One of the most glaring yet easily addressable gaps in our current scientific workflow and publication system is improving the way that methods are reported, in particular, the lack of key methodological details necessary for interpreting and reproducing a study. Most authors continue to cite the name of the reagent, like an antibody using the vendor, and the city where the vendor is located, but omit the catalog and lot number making antibodies very difficult to track down, thereby reducing reproducibility of the paper. The Resource Identification, RRID, Initiative has successfully implemented a solution to this lack of identification, by asking authors to include a persistent unique identifier (RRID) for each antibody along with a standard syntax that includes the lot information. This syntax is now required in about 100 journals and accepted in at least 400, was accepted into the EQUATOR network of standards and is under consideration by the JATS committee, the NISO standard for journal article metadata. For antibodies, RRIDs are assigned by the AntibodyRegistry.org, which accepts full catalogs from antibody companies and individual antibody records from authors, who are unable to locate the record for the antibody that they used in a study or one which they created in their lab. This process should be made as easy as possible for authors, and through text analysis we have devised a set of tools that should help authors create better records with less work. The AntibodyRegistry.org was created as part of an academic project and it has successfully incorporated millions of antibody records, thousands of which have now been cited in scientific papers using the RRID syntax. The use of RRID is growing, and in order to support the longer term sustainability of the AntibodyRegistry.org, a core community authority for RRIDs, this resource needs to be enhanced to align with the available commercial and non-commercial funding sources. We propose the addition of features, valuable to antibody companies and journals, to improve market intelligence and reporting around antibodies. We also propose to auto-generate antibody entries for authors and curators when submitting/curating an antibody to decrease the time it takes to complete the task, thereby reducing the barrier to entry and cost.

Public Health Relevance

The AntibodyRegistry.org is a catalog of antibodies used in research and serves as the antibody identifier source for the Research Resource Identifier (RRID) initiative. The use of these identifiers improves rigor and transparency in compliance with both journal and NIH standards. As the RRID initiative grows, the AntibodyRegistry.org is becoming an increasingly well-used and valuable resource; requiring increased attention from curation staff. Improvements to the AntibodyRegistry.org are needed to increase commercial value and thereby its sustainability, decrease curation cost, and provide a higher level of service to the scientific community.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Grants - Phase I (R41)
Project #
1R41GM131551-01
Application #
9680073
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1)
Program Officer
Anderson, Vernon
Project Start
2019-01-01
Project End
2019-06-30
Budget Start
2019-01-01
Budget End
2019-06-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2019
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Scicrunch, Inc.
Department
Type
DUNS #
080111340
City
San Diego
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
92122