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Don’t Experiment with your Experiments: Make Use of Laboratory Protocols 

TMC Library offers three searchable databases of laboratory protocols in the life sciences, by Wiley, Springer and Jove. If you ever wanted to know the correct way to isolate or visualize lipid rafts, for example, these resources are for you!   

Wiley Current Protocols is a database of recognized and reproducible procedures and techniques for conducting scientific procedures in the life sciences. This collection is comprised of 18 journals with over 24,000 step-by-step techniques, procedures, and practical overviews that provide researchers with reliable, efficient methods to ensure reproducible results.    

 Wiley’s Current Protocols include:   

  • Concise introductions to orient the researcher
  • Comprehensive, ordered materials lists
  • Clear, numbered, step-by-step instructions with helpful annotations
  • Detailed recipes
  • Background Information describing applications and related methods  
  • Troubleshooting tips
  • Anticipated results
  • Time considerations
  • Figures and videos to clarify key steps 
  • Tables of valuable information

Springer Protocols is large database of over 58,000 reproducible laboratory protocols in biomedicine and life sciences.  Legacy and current versions of protocols are included and published online as a book series.   

The JoVE video database includes often cutting-edge peer-reviewed scientific video protocols of laboratory experiments and techniques. In contrast to Wiley and Springer, JoVE also contains very basic and introductory educational video protocols suitable for students and all who are just beginning to learn their way around the lab.

All of these protocols can be discovered by searching the library’s catalog or by going to the publishers’ websites.