Acknowledge a platform

Manuscripts involving materials, preparatory work, data or results generated by the TBMCore UAR 3427 platforms must be sent to the people concerned at least one week before submission. Please inform the platform staff when these manuscripts are accepted for publication, together with the DOI or PMID, so that the platform can keep track of the work carried out with its support.

Exchanges between platform staff and research teams are essential to the success of each project. When staff involvement has been significant, for example when it goes beyond initial training or standard/minimal routine support, please acknowledge the staff members by name. Depending on the platform’s activity, this may notably be assessed based on the platform staff time required for the project.

However, if the platform’s contribution was decisive or provided particularly important insight, for example by designing experiments, setting up a protocol or an original approach, or preparing, producing or analyzing data, co-authorship should be considered. Platform staff are scientists. Their contribution should be assessed in the same way as that of any other co-author. Formal recognition of their contribution supports their career development and indirectly strengthens the platform.

The acquisition of cutting-edge equipment and the availability of expert staff require significant funding. As a result, the value and usefulness of the platforms must be recognized. Publications are also an important indicator for them. Your acknowledgements are used by funding bodies when deciding whether to support the human and material development of the platforms. The grants received allow the platforms to continue providing the best possible services and to keep academic rates as low as possible.

In all cases, and especially if platform staff are co-authors, the technical contribution of a platform should be highlighted and clearly mentioned in the acknowledgements and/or in the Materials and Methods section, using one of the following or similar statements: “[experiments] were performed at the [facility name] Facility” or “[analysis] for this project was done on instruments in the [facility name] Facility”.

Where applicable, directly involved staff members who are not co-authors may be named. For example: “The authors thank [staff name] for the help with [manuscript preparation, sample preparation, data acquisition, data interpretation, analytical method development, helpful discussions, technical advice, etc.].”