Contributing a Tool
Thank you in advance for your contribution to the NF Research Tools Database! By sharing information about a tool, you will help the NF research community discover the tools that exist to support their research. We are currently accepting submissions of information about the following research tools: animal models, cell lines, antibodies, genetic reagents, and biobanks.
Please note: Contributed information on research tools and associated observations will be made publicly available in the NF Research Tools Database. All contributions should abide by the Synapse Code of Conduct and adhere to the resource submission rubric below.
To submit a tool to the NF Research Tools Database, please complete the steps below and contact us at nf-osi@sagebionetworks.org with any questions:
1. Contact Us
Navigate to our help portal. Click “NF Research Tools Database”, then click “Submit a Research Tool,” and complete the prompts to provide the following information about the tool(s) you would like to submit:
Which type of research tool(s) are you submitting information for?
Animal model
Cell line
Antibody
Genetic reagent
Biobank
How many tools will you be submitting? If more than one, please specify how many submissions you will include for each type of tool.
Are you the lead investigator that developed the tool(s)? If not, who is?
Does the tool(s) you are submitting have any associated publications, such as a publication related to its development or usage? If so, please provide the DOI or PubMed ID for each publication.
Will you be providing any information about the research applications of the tool(s)? (such as a Western blot, immunohistochemistry, etc.)
Click “Send” to submit this information. We will respond with any follow-up questions and to request additional information, depending on the resource(s) to be contributed. We will also send a list of spreadsheets, called “manifests,” to be filled out by you, the contributor. Please refer to Step 2 below for additional details on completing these manifests.
2. Complete Resource Manifests
We will provide Google spreadsheet templates (“manifests”) that will allow you to provide information about the tools.
Please note: You may download the manifest as an excel file (File > Download > Microsoft Excel), but we have not extensively tested functionality in Excel. If you encounter any issues filling in the manifest in Excel, please contact us at nf-osi@sagebionetworks.org.
Complete the manifests, taking into consideration the following:
Manifests are spreadsheets where each row pertains to a research tool and each column represents a different attribute, or information collected about each research tool. To see a brief description of each attribute within a manifest, or column, hover your mouse over the column name in the spreadsheet.
Each type of research tool includes multiple manifests, depending on the scope of information you are submitting. For example, if you are submitting an antibody and you know the publication information, but you do not have information about the funder, investigator, or vendor(s) that carry the antibody, you would submit three manifests: Resource, Antibody, and Publication. We will help you determine which manifests you will need to fill out.
Note on columns that end in “_id”: Columns such as Resource_id, Investigator_id, are unique values (UUIDs) that indicate a unique entry in the database. You do not need to fill in columns that end in “_id.”
The information provided in each manifest must pass validation in a program called “Schematic” (to be performed by Sage following manifest submission). To ensure successful validation by Schematic, the information provided should adhere to the following standards outlined in each manifest:
Many of the columns have controlled values, thus, you will only be able to choose from the given values. These columns will have dropdown menus listing the terms you may choose from. If a list of valid values is provided in the manifest as a drop down menu, only those exact terms can be included. If you do not see a term that fits your submission, please contact us by email to let us know that you would like a new term added.
Multiple values can be provided by using a comma to separate them (e.g. ELISA, Western Blot). If more than one value is provided for a single attribute field, then the terms must be separated by commas.
Standards are followed based on the attribute descriptions (e.g. protein variation for mutations follows the nomenclature mentioned in the column descriptions - hover over the column name in the manifest to see the description).
If submitting an antibody please see the epitope formatting standard.
3. Submit Manifests
Prior to submission, perform a QC check to ensure that the information you have provided in each manifest adheres to the following resource submission rubric:
Resource Submission Requirement | Additional Information |
|---|---|
All manifests are free of any protected health information (PHI) | No PHI has been included in any information in any completed manifest(s). Any contributed information has been provided in accordance with the regulations of local jurisdictions in order to protect the privacy of human subjects. |
All manifests that the contributor is able to complete have been completed, depending on the type of resource(s) to be contributed | The manifests to be completed will vary depending on the information that the contributor has provided in their initial correspondence to Sage, and the resource(s) to be contributed. We will send you all of the necessary manifests you will need to complete depending on the information you provided. For reference, please see the list of potential manifests to be completed for each resource type in Appendix A. AT MINIMUM:
|
Each manifest includes information for all of the required attributes | Information has been provided for all required attributes, highlighted in blue in each manifest. |
Each manifest is as complete as possible | The contributor has provided as much information as possible, including information for non-required attributes. |
Unique identifiers align across each manifest | The various identifiers match up correctly across the manifests for each resource type (e.g. Animal Model_id in the Animal Model manifest matches Animal Model_id in the Resource manifest, etc.). Please contact us if you have any questions about this. |
Each manifest includes information in English | The information has been provided in English, which is the language of the database. If submitting information in another language we will try to help translate into English, but we cannot promise that we will be able to do this. |
Each manifest includes information that is respectful | Information has been provided that is respectful in content and presentation (e.g. no derogatory or disparaging content). |
Send us back the completed manifests as a Google doc, Excel doc, or CSV export. We will be in contact with any questions and appreciate your contribution!
Questions? Need Help?
Please feel free to contact us at nf-osi@sagebionetworks.org or by using the “Need more help?” button in the corner of this page.
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