Protocol articles

Laboratory protocol

What is a laboratory protocol?

A laboratory protocol is a short peer reviewed article containing a detailed, predefined set of written instructions that outlines the steps and use case for conducting specific experimental or analytical procedures (including computational analysis).

Laboratory Protocols should be submitted for publication after the research activity has been completed, and the results achieved. For large prospective research projects, for example clinical trials, see Study Protocol.

What are the benefits of publishing a laboratory protocol?

Enhances research reproducibility

Improves the reproducibility of results
Provides detailed instructions that enable other scientists to replicate experiments accurately

Develops research skills

Facilitates the transfer of technical knowledge between research groups
Equips new laboratory or research team members with essential skills through detailed documentation
Serves as a training resource for students and early-career researchers

Increases recognition for researchers

Increases credit and recognition when other researchers use and reference your protocols
Enables others to build upon your methodological innovations

Reduces research waste

Streamlines processes and improves accuracy in laboratory procedures
Reduces errors through standardized documentation
Prevents wasted resources by helping other researchers avoid unsuccessful approaches

How do I write a laboratory protocol?

Your study protocol paper should include the following sections.

Abstract

Summarize the purpose of the protocol
Briefly describe the main procedures
Indicate applications and limitations

Keywords

Read making your article more discoverable, including information on choosing a title and search engine optimization.

Main body

Introduction

Provide scientific background and context
Explain the purpose and significance of the protocol
Compare with existing methods, highlighting advantages
Describe applications and limitations

Materials and methods

Include details of required equipment, materials and reagents that researchers running the protocol would need to use.

List all reagents, equipment, and supplies with specifications such as manufacturer, catalog url, SKU code
Specify critical reagent properties (e.g. grade, purity). Use RRIDs where appropriate
Note safety considerations and warnings for running the protocol
Include critical parameters and settings for instruments/systems, including any custom set up
Include software versions and settings where applicable
Provide diagrams or photographs of complex setups

Procedure

Present steps in chronological order using numbered format
Highlight critical steps and potential failure point
Provide troubleshooting guidance for common issues
Provide estimated time requirements for each major section (Include preparation time, hands-on time, and waiting periods), and note steps that can be paused or are time-sensitive

Expected results

This should include information about the outcome of the protocol.

Include evidence that the protocol works, either in a supporting peer-reviewed publication where the protocol was used, or validation data from an experiment which used the protocol
Describe what successful results look like (for example, typical images, likely yield)
Include representative images, graphs, or data
Explain how to interpret and analyze raw data and results

Declaration of interests

This is to acknowledge any financial or non-financial interest that has arisen from the direct applications of your research. Further guidance on what is a conflict of interest and how to disclose it.

Data availability

Authors of laboratory protocols are required to provide a data availability statement (DAS), detailing where data associated with the paper can be found and how it can be accessed. If data cannot be made open, authors should state why in the data availability statement. This should include the hyperlink, DOI or other persistent identifier associated with the data set(s). Templates are also available to support authors.

References

You must reference all sources, including your dataset(s).

Tables and figures

Figures must be supplied in one of our preferred file formats: PS, JPEG, TIFF, or Microsoft Word (DOC or DOCX) files are acceptable for figures that have been drawn in Word. For information relating to other file types, please consult our Submission of electronic artwork.

Tables should present new information rather than duplicating what is in the text. Readers should be able to interpret the table without reference to the text.

Further resources

Article types

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