STAR methods - Key resources table

Empowering reproducible methodologies through structured, transparent and accessible reporting

There is a growing need for clarity and transparency of methods so that researchers can find new ideas and can replicate experiments to build on further.

To help authors achieve this transparency, Cell Press opens in new tab/window successfully introduced the Key Resources Table as a key part of STAR methods, listing all essential details of resources used in the research. Now, we automatically extract methodological meta-data from your manuscript and create a draft Key Resources Table for you, saving you valuable time and effort.

Benefits for authors:

• Making your research transparent and credible for fellow researchers.

• Making your research reproducible in the future for you and your fellow researchers.

Benefits for readers:

• Making replication easier, helping you propel your own research.

Interesting read: article on Retraction Watch opens in new tab/window, published by Anita Bandrowski about how a typo in a catalog number in a scientific paper was caught, partly because the STAR methods format was used.

What is the Key Resources Table (KRT) and how to complete?

The KRT highlights the genetically modified organisms and strains, cell lines, reagents, software, and source data essential to reproduce results presented in the manuscript. Depending on the nature of the study, this may include standard laboratory materials (i.e., food chow for metabolism studies), but the KRT is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all materials and resources used (e.g., essential chemicals such as SDS, sucrose, or standard culture media don't need to be listed in the KRT).

Before submitting the form provided to you in the submission system, please review these guidelines:

General

• Items in the KRT must also be reported in the method details section of the STAR methods text.

• Please note that ALL references cited in the KRT must be included in the manuscript's References list.

Reagent or Resource

• Provide the full descriptive names of items so that they can be identified and linked with their description in the manuscript (e.g., provide version number for software, host source for antibody, strain name, etc.).

Source

• Report the company, manufacturer, or individual that provided the item or where the item can be obtained (e.g., stock center or repository).

• For materials distributed by Addgene, please cite the article describing the plasmid and include "Addgene" as part of the Identifier.

• If an item is from another lab, please include the name of the principal investigator and a citation if it has been previously published.

• If the material is being reported for the first time in the current paper, please indicate as "this paper".

Identifier

• Include catalog numbers (entered in the column as "Cat#" followed by the number, e.g., Cat#3879S).

• Where available, please include unique entities such as RRIDs opens in new tab/window, Model Organism Database numbers, accession numbers, and PDB or CAS IDs. For software or data resources, please include the URL where the resource can be downloaded. Please see the Elsevier list of Data Repositories opens in new tab/window with automated bidirectional linking for details.

• When listing more than one identifier for the same item, use semicolons to separate them (e.g., Cat#3879S; RRID: AB_2255011).

• If an identifier is not available, please enter "N/A" in the column.

• A note about RRIDs: Elsevier highly recommends using RRIDs as the identifier (in particular for antibodies and organisms, but also for software tools and databases).

For more details on how to obtain or generate an RRID for existing or newly generated resources, please visit the RII opens in new tab/window or search for RRIDs opens in new tab/window.