diff --git a/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/asset/constants.ts b/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/asset/constants.ts
index 2ae6071e..b5e4a64f 100644
--- a/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/asset/constants.ts
+++ b/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/asset/constants.ts
@@ -2,4 +2,6 @@ export const MANIFEST_FILE = 'manifest.json'
 
 export const LICENSE_FILE = 'LICENSE'
 
+export const README_FILE = 'README.md'
+
 export const DOMAIN_METADATA_FILE = 'metadata/domainMetadata.json'
diff --git a/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/constants/errors.ts b/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/constants/errors.ts
index 87a6c14f..f0cf20d5 100644
--- a/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/constants/errors.ts
+++ b/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/constants/errors.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ export const ERRORS = {
   ASSET_INVALID: 'Asset validation failed',
   ASSET_FILE_NOT_FOUND: 'No valid metadata.json found',
   FILES_NOT_FOUND: 'File(s) not found',
+  README_FILE_NOT_FOUND: 'README.md file not found',
   NOT_ALLOWED_TO_DELETE_ASSET: 'Not allowed to delete asset',
   MINTED_ASSET_CANNOT_BE_DELETED: 'Minted asset cannot be deleted',
 }
diff --git a/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/validator/shacl/shacl.test.ts b/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/validator/shacl/shacl.test.ts
index c6bee913..585ad3c1 100644
--- a/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/validator/shacl/shacl.test.ts
+++ b/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/validator/shacl/shacl.test.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ describe('common/validator/shacl', () => {
     it('Should return a valid result', async () => {
       // when ... we want to validate a asset file
       const file = 'ZIP'
+      const validateReadmeStub = jest.fn().mockResolvedValue('FILE_NAME')
       const validateManifestStub = jest.fn().mockResolvedValue({
         conforms: true,
         data: {
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ describe('common/validator/shacl', () => {
         validateDomainMetadata: validateDomainMetadataStub,
         checkIfAllFilesInManifestExists: checkIfAllFilesInManifestExistsStub,
         countAmountOfFilesInZip: countAmountOfFilesInZipStub,
+        validateReadme: validateReadmeStub,
       })(file as any)
 
       expect(validateManifestStub).toHaveBeenCalledWith('ZIP')
diff --git a/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/validator/shacl/shacl.ts b/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/validator/shacl/shacl.ts
index 01493228..469408c8 100644
--- a/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/validator/shacl/shacl.ts
+++ b/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/validator/shacl/shacl.ts
@@ -5,18 +5,18 @@ import { all, equals, has, isEmpty, keys, omit, pipe } from 'ramda'
 import ValidationReport from 'rdf-validate-shacl/src/validation-report'
 
 import { countAmountOfFilesInZip, extractFromFile, read } from '../../archive'
-import { MANIFEST_FILE } from '../../asset/constants'
+import { MANIFEST_FILE, README_FILE } from '../../asset/constants'
 import { Manifest } from '../../asset/types'
 import { getAllManifestLinksAndFormatPaths, getDomainMetadataPath } from '../../asset/validateAndCreateMetadata.utils'
 import { ERRORS } from '../../constants'
 import { CONTEXT_DROP_SCHEMAS } from './shacl.constants'
 import { ContentType, Schema, ValidationSchema } from './shacl.types'
 import {
-  addManifestAndReadMeFiles,
   fetchShaclSchema,
   formatFilesErrorMessage,
   loadDataset,
   parseStreamToDataset,
+  subtractManifestAndReadMeFiles,
   validateShacl,
 } from './shacl.utils'
 
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ export const _validateShaclFile =
     validateDomainMetadata,
     checkIfAllFilesInManifestExists,
     countAmountOfFilesInZip,
+    validateReadme,
   }: {
     validateManifest: (file: File) => Promise<{ conforms: boolean; data: any }>
     validateDomainMetadata: (file: File, manifest: Manifest) => Promise<{ conforms: boolean; data: any }>
@@ -34,9 +35,19 @@ export const _validateShaclFile =
       manifest: Manifest,
     ) => Promise<{ errors: { error: string }[]; amount: number }>
     countAmountOfFilesInZip: (file: File) => Promise<number>
+    validateReadme: (file: File) => Promise<boolean>
   }) =>
   async (file: File) => {
     try {
+      const readmeExists = await validateReadme(file)
+      if (!readmeExists) {
+        return {
+          isValid: false,
+          data: {},
+          error: ERRORS.README_FILE_NOT_FOUND,
+        }
+      }
+
       const { conforms: manifestConforms, data: manifest } = await validateManifest(file)
       const manifestFiles = await checkIfAllFilesInManifestExists(file, manifest)
 
@@ -49,13 +60,13 @@ export const _validateShaclFile =
       }
 
       const amountOfFilesInZip = await countAmountOfFilesInZip(file)
-      const allowedAmountOfFiles = addManifestAndReadMeFiles(manifestFiles.amount)
+      const amountWithoutManifestAndReadme = subtractManifestAndReadMeFiles(amountOfFilesInZip)
 
-      if (!equals(amountOfFilesInZip)(allowedAmountOfFiles)) {
+      if (!equals(amountWithoutManifestAndReadme)(manifestFiles.amount)) {
         return {
           isValid: false,
           data: {},
-          error: `${amountOfFilesInZip} files found, should be ${allowedAmountOfFiles} files`,
+          error: `${amountWithoutManifestAndReadme} files found, should be ${manifestFiles.amount} files`,
         }
       }
 
@@ -144,6 +155,22 @@ export const validateManifest = _validateManifest({
   validateShaclSchema,
 })
 
+export const _validateReadme =
+  ({ getShaclDataFromZip }: { getShaclDataFromZip: (file: File, fileName: string) => Promise<string> }) =>
+  async (file: File) => {
+    try {
+      await getShaclDataFromZip(file, README_FILE)
+
+      return true
+    } catch {
+      return false
+    }
+  }
+
+export const validateReadme = _validateReadme({
+  getShaclDataFromZip,
+})
+
 export const _validateDomainMetadata =
   ({
     getShaclDataFromZip,
@@ -229,6 +256,7 @@ export const validateShaclFile = _validateShaclFile({
   validateManifest,
   checkIfAllFilesInManifestExists,
   countAmountOfFilesInZip,
+  validateReadme,
 })
 
 export const _validateShaclDataWithSchema =
diff --git a/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/validator/shacl/shacl.utils.test.ts b/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/validator/shacl/shacl.utils.test.ts
index 11cd5b9a..c4fa9a80 100644
--- a/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/validator/shacl/shacl.utils.test.ts
+++ b/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/validator/shacl/shacl.utils.test.ts
@@ -75,8 +75,8 @@ describe('common/validator/shacl/shacl.utils', () => {
     expect(result).toEqual(expected)
   })
 
-  describe('addManifestAndReadMeFiles', () => {
-    const result = SUT.addManifestAndReadMeFiles(12)
+  describe('subtractManifestAndReadMeFiles', () => {
+    const result = SUT.subtractManifestAndReadMeFiles(16)
 
     expect(result).toEqual(14)
   })
diff --git a/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/validator/shacl/shacl.utils.ts b/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/validator/shacl/shacl.utils.ts
index b5a8a5c5..17eb75af 100644
--- a/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/validator/shacl/shacl.utils.ts
+++ b/apps/envited.ascs.digital/common/validator/shacl/shacl.utils.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { DatasetCore, Quad } from '@rdfjs/types'
 import rdf, { DefaultEnv } from '@zazuko/env'
 import { Dataset } from '@zazuko/env/lib/Dataset'
-import { add, join, map, pipe } from 'ramda'
+import { flip, join, map, pipe, subtract } from 'ramda'
 import rdfParser, { RdfParser } from 'rdf-parse'
 import SHACLValidator from 'rdf-validate-shacl'
 import { Readable } from 'stream'
@@ -66,4 +66,4 @@ export const formatFilesErrorMessage = (errors: { error: string }[]) =>
     (x: string) => `${ERRORS.FILES_NOT_FOUND} - ${x}`,
   )(errors)
 
-export const addManifestAndReadMeFiles = add(2)
+export const subtractManifestAndReadMeFiles = flip(subtract)(2)