OpenWetWare:Nature Methods article

8 days till submission!

Title

OpenWetWare Protocols: an open-access online protocol resource for biological researchers.

Manuscript Type

Brief correspondence - 400 words maximum oops we are over this by around 20 words. Some help with shortening it perhaps...

Authors

Corresponding Author: James Hadfield, CRUK Cambridge Research Institute, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0RE. Tel: +44 (0)1223 404250; Fax: +44 (0)1223 404208; email: james.hadfield@cancer.org.uk.
OpenWetWare steering committee: http://openwetware.org/wiki/OpenWetWare:Steering_committee_members

Note: This paper is being written and edited by any number of authors and the submission will be made after at least three OWW steering committee members agree it is ready. I am pretty sure this is not something that has been done before and we would like to be the first to use this method of writing and submission. It could prove a very useful way of creating methods and review articles.

• Jamesh008 04:59, 10 November 2006 (EST): I think this is ready to submit.
  • Jasonk 12:32, 10 November 2006 (EST) DNA Ligation should also be in really good shape before we submit, probably.
  • Sri Kosuri (talk) 14:44, 10 November 2006 (EST): I made changes to the structure of the text... I think it still needs work, but is a better place to start than the current text. Please see the talk page. If people like it, we should replace the current text. If not, we should continue talking.

Article

OpenWetWare (http://openwetware.org) is a wiki (see box 1) promoting the sharing of information, know-how, and experience among scientific researchers and groups working in biological science and engineering [1]. The site provides a place for groups and individuals to organize their own information and to collaborate easily and efficiently. For example, this article was written collaboratively on the wiki. OpenWetWare is open for anyone to view but requires registration to edit. Registration ensures that all edits are attributable to a known individual. All content is freely reusable under either a Creative-Commons Attribution Sharealike or GFDL license.

OpenWetWare:Protocols contains protocols ranging from plasmid minipreps to isolation of murine splenocytes [2]. Protocols are organized in a similar style to a Nature Methods 'recipe book' and can be printed for use at the bench. Both individual and consensus protocols are available. Individual protocols are specific to the lab or person who wrote them and are not necessarily written to be easily followed by researchers unfamiliar with them. In practice, however, most protocols are written to be shared within at least a lab group, and so are often clear enough to provide a useful starting point. Consensus protocols are intended for scientists trained in basic laboratory techniques but unfamiliar with the particular experimental approach. They represent a community consensus for a particular protocol.

In contrast to other, more traditional protocols books like Molecular Cloning, anyone with an OpenWetWare account can edit protocols [3]. Thus, the community can update and amend protocols more rapidly than most paper or online protocol reference sources permit, enabling protocols to remain current with best practices. The DNA ligation protocols on OpenWetWare offer a useful example of both lab-specific and consensus protocols [4].

OpenWetWare is a growing community and we encourage researchers to join and contribute to the dissemination of biological knowledge.

Box1

What is a wiki: A wiki is a type of website that allows users to easily add or edit content [5]. This makes wikis an effective tool for collaborative authoring. Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, is the most famous example. The open style of wikis which allows any user to edit most pages is a cause for concern for some. However, for the scientific community, we see this as enabling the free flow of ideas and information. Furthermore, all wikis maintain a revision history for every page to allow reversion of edits, track page development and deal with any mistaken or malicious edits. This historical log is especially important for the sciences where new, possibly incorrect, information is continuously discovered.

References

1. OpenWetWare: http://openwetware.org/

2. Protocols: http://openwetware.org/wiki/Protocols

3. ISBN:0-87969-577-3

4. OpenWetWare: DNA ligation http://openwetware.org/wiki/DNA_Ligation.

5. ISBN:020171499X