research mistakes & tips

All researchers make mistakes during their scientific journey and many of these are common across all researchers, either due to lack of awareness, supervision or, just carelessness. There are significant resources (time, effort and money) spent on research projects and researchers can go down a rabbit hole before realizing the mistake. 

To minimize these mistakes in the future, we have listed some of them below along with some tips we have learnt from past mistakes with the intention of raising awareness to benefit other researchers and fast track future research.

So, let’s dive in and learn so that we can become better researchers ourselves! 

1. Cleanliness is the basis of good research to reduce the risk of contamination and accidents. Clean and decontaminate your workspace (including equipment), before and after each use. (Refer to our post on The Smart Lab Bench for full details)

2. Make it a habit to regularly clean and decontaminate your personal and communal workspaces to minimize contamination of materials.

3. The most common and often most regretted mistake: Clearly, consistently, and legibly, label all samples, solutions, containers, etc. with as much detail as possible (e.g. name of substance, concentration, date, etc.) using a lab grade marker to ensure accurate record-keeping.

4. “People forget, records remember.”

Keep detailed,organized records of experimental procedures, materials, equipment usage, and maintenance activities, including anything atypical. This is critical to reproducibility and troubleshooting. You will thank yourself when months down the road, you need to write the methods section of your thesis or manuscript, or, need to recall if the protocol even worked. (Refer to our post on The Efficient Lab for full details)

5. If you need help (unsure about a procedure, have concerns, etc.), seek guidance from your supervisor. Remember, your supervisor was once in your place and would prefer you ask for help early instead of risking failed experiment(s) and wasting valuable time, and resources.

6. Include positive and negative controls in all experiments to confirm the experiment worked and serve as a comparison between different runs. When running experiments in a plate, include standards in every plate with the unknowns for the most accurate results.

7. Using inappropriate analysis methods and tools can cost time and resources. Conclusions based on inappropriate analysis could lead to misinterpretation of data and negative repercussions on downstream experiments/analyses. Work with your supervisor to determine the most suitable analysis method for your experiment at the planning stage. 

8. Always save raw data files and take detailed notes of every step of the data analysis process. For instance, microarray and RNA sequencing data analysis have various normalization methods and the method chosen would differ from one experiment to another.

9. Have a working outline of your project and keep updating it with new data as it is generated so that you stay focused on your research project instead of being sidetracked by miscellaneous experiments.

10. When working on multiple projects,generate your pipeline of research projects and prioritize the project that is closer to completion. A completed project is more valuable than multiple incomplete projects.

Care for reagents and samples 

11. Store reagents according to the manufacturer’s recommendations to ensure their stability and integrity. This will also reduce the need to re-purchase compromised reagents, the risk of failed experiments as well as having to troubleshoot and repeat failed experiments.

12. In addition to reagents, ensure samples e.g. genomic material, tissue samples, etc., are stored appropriately. For instance, DNA and RNA should be frozen at -80˚C for long-term storage, and cell lines in liquid nitrogen.

13. Dissolve reagents properly by following the manufacturer’s instructions to ensure the desired concentration is achieved and it does not precipitate out in the buffer. If possible, confirm complete dissolution by holding the sample against the light.

14. The first in, first out principle applies to everything, including reagents, consumables, supplies, etc. to minimize waste and reduce costs.

15. Aliquot stock reagents to reduce the risk of source contamination and minimize freeze-thaw of the stock. Label tubes with the contents, date opened or aliquoted, and expiry date, if applicable.

16. Reagents should never be shared to prevent contamination. Always aliquot and have your own set.

17. Whenever possible, make duplicates of stocks e.g. bacterial glycerol stocks, plasmids, etc., and maintain a detailed inventory (e.g. sequence information) for ease of reference in the future. (Refer to our post on The Efficient Lab for full details)

18. Read labels and check again! Use the right reagents for your experiments and do not risk wasting time, effort, and resources due to minor lapses like using the wrong reagent!

19. Check your work thoroughly, multiple times at every point, e.g. calculations for buffer preparation, primer sequences, sequencing data, etc. A small error can lead to a waste of valuable time, effort, and resources on downstream experiments and interpretations.

20. Verify orders for reagents, products, and supplies to confirm correct specifications, such as purity, grade, compound, variant, or forward/reverse complement primer. Ordering incorrect items can adversely affect your budget and timeline.

21. Quality starting materials e.g. healthy cells, high quality nucleic acids (check integrity and purity), etc. yield reliable, reproducible results. Always quality check samples before proceeding to the next step and only proceed with good quality material. It’s not worth your time to try to decipher flawed data.

22. Quality starting materials include model organisms. Ensure model systems such as rodents, flies, worms, etc. are in optimal condition before starting an experiment and are well maintained for the duration of the experiment, so you can be assured of reliable results.

Proper care and use of equipment

23. It is critical to be properly trained before using any equipment, no matter how simple, in the lab to ensure your safety and prevent any damage to the equipment.

24. Equipment used for critical functions e.g. generating data such as qPCR machines, confocal microscopes, and high-speed centrifuges, should be maintained and/or calibrated regularly to ensure accurate and reproducible results. This also ensures the equipment is running optimally and any issues that could compromise the equipment or your results are identified sooner rather than later.

25. Adhere to recommended environmental conditions (e.g. temperature, humidity, etc.) specified for each piece of equipment to ensure the reliability of your results and prevent damage to the equipment.

26. When using a micropipette, position it vertically when aspirating for maximum accuracy. Use the appropriate micropipette and pipette tip to dispense the desired volume. Learn proper pipetting techniques (e.g. pre-wet the pipette tip, pipet slowly and steadily, first stop and second stop, etc.) to achieve consistent results.

27. Did you know there is a larger variation when dispensing a small volume from a large-capacity micropipette? As a rule, always select the smallest micropipette that will transfer the desired volume e.g. a P20 would be more accurate than a P200 to dispense 20ul.

28. Clean the weighing balance before and after use to prevent cross-contamination of your sample(s), prevent damage to the instrument and, ensure accurate measurements.

29. Manual defrost cold storage units (freezers and ultra-low freezers) require an annual defrost to ensure the unit functions optimally. Ice buildup will cause issues with proper closing of the door, reduce the usable space in the unit and affect proper cooling, putting your material at risk.

30. Always ensure equipment, e.g. cold storage units, ovens, incubators, etc., is properly closed before walking away from them! You wouldn’t want to risk you and your lab mates’ precious samples!

31. A microscope must be kept in a clean, dry room and covered at all times to prevent the accumulation of dust and dirt. It must be cleaned regularly, and the lens must never be touched with your bare hands. Ensure you are properly trained before using the system.

32. The oil objective of a microscope MUST be cleaned after every use with single-use lens paper and an approved lens cleaning solution.

33. Incubators should be regularly cleaned and disinfected to prevent contamination. The door should also be closed quickly to minimize temperature fluctuations.

34. After freeze-drying your samples, ensure the vacuum release valve is opened very slowly to prevent your samples from literally vanishing into thin air!

35. Use a booking calendar to schedule the use of shared equipment and lab chores and adhere to them!

The secret to excellence in research lies in attention to detail to every step of the research process. Equipped with knowledge of common mistakes and useful tips, you are now prepared to implement this knowledge in your own research!

For more research excellence tips, refer to our posts on Lab Etiquette, The Smart Lab Bench and The Efficient Lab.