The inaugural issue of Research Files, The Scar as Archive, explores concepts of marginalised flesh from a cultural, historical, political and personal perspective. By examining the marginalised body as an archive, this journal explores the tools and methods for preserving embodied knowledge and memory for the future. Through performance art, trans embodiment, religious ecstasy, the subversion of Catholic iconography, and autoethnography, it invites 18 contemporary artists and writers to reflect on the complexities of identity and the potential for reclamation.