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The Gaia-ESO Survey is a public spectroscopic survey that has targeted $\gtrsim10^5$ stars covering all major components of the Milky Way from the end of 2011 to 2018, delivering its public final release in May 2022. Unlike other spectroscopic surveys, Gaia-ESO is the only survey that observed stars across all spectral types with dedicated, specialised analyses: from O ($T_\mathrm{eff} \sim 30,000-52,000$~K) all the way to K-M ($\gtrsim$3,500~K). The physics throughout these stellar regimes varies significantly, which has previously prohibited any detailed comparisons between stars of significantly different type. In the final data release (internal data release 6) of the Gaia-ESO Survey, we provide the final database containing a large number of products such as radial velocities, stellar parameters and elemental abundances, rotational velocity, and also, e.g., activity and accretion indicators in young stars and membership probability in star clusters for more than 114,000 stars. The spectral analysis is coordinated by a number of Working Groups (WGs) within the Survey, which specialise in the various stellar samples. Common targets are analysed across WGs to allow for comparisons (and calibrations) amongst instrumental setups and spectral types. Here we describe the procedures employed to ensure all Survey results are placed on a common scale to arrive at a single set of recommended results for all Survey collaborators to use. We also present some general quality and consistency checks performed over all Survey results., A&A accepted, minor revision, 36 pages, 38 figures

We describe the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) as an archetypal mid-scale program, including the technical, scientific, and organizational aspects underpinning its success over the last twenty years. Based on the SDSS experience, we present six recommendations that the funding mechanisms for mid-scale programs should be designed to ensure the adoption of these recommendations. Publisher PDF Non