Great news for all sciNote users! sciNote is now integrated with protocols.io, a collaborative research platform that is taking the process of scientific discovery to the next level by allowing researchers to share protocols, communicate possible corrections and optimize research methods.
Available for every scientist today, this open access repository of research protocols is both free to read and free to publish.
“The motivation for our effort goes back to the beginning of my postdoc at MIT. I spent a year and a half correcting a single step of a microscopy method. It turned out that instead of a microliter of an enzyme we needed 5 and instead of a 15-minute incubation we needed an hour. However, as this discovery was not a new technique but a correction of a previously-published method, I had no way to get credit for this work. More importantly, all of the scientists using this method would either get misleading results or would have to waste 1-2 years re-discovering what I know.” Lenny Teytelman, cofounder of protocols.io
Protocols.io users can now import a protocol from protocols.io into sciNote in a very simple way.
If you are not using the protocols.io platform yet, starting is easy. You can create your free account here.
Why is this platform so interesting?
Protocols.io brings a lot of value to the scientists. As it is nicely described on their website, the aim of this open access protocol repository is to allow users to:
- discover and share science methods.
- create private or public protocols using a rich set of components such as reagents, timers, software packages, datasets and more.
- create or join research groups on protocols.io to develop new methods in a collaborative working environment.
- run protocols and record progress step by step, on the web or mobile devices.
How does it all work?
Once you’re logged in your protocols.io account, search for a protocol of your interest and click "Export" button. Choose JSON file format from the drop down menu.
Then go to your sciNote account and open Protocol management, which is the second icon from the left at the top menu bar of the dashboard. Select between Public protocols or Private protocols tab and then click "Import protocol" button.
Choose a protocols.io file from your computer and click "Upload file".
After that a preview window of the protocol displays. In the first protocol step all the basic information of protocol.io file is included (such as abstract, guidelines, protocol description, publish date, vendor name, etc.) and the rest of the content is arranged between the other protocol steps. To load the protocol into Protocol management, click the "Import" button at the bottom.
Your protocol also includes the name of the author, usually a person who publishes the protocol at the protocols.io platform. You can add names of other authors as well.
Enjoy using it!
We are always glad to hear your comments and feedback; all ideas are more than welcome so don’t hesitate to contact us and share your thoughts.
