diff --git a/src/DAMASK_abaqus.f b/src/DAMASK_abaqus.f
index 95f843ff7..4a5b3f698 100644
--- a/src/DAMASK_abaqus.f
+++ b/src/DAMASK_abaqus.f
@@ -43,30 +43,31 @@ subroutine DAMASK_interface_init
  
  implicit none
  integer, dimension(8) :: &
-   dateAndTime                                                                                      ! type default integer
+   dateAndTime
  integer :: lenOutDir,ierr
  character(len=256) :: wd
 
- call date_and_time(values = dateAndTime)
- write(6,'(/,a)') ' <<<+-  DAMASK_abaqus  -+>>>'
- write(6,'(/,a)') ' Roters et al., Computational Materials Science 158, 2018, 420-478'
- write(6,'(a,/)') ' https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commatsci.2018.04.030'
+ write(6,'(/,a)') ' <<<+-  DAMASK_abaqus init -+>>>'
 
- write(6,'(a,/)')              ' Version: '//DAMASKVERSION
+ write(6,'(/,a)') ' Roters et al., Computational Materials Science 158:420–478, 2018.'
+ write(6,'(a)')   ' https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commatsci.2018.04.030'
+
+ write(6,'(/,a)') ' Version: '//DAMASKVERSION
 
 ! https://github.com/jeffhammond/HPCInfo/blob/master/docs/Preprocessor-Macros.md
 #if __INTEL_COMPILER >= 1800
- write(6,*) 'Compiled with: ', compiler_version()
- write(6,*) 'Compiler options: ', compiler_options()
+ write(6,'(/,a)') 'Compiled with: '//compiler_version()
+ write(6,'(a)')   'Compiler options: '//compiler_options()
 #else
- write(6,'(a,i4.4,a,i8.8)') ' Compiled with Intel fortran version :', __INTEL_COMPILER,&
-                                                    ', build date :', __INTEL_COMPILER_BUILD_DATE
+ write(6,'(/,a,i4.4,a,i8.8)') ' Compiled with Intel fortran version :', __INTEL_COMPILER,&
+                                                      ', build date :', __INTEL_COMPILER_BUILD_DATE
 #endif
 
- write(6,*) 'Compiled on ', __DATE__,' at ',__TIME__
+ write(6,'(/,a)') ' Compiled on: '//__DATE__//' at '//__TIME__
 
- write(6,'(a,2(i2.2,a),i4.4)') ' Date: ',dateAndTime(3),'/',dateAndTime(2),'/', dateAndTime(1)
- write(6,'(a,2(i2.2,a),i2.2)') ' Time: ',dateAndTime(5),':', dateAndTime(6),':', dateAndTime(7)
+ call date_and_time(values = dateAndTime)
+ write(6,'(/,a,2(i2.2,a),i4.4)') ' Date: ',dateAndTime(3),'/',dateAndTime(2),'/', dateAndTime(1)
+ write(6,'(a,2(i2.2,a),i2.2)')   ' Time: ',dateAndTime(5),':', dateAndTime(6),':', dateAndTime(7)
 
  call getoutdir(wd, lenOutDir)
  ierr = CHDIR(wd)
@@ -75,8 +76,6 @@ subroutine DAMASK_interface_init
    call quit(1)
  endif
 
-#include "compilation_info.f90"  
-
 end subroutine DAMASK_interface_init
 
 
diff --git a/src/DAMASK_interface.f90 b/src/DAMASK_interface.f90
index 29596d0a0..16e7108f3 100644
--- a/src/DAMASK_interface.f90
+++ b/src/DAMASK_interface.f90
@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@ subroutine DAMASK_interface_init()
   use, intrinsic :: &
     iso_c_binding
   use PETScSys
+  use prec, only: &
+    pReal
   use system_routines, only: &
     signalusr1_C, &
     signalusr2_C, &
@@ -101,12 +103,14 @@ subroutine DAMASK_interface_init()
     threadLevel, &
 #endif
     worldrank = 0, &
-    worldsize = 0
+    worldsize = 0, &
+    typeSize
   integer, allocatable, dimension(:) :: &
     chunkPos
   integer, dimension(8) :: &
     dateAndTime
-  PetscErrorCode :: ierr
+  integer        :: mpi_err
+  PetscErrorCode :: petsc_err
   external :: &
     quit
 
@@ -117,16 +121,21 @@ subroutine DAMASK_interface_init()
 #ifdef _OPENMP
   ! If openMP is enabled, check if the MPI libary supports it and initialize accordingly.
   ! Otherwise, the first call to PETSc will do the initialization.
-  call MPI_Init_Thread(MPI_THREAD_FUNNELED,threadLevel,ierr);CHKERRQ(ierr)
+  call MPI_Init_Thread(MPI_THREAD_FUNNELED,threadLevel,mpi_err)
+  if (mpi_err /= 0) call quit(1)
   if (threadLevel<MPI_THREAD_FUNNELED) then
     write(6,'(a)') ' MPI library does not support OpenMP'
     call quit(1)
   endif
 #endif
-  call PETScInitialize(PETSC_NULL_CHARACTER,ierr)                                                   ! according to PETSc manual, that should be the first line in the code
-  CHKERRQ(ierr)                                                                                     ! this is a macro definition, it is case sensitive
-  call MPI_Comm_rank(PETSC_COMM_WORLD,worldrank,ierr);CHKERRQ(ierr)
-  call MPI_Comm_size(PETSC_COMM_WORLD,worldsize,ierr);CHKERRQ(ierr)
+  call PETScInitialize(PETSC_NULL_CHARACTER,petsc_err)                                              ! according to PETSc manual, that should be the first line in the code
+  CHKERRQ(petsc_err)                                                                                ! this is a macro definition, it is case sensitive
+
+  call MPI_Comm_rank(PETSC_COMM_WORLD,worldrank,mpi_err)
+  if (mpi_err /= 0) call quit(1)
+  call MPI_Comm_size(PETSC_COMM_WORLD,worldsize,mpi_err)
+  if (mpi_err /= 0) call quit(1)
+
   mainProcess: if (worldrank == 0) then
     if (output_unit /= 6) then
       write(output_unit,'(a)') ' STDOUT != 6'
@@ -141,29 +150,44 @@ subroutine DAMASK_interface_init()
     open(6,file='/dev/null',status='replace')                                                       ! close(6) alone will leave some temp files in cwd
   endif mainProcess
 
-  call date_and_time(values = dateAndTime)
   write(6,'(/,a)') ' <<<+-  DAMASK_interface init  -+>>>'
-  write(6,'(/,a)') ' Roters et al., Computational Materials Science 158, 2018, 420-478'
-  write(6,'(a,/)') ' https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commatsci.2018.04.030'
 
-  write(6,'(a,/)')              ' Version: '//DAMASKVERSION
+  write(6,'(/,a)') ' Roters et al., Computational Materials Science 158:420–478, 2018.'
+  write(6,'(a)')   ' https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commatsci.2018.04.030'
+
+  write(6,'(/,a)') ' Version: '//DAMASKVERSION
 
  ! https://github.com/jeffhammond/HPCInfo/blob/master/docs/Preprocessor-Macros.md
 #if defined(__GFORTRAN__) || __INTEL_COMPILER >= 1800
-  write(6,*) 'Compiled with: ', compiler_version()
-  write(6,*) 'Compiler options: ', compiler_options()
+  write(6,'(/,a)') 'Compiled with: '//compiler_version()
+  write(6,'(a)')   'Compiler options: '//compiler_options()
 #elif defined(__INTEL_COMPILER)
-  write(6,'(a,i4.4,a,i8.8)') ' Compiled with Intel fortran version :', __INTEL_COMPILER,&
-                                                     ', build date :', __INTEL_COMPILER_BUILD_DATE
+  write(6,'(/,a,i4.4,a,i8.8)') ' Compiled with Intel fortran version :', __INTEL_COMPILER,&
+                                                       ', build date :', __INTEL_COMPILER_BUILD_DATE
 #elif defined(__PGI)
-  write(6,'(a,i4.4,a,i8.8)') ' Compiled with PGI fortran version :', __PGIC__,&
-                                                                '.', __PGIC_MINOR__
+  write(6,'(a,i4.4,a,i8.8)')   ' Compiled with PGI fortran version :', __PGIC__,&
+                                                                  '.', __PGIC_MINOR__
 #endif
 
-  write(6,*) 'Compiled on ', __DATE__,' at ',__TIME__
+  write(6,'(/,a)') ' Compiled on: '//__DATE__//' at '//__TIME__
 
-  write(6,'(a,2(i2.2,a),i4.4)') ' Date: ',dateAndTime(3),'/',dateAndTime(2),'/', dateAndTime(1)
-  write(6,'(a,2(i2.2,a),i2.2)') ' Time: ',dateAndTime(5),':', dateAndTime(6),':', dateAndTime(7)
+  call date_and_time(values = dateAndTime)
+  write(6,'(/,a,2(i2.2,a),i4.4)') ' Date: ',dateAndTime(3),'/',dateAndTime(2),'/', dateAndTime(1)
+  write(6,'(a,2(i2.2,a),i2.2)')   ' Time: ',dateAndTime(5),':', dateAndTime(6),':', dateAndTime(7)
+
+  call MPI_Type_size(MPI_INTEGER,typeSize,mpi_err)
+  if (mpi_err /= 0) call quit(1)
+  if (typeSize*8 /= bit_size(0)) then
+    write(6,'(a)') ' Mismatch between MPI and DAMASK integer' 
+    call quit(1)
+  endif
+
+  call MPI_Type_size(MPI_DOUBLE,typeSize,mpi_err)
+  if (mpi_err /= 0) call quit(1)
+  if (typeSize*8 /= storage_size(0.0_pReal)) then
+    write(6,'(a)') ' Mismatch between MPI and DAMASK real' 
+    call quit(1)
+  endif
 
   call get_command(commandLine)
   chunkPos = IIO_stringPos(commandLine)
@@ -369,7 +393,7 @@ end function getLoadCaseFile
 function rectifyPath(path)
 
   implicit none
-  character(len=*) :: path
+  character(len=*)    :: path
   character(len=1024) :: rectifyPath
   integer :: i,j,k,l
 
diff --git a/src/DAMASK_marc.f90 b/src/DAMASK_marc.f90
index f7317c664..7cd1e2e47 100644
--- a/src/DAMASK_marc.f90
+++ b/src/DAMASK_marc.f90
@@ -54,32 +54,33 @@ subroutine DAMASK_interface_init
 
  implicit none
  integer, dimension(8) :: &
-   dateAndTime                                                                                      ! type default integer
+   dateAndTime
  integer :: ierr
  character(len=1024) :: wd
 
- call date_and_time(values = dateAndTime)
- write(6,'(/,a)') ' <<<+-  DAMASK_abaqus  -+>>>'
- write(6,'(/,a)') ' Roters et al., Computational Materials Science 158, 2018, 420-478'
- write(6,'(a,/)') ' https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commatsci.2018.04.030'
+ write(6,'(/,a)') ' <<<+-  DAMASK_marc init -+>>>'
 
- write(6,'(a,/)')              ' Version: '//DAMASKVERSION
+ write(6,'(/,a)') ' Roters et al., Computational Materials Science 158:420–478, 2018.'
+ write(6,'(a)')   ' https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commatsci.2018.04.030'
 
-! https://github.com/jeffhammond/HPCInfo/blob/master/docs/Preprocessor-Macros.md
+ write(6,'(/,a)') ' Version: '//DAMASKVERSION
+
+ ! https://github.com/jeffhammond/HPCInfo/blob/master/docs/Preprocessor-Macros.md
 #if __INTEL_COMPILER >= 1800
- write(6,*) 'Compiled with: ', compiler_version()
- write(6,*) 'Compiler options: ', compiler_options()
+  write(6,'(/,a)') 'Compiled with: '//compiler_version()
+  write(6,'(a)')   'Compiler options: '//compiler_options()
 #else
- write(6,'(a,i4.4,a,i8.8)') ' Compiled with Intel fortran version :', __INTEL_COMPILER,&
-                                                    ', build date :', __INTEL_COMPILER_BUILD_DATE
+  write(6,'(/,a,i4.4,a,i8.8)') ' Compiled with Intel fortran version :', __INTEL_COMPILER,&
+                                                       ', build date :', __INTEL_COMPILER_BUILD_DATE
 #endif
 
- write(6,*) 'Compiled on ', __DATE__,' at ',__TIME__
+ write(6,'(/,a)') ' Compiled on: '//__DATE__//' at '//__TIME__
 
- write(6,'(a,2(i2.2,a),i4.4)') ' Date: ',dateAndTime(3),'/',dateAndTime(2),'/', dateAndTime(1)
- write(6,'(a,2(i2.2,a),i2.2)') ' Time: ',dateAndTime(5),':', dateAndTime(6),':', dateAndTime(7)
+ call date_and_time(values = dateAndTime)
+ write(6,'(/,a,2(i2.2,a),i4.4)') ' Date: ',dateAndTime(3),'/',dateAndTime(2),'/', dateAndTime(1)
+ write(6,'(a,2(i2.2,a),i2.2)')   ' Time: ',dateAndTime(5),':', dateAndTime(6),':', dateAndTime(7)
 
- inquire(5, name=wd)                                                                                ! determine inputputfile
+ inquire(5, name=wd)
  wd = wd(1:scan(wd,'/',back=.true.))
  ierr = CHDIR(wd)
  if (ierr /= 0) then