculatePressuresAll.R
+++ b/R/CalculatePressuresAll.R
@@ -37,14 +37,16 @@ CalculatePressuresAll <- function(layers, conf) {
                      paste(unique(p_categories$subcategory), collapse = ', ')))
 
   ### error if the config.R weighting files are not actually included in the the data
-  obs_data <- SelectLayersData(layers, layers = p_element$layer) %>%
-    .$layer %>%
-    unique()
-  exp_data <- unique(p_element$layer)
-  dif <- setdiff(exp_data, obs_data)
-  if (length(dif) > 0) {
-    stop(sprintf('weighting data layers identified in config.r do not exist; please update layers.csv and layers folder to include: %s',
-         paste(dif, collapse = ', ')))
+  if ( !is.null(p_element) ) {
+    obs_data <- SelectLayersData(layers, layers = p_element$layer) %>%
+      .$layer %>%
+      unique()
+    exp_data <- unique(p_element$layer)
+    dif <- setdiff(exp_data, obs_data)
+    if (length(dif) > 0) {
+      stop(sprintf('weighting data layers identified in config.r do not exist; please update layers.csv and layers folder to include: %s',
+                   paste(dif, collapse = ', ')))
+    }
   }
 
   ### error if pressure categories deviate from "ecological" and "social"
diff --git a/R/score_check.R b/R/score_check.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7c12b2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/score_check.R
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+#' score_check
+#' 
+#' Used to error check scores after addition of new data by comparing current scores to a previous commit. 
+#' Outpurs are saved in a file withing the github repository called "check scores". 
+#'  Outputs include 1) an interactive html plot to examine the change 
+#' (current score minus previous score) in all score dimensions (status, trend, resilience, pressure, future) 
+#' across all goals/subgoals; 2) a static png plot of the interactive html plot; 3) a csv file with the 
+#' current and previous scores; 4) a comparison of the NA scores     
+#' 
+#' @param scenario_year  if there are multiple scenario years with an assessment, choose the year of interest 
+#' @param commit  commit that the current scores are compared to ('previous' for last commit or 7 digit SHA, e.g., '4da6b4a')
+#' @param file_name  descriptive name used to save file outputs
+#' @param save_csv  TRUE/FALSE, to save a csv file of the data
+#' @param save_png  TRUE/FALSE, save static png file of interactive plot
+#' @param NA_compare  TRUE/FALSE, compares the NA values between the datasets
+#'
+#' @return Returns an interactive html plot of the change in scores (current score - previous score) for all score 
+#'         dimensions and goals/subgoals.  Other outputs can also be saved.
+#'#' 
+#'
+#' @keywords ohicore
+#' @examples
+#' \dontrun{
+#' } 
+#' @export
+
+
+score_check = function(scenario_year, commit="previous", 
+                       file_name, save_csv=FALSE, save_png=FALSE, NA_compare=TRUE){
+  
+  cat("Wait for it....this takes a few seconds \n\n")
+  
+  path_components <- unlist(strsplit(getwd(), "/"))
+  scenario_name <- path_components[length(path_components)]
+  repo_name <- path_components[length(path_components) -1]
+  repo_path <- paste(path_components[1:(length(path_components)-1)], collapse = '/')
+  scenario_path <- paste(path_components[1:(length(path_components))], collapse = '/')
+  
+  # get commit SHA
+  if(commit=="previous"){
+    commit2 = substring(git2r::commits(git2r::repository(repo_path))[[1]]@sha, 1, 7)
+  } else{
+    if (commit == "final_2014"){
+      commit2 = '4da6b4a'
+    } else {commit2 = commit}
+  }
+  
+  
+  # Get repository name
+  tmp <- git2r::remote_url(git2r::repository(repo_path))
+  org <- stringr::str_split(tmp, "/")[[1]][4]
+  
+  
+  # get data from previous commit
+  data_old <- read.csv(file.path("https://raw.githubusercontent.com", org, repo_name, commit2, scenario_name, "scores.csv")) %>%
+    dplyr::rename(old_score=score) 
+  
+  # create dummy year variable if there is no year variable in the data
+  if(sum(names(data_old)=="year") < 1){
+    
+    data_new <- read.csv("scores.csv") %>%
+      dplyr::left_join(data_old, by=c('goal', 'dimension', 'region_id')) %>%
+      dplyr::mutate(year = substring(date(), 21, 24)) %>%  # uses current year as year
+      dplyr::mutate(change = score-old_score)
+    
+    scenario_year <- substring(date(), 21, 24)
+    
+  } else{
+    data_new <- read.csv("scores.csv") %>%
+      dplyr::left_join(data_old, by=c('year', 'goal', 'dimension', 'region_id')) %>%
+      dplyr::mutate(change = score-old_score)
+    
+  }
+  
+  ## get region names, if available (this needs to be called "regions_list" and located in the "spatial" folder)
+  if(length(list.files("spatial", pattern="regions_list.csv"))>0){
+    
+    rgns <- read.csv("spatial/regions_list.csv", stringsAsFactors = FALSE) %>%
+      dplyr::select(region_id = rgn_id, rgn_name)
+    
+    data_new <- data_new %>%
+      dplyr::left_join(rgns, by="region_id") %>%
+      dplyr::mutate(rgn_name = ifelse(region_id == 0, "Region", rgn_name))
+  } else{
+    data_new$rgn_name = ""
+  }
+  
+  suppressWarnings(
+    p <- ggplot2::ggplot(filter(data_new, year==scenario_year), aes(x=goal, y=change, color=dimension)) +
+      #geom_point(shape=19, size=1) +
+      theme_bw() + 
+      theme(axis.text.x = element_text(angle = 90, hjust = 1)) + 
+      labs(title=paste("Score compared to commit:", commit, sep=" "), y="Change in score", x="") +
+      scale_x_discrete(limits = c("Index", "AO", "SPP", "BD", "HAB", "CP", "CS", "CW", "FIS", "FP", 
+                                  "MAR", "ECO", "LE", "LIV", "NP", "LSP", "SP", "ICO", "TR")) +
+      scale_colour_brewer(palette="Dark2") +
+      geom_jitter(aes(text=paste0("rgn = ", region_id, "\n", rgn_name)), position = position_jitter(width=0.2, height=0), shape=19, size=1)
+  )
+  
+  plotly_fig <- plotly::ggplotly(p, width = 800, height = 450)
+  htmlwidgets::saveWidget(plotly::as_widget(plotly_fig), "tmp_file.html", selfcontained=TRUE)
+  
+  # Function to save files in particular place  
+  my.file.rename <- function(from, to) {
+    todir <- dirname(to)
+    if (!isTRUE(file.info(todir)$isdir)) dir.create(todir, recursive=TRUE)
+    file.rename(from = from,  to = to)
+  }
+  
+  my.file.rename(from = "tmp_file.html",
+                 to = file.path('score_check', paste0(file_name, "_score_check_", Sys.Date(), '.html')))
+  
+  cat("An interactive plot in the 'score_check' folder has been created \n")
+  
+  if(save_png){
+    ggplot2::ggsave(file.path('score_check', paste0(file_name, "_check_plot_", Sys.Date(), '.png')), width=8, height=5)
+    cat("A png plot has been saved in the 'score_check' folder \n")
+  }
+  
+  if(save_csv){
+    write.csv(data_new, file.path('score_check', paste0(file_name, "_diff_data_", Sys.Date(), '.csv')), row.names=FALSE)
+    cat("A csv file comparing the scores has been saved in the 'score_check' folder \n")
+  }
+  
+  if(NA_compare){
+    data_NA <- data_new %>%
+      filter(year == scenario_year) %>%
+      mutate(NA_same = ifelse(is.na(score) & is.na(old_score), 1, 0)) %>%
+      mutate(NA_new = ifelse(is.na(score), 1, 0)) %>%
+      mutate(NA_old = ifelse(is.na(old_score), 1, 0)) %>%
+      mutate(diff_new = NA_new - NA_same) %>%
+      mutate(diff_old = NA_old - NA_same) %>%
+      summarize(new = sum(diff_new),
+                old = sum(diff_old))
+    
+    cat("\n NA check results: \n")
+    
+    if(sum(data_NA) == 0){
+      cat(sprintf("Excellent! The number of NA values in %s has not changed! \n", scenario_year))
+    } else{
+      cat(sprintf("The new version of data has an additional %s missing values compared to the previous version \n
+                  The previous version of data has an additional %s missing values compared to the new version \n
+                  Examine the .csv file in the 'score_check' folder to determine where these discrepancies occur", 
+                  data_NA$new, data_NA$old))
+    }
+  }
+  
+}
+
diff --git a/man/CalculateGoalIndex.Rd b/man/CalculateGoalIndex.Rd
index e5b2624..94f5c17 100644
--- a/man/CalculateGoalIndex.Rd
+++ b/man/CalculateGoalIndex.Rd
@@ -42,13 +42,13 @@ Parameters:
 
 \dontrun{
 ## run a model with 50 regions using random data,
-## using 5 year 1-percent discount rate and beta=0.67
+## using 5 year 1-percent discount rate and beta = 0.67
 require(ohi)
-d <- ohi.model.goal(id=1:50, 
-                    status=runif(50, 0, 1), 
-                    trend=runif(50, -1, 1), 
-                    resilience=runif(50, 0, 1), 
-                    pressure=runif(50, 0, 1), 
+d <- ohi.model.goal(id = 1:50, 
+                    status = runif(50, 0, 1), 
+                    trend = runif(50, -1, 1), 
+                    resilience = runif(50, 0, 1), 
+                    pressure = runif(50, 0, 1), 
                     DISCOUNT = (1 + 0.01)^-5,
                     BETA = 0.67,
                     default_trend = 0.0) 
diff --git a/man/score_check.Rd b/man/score_check.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fbbcf04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/score_check.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/score_check.R
+\name{score_check}
+\alias{score_check}
+\title{score_check}
+\usage{
+score_check(scenario_year, commit = "previous", file_name, save_csv = FALSE,
+  save_png = FALSE, NA_compare = TRUE)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{scenario_year}{if there are multiple scenario years with an assessment, choose the year of interest}
+
+\item{commit}{commit that the current scores are compared to ('previous' for last commit or 7 digit SHA, e.g., '4da6b4a')}
+
+\item{file_name}{descriptive name used to save file outputs}
+
+\item{save_csv}{TRUE/FALSE, to save a csv file of the data}
+
+\item{save_png}{TRUE/FALSE, save static png file of interactive plot}
+
+\item{NA_compare}{TRUE/FALSE, compares the NA values between the datasets}
+}
+\value{
+Returns an interactive html plot of the change in scores (current score - previous score) for all score 
+        dimensions and goals/subgoals.  Other outputs can also be saved.
+#'
+}
+\description{
+Used to error check scores after addition of new data by comparing current scores to a previous commit. 
+Outpurs are saved in a file withing the github repository called "check scores". 
+ Outputs include 1) an interactive html plot to examine the change 
+(current score minus previous score) in all score dimensions (status, trend, resilience, pressure, future) 
+across all goals/subgoals; 2) a static png plot of the interactive html plot; 3) a csv file with the 
+current and previous scores; 4) a comparison of the NA scores
+}
+\examples{
+\dontrun{
+} 
+}
+\keyword{ohicore}