Love Methods Week

Why are methods so important?

• Methods are one of the most valuable outputs that researchers create. In many fields, others may be more likely to reuse, and cite, your methods than your data.
• Reproducibility starts with methods. If others don’t know what you did, they can’t reproduce your research.
• We can’t reuse open or FAIR data responsibly if we don’t know how they were generated. We need to share methods along with data to facilitate reuse.

Love Methods Week will take place two weeks before Love Data Week. Learn how to share open, reusable methods. In addition to improving your own research, this will help others to reuse your methods and your data responsibly.

Why should I join "Love Methods Week"?

Attend hands-on virtual workshops, webinars, or in-person activities. You’ll learn how to:

• Write a reusable, step-by-step protocol
• Deposit a reusable step-by-step protocol in a public repository, or publish a method or protocol in a peer-reviewed journal
• Version or fork a reusable step-by-step protocol
• Write a study design protocol
• Pre-register a study
• Cite your reusable step-by-step protocol, study design protocol, or pre-registration in your research paper
• Use reporting guidelines to improve your methods reporting
• Use research resource identifiers (RRIDs) to tell others exactly what materials you used
• Use methodological shortcut citations responsibly
• Cite your protocols and describe your methods when sharing your data

Schedule of events

In person events: Berlin
 

How to peer review the methods section of articles in biomedical journals & lessons for authors  (Tuesday January 30, 1-4pm CET, in person, CCO Auditorium, Virchowweg 6, Charité Campus Mitte)

This session is a spin-off of the semester-long “Peerspectives” training program at Charité and is specifically tailored to early-career researchers and doctoral students, including those with little or no prior publishing or peer review experience. Emphasizing the importance of thoughtful review of methods, we will guide you through interactive lectures and group exercises that will get you thinking like a peer reviewer and editor. You will not only learn how to give effective feedback on Methods sections you review but also how to improve your own writing. We will share firsthand insights from listening in on editorial meetings at the BMJ and introduce you to tools you can use as a guide while drafting your own peer review reports.
Instructors: Jessica Rohmann, Toivo Glatz
 

Protocol depositing drop-in session (Wednesday January 31, 2-6pm CET, in person, Berlin Mitte)

Do you already have a reusable step-by-step protocol? During this in person drop-in session in Berlin, participants will work on uploading their protocols to the protocol repository protocols.io. You don’t need to attend the entire time – stop by at whatever time works for you, and stay as long as you like.
Preparation: Sign up for a free account on protocols.io before the workshop
What to bring: A reusable step-by-step protocol (electronic copy, paper printout, or book page) and a laptop (tablets are not recommended)
Location: BIH QUEST Center for Responsible Research, Spreepalais am Dom, Anna-Louisa-Karsch-Str. 2, 10178 Berlin
Instructors: Tracey Weissgerber, René Bernard
 

Tips for writing a methods or protocol article for publication (Friday February 2, 3-5pm CET, Berlin Mitte)

Preparing a manuscript for peer review and formal publication can be a rewarding way of showcasing your method, yet it presents unique challenges as these articles are typically dense with detailed and layered information. Nature Protocols, for example, offers a range of article types (such as Protocols, Extensions, Updates, Tutorials and Expert Recommendations) which cater for different cases. This workshop will cover how to prepare a proposal (presubmission inquiry) and then write a full version of the manuscript. For both manuscript stages, the starting material will most likely be the protocol document that your research group is currently using at the bench or computer. 
Preparation: Write a sentence (or two) about what you find most useful in methods or protocol documents from other research groups.
What to bring: Your protocol starting material - the instructions or guidelines that you follow while doing the experiment, or the method section from a recent research paper or thesis.
Location: BIH QUEST Center for Responsible Research, Spreepalais am Dom, Anna-Louisa-Karsch-Str. 2, 10178 Berlin
Instructors: Bronwen Dekker (Senior editor Springer Nature); Tracey Weissgerber

Online events
 

Use reporting guidelines (Monday January 29, 12-1:30pm CET, online)

Use reporting guidelines when writing and reporting your research to make your methods more transparent and reproducible. During this interactive workshop, you’ll find out which reporting guideline applies to your research, and use that reporting guideline to improve your methods section or study plan.
Preparation: This will be a flipped workshop. Please watch this video prior to attending the workshop, so that we can spend time during the workshop applying what you’ve learned.
What to bring: Your methods section or study plan 
Instructors: Tracey Weissgerber, René Bernard

 

Using directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) to identify potential biases in observational studies (Monday January 29, 2-3:30pm CET / 8-9:30am US EST, online)

Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) are tools that can be used to transparently depict assumptions about the causal structure underlying observed data. They are widely used in observational epidemiological research and are increasingly implemented across applied clinical research disciplines and even in the preclinical setting. By illustrating relationships between relevant variables, DAGs can help us detect even less intuitive biases and inform strategies for their mitigation. If you have ever wondered how to select a set of covariates needed to control for confounding or whether you should worry about selection bias in your study and don’t yet know about DAGs, this crash course is for you!
Preparation: None required.
Instructor: Jessica Rohmann

 

Write my protocol (Monday January 29, 5-8pm CET / 11am-2pm US EST, online)

Work on drafting a reusable step-by-step protocol, or improving an existing protocol, and depositing your protocol on the protocol repository protocols.io. We’ll start with a 12-minute exercise to help you to structure your protocol and capture important information; then you’ll have time to work and get feedback from the instructors and other participants.
Preparation: Sign up for a free account on protocols.io before the workshop
What to bring: A procedure that you’d like to draft a reusable step-by-step protocol for, or a draft protocol (if you already have one)
Instructors: Tracey Weissgerber, René Bernard 
 

Using the PRO-MaP guidelines to improve the clarity of methods and protocols in the life sciences (Tuesday, January 30, 11am-12pm CET, online)

The PRO-MaP guidelines outline actions that researchers, researcher institutions and departments, publishers and editors and funders can take to improve reporting of methods and reusable step by step protocols in the life sciences (https://osf.io/x85gh). In this webinar, we’ll briefly review and discuss the guidelines.
Instructor: Tracey Weissgerber
 

Using Research Resource Identifiers (Tuesday January 30, 6-7pm CET / 12-1pm US EST, online) 

Does your research use antibodies, cell lines, plasmids, model organisms (e.g., mice, rats, flies), or software and tools? Research resource identifiers (RRIDs) are unique persistent identifiers that allow you to specify exactly what materials you used. RRIDs stay the same, even if catalog numbers or supplier websites change, the supplier is bought out by another company, or the product is discontinued. In this interactive workshop, you’ll look up RRIDs for materials that you use in your research and add them to your methods section or materials ordering list.
What to bring:  Your methods section, or a list of materials used in your own research or by members of your research group.
Pro tip:  Adding RRIDs to your paper is easy but tedious. We'll use an automated tool called SciScore to make things easy.
Facilitator: Anita Bandrowski

 

Write my protocol (Thursday February 1, 9am-12pm CET, online)

Start drafting a reusable step-by-step protocol, or improving an existing protocol, and depositing your protocol on the protocol repository protocols.io. We’ll start with a 12-minute exercise to help you to structure your protocol and capture important information; then you’ll have time to work and get feedback from the instructors and other participants.
Preparation: Sign up for a free account on protocols.io before the workshop
What to bring: A procedure that you’d like to draft a reusable step-by-step protocol for, or a draft protocol (if you already have one)
Instructors: Tracey Weissgerber, René Bernard

 

Pre-register my study (Thursday February 1, 2-5pm CET / 8-11am US EST, online)

Preregistration is a crucial step in research methodology applicable across fields. We discuss the significance of preregistration for enhancing transparency, reducing bias, and fostering robust scientific practices. Bring your current or upcoming research questions, as we delve into hands-on activities to guide you through the process of preregistration, ensuring your studies are founded on transparent and well-defined methodologies.
What to bring: A draft of your study protocol, if you have one
Instructor: Rima-Maria Rihal
 

Constructive review of methods and protocols (Thursday February 1, 6 pm-7pm / 12-1pm US EST, online)

Nature Protocols sends a list of questions to guide peer-reviewers through the process of providing a constructive report; in a separate stage, the editor asks further questions to help the author provide clearer and more detailed information. This webinar will start with an overview of the guidelines for peer review for Nature Protocols and the rationale for our choice of questions. This will be followed by a discussion of the process of reading and assessing a method or protocol with the aim of sharing ideas on how to improve the quality of method descriptions.
Preparation: Read the guide to reviewers and jot down any other questions you ask yourself when reading a method or protocol.
Instructors: Bronwen Dekker, (Senior editor Springer Nature), Tracey Weissgerber, René Bernard
 

How to use methodological shortcut citations responsibly (Friday February 2, 12-1pm CET, online) 

Researchers use a methodological shortcut citation when they cite another resource that used the method, instead of fully describing the method. Shortcut citations can be very informative when they are used responsibly. However, they can also cause problems for others who want to use the method if the cited resource doesn’t provide adequate detail, is inaccessible, or doesn’t describe the procedures used by the citing authors. In this webinar, we’ll discuss how to use methodological shortcut citation responsibly.
Instructor: Tracey Weissgerber
 

Satellite events

Designing rigorous experiments with the Experimental Design Assistant (Wednesday, January 31, 09:30-11:30am CET, online)

The Experimental Design Assistant (EDA; RRID:SCR_017019) is an online tool to help you design in vivo experiments. It gives you tailored feedback on your experimental plans, suggests statistical analysis methods relevant to your design and helps you determine an appropriate sample size. The EDA can also create a randomisation sequence for you and help you communicate your plans clearly with others, including as part of pre-registering your study plans. In this workshop you will learn how to use the EDA and have time to design your own experiment using the EDA with guidance available if you need it. 
Preparation:  Sign up for a free EDA account here before the workshop.
Instructor: Esther Pearl
 

Adapting Existing Protocols Using protocols.io (Wednesday, January 31, 5:30-7pm CET / 11:30 am-1pm US EST, online)

Many research protocols are publicly available on protocols.io with a CC-BY license. Join this session to learn about why methods sharing is important and to gain some hands on experience on how to (i) find protocols that are useful to you on protocols.io and (ii) how to create your own “fork” and adapt those protocols for use in your research, and finally (iii) gain some hands on experience in learning some of the features and functionality within the protocols.io editor.
What to bring: Your laptop or online device and an inquiring mind 
Instructors: Gabriel Gasque & Emma Ganley
 

The state of methods sharing now: what the evidence tells us (Friday, February 2, 2-3pm CET / 8-9am US EST, online)

Recent empirical research has aimed to establish the extent to which scientists openly share detailed methods information. Without baseline measurements of the prevalence of this practice, it is difficult to evaluate the efficacy of interventions meant to promote it. In this webinar, we’ll review highlights from this research and use interactive examples to invite input on future refinements to the tools behind it. This session may be especially suitable for meta-researchers, librarians, research managers, and funders, although all are welcome.
Instructor: Marcel LaFlamme, Open Research Manager at  Library of Science (PLOS)

Reproducibility for Everyone Workshop (Thursday February 1, 5-6pm CET / 11am-12pm US EST, online)

Have you struggled with adopting a published method to the settings in your own lab? Or, even worse, have you struggled to get a method to work that was established by another lab member in your group? 
These are, unfortunately, very common struggles that researchers face, regardless of where or what they study. Very often, this lack of reproducibility can be traced back to a lack of accessible and/or transparent research methods and research reagents. 
The good news is that these heartaches can be avoided. How? Join us for an interactive workshop that will: reflect on factors that affect the reproducibility of your experiments, show you practical tools and resources to improve the scientific rigor of your work and practice writing a transparent protocol that can be adopted by others.
What to bring: Pen and paper
Instructors: Susann Auer (TU Dresden), Nele Haelterman, Nafisa Jadavji

Preregistration: A Plan, Not a Prison (Thursday, February 1st, 8 pm-9pm CET / 2-3pm US EST, online)

Join Center of Open Science’s (COS) webinar on preregistration during Love Methods Week. This session offers a comprehensive introduction to preregistration's role in research methodology, highlighting benefits from transparency to facilitating replication studies. Delve into the OSF workflows and dispel common concerns and misconceptions. Concluding with an interactive Q&A, this webinar is your opportunity to engage in discussions on scientific transparency and reproducibility. 
Preparation: None required
Instructors: Mark Call, David Mellor, Noah Haber, Crystal Steltenpohl (Center for Open Science)

From Lab Notes to Lab Protocols (Friday February 2, 8-10am CET / 2-4pm EST US, online)

Writing and sharing clearly described research protocols is essential for research reproducibility. Robust and shareable step-by-step protocols are developed over time, often starting with informal records captured in lab notebooks. This workshop will address maintaining a lab notebook and the key elements of compiling a reproducible protocol. Attendees will carry out an exercise to identify components that they would need to transform lab notes into a well-documented protocol. We will also discuss opportunities to post or submit a protocol at Bio-protocol or elsewhere. This session is especially suitable for students and anyone interested in sharing or publishing life sciences protocols.
What to bring: Your laptop, your lab notebook, and information about a protocol that you have used more than once
Instructors: Caroline Shamu (Harvard Medical School), Vivian Siegel (MIT), Marisa Rosa (Bio-protocol)

Organizers

René Bernard

Tracey Weissgerber

Supported by Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure (EXC 2049 / Projektnummer: 390688087), PRO-MaP (Promoting Reusable and Open Methods and Protocols) and the German Reproducibility Network.