Policy & Acknowledgment

The University Imaging Centers (UIC) is a fee-for-use facility open to investigators and projects of members of the University of Minnesota community as well as external users. All external users are subject to the UIC external rates and require an external sales agreement. 

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Acknowledging the use of UIC Resources

Acknowledgment

For the purposes of funding and justification, it is important that if you use University Imaging Centers services for any aspect of your research, teaching, or publication, you acknowledge those services as having been provided by the University Imaging Centers at the University of Minnesota and thank the appropriate staff. Text descriptions of our instrumentation and services for material and methods sections of manuscripts can be provided on request.

In some cases, it will become obvious that the staff is contributing more than just technical advice to a project. In these cases, it may be appropriate that the investigators include the staff member as a co-author. The distinction would be that the staff member is doing work on the project to an extent that is not usually provided to other clients of the UIC and that they are helping interpret and give direction to the portion of the study that deals with microscopy. Co-authorship with UIC personnel will not excuse the investigator from cost recovery for supplies or use of the equipment.

Additionally, almost all of the University Imaging Center's instruments were obtained via grants and therefore require proper acknowledgment.


Example Acknowledgment

"This work was supported by the resources and staff at the University of Minnesota University Imaging Centers (UIC). SCR_020997"

  • Acknowledgment should always include the UIC Research Resource Identifier (RRID). The UIC RRID is SCR_020997
  • Remember to acknowledge specific staff when appropriate.
  • If you have any questions on how or if you should acknowledge the UIC please contact UIC staff.

Guidelines for acknowledging the UIC

Sample Preparation Fast, routine preparation with standard protocol. Simple acknowledgment
Development of new sample preparation protocols. Optimization of existing protocols for specific samples. Inclusion of specific facility members on the author list
Image Acquisition

Training of users to acquire images themselves.

Simple acquisition of raw data.

Simple acknowledgment
Design or re-design of experimental conditions. Inclusion of specific facility members on the author list
Image Analysis Recommendation of analysis software and tools.
Basic data analysis help and advice.
Simple acknowledgment

Constructive data analysis and interpretation.

Creation of complex custom image analysis tools.

Inclusion of specific facility members on the author list

Research Rigor & Reproducibility

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Research Rigor & Reproducibility

UIC Research Rigor & Reproducibility Statement

The University Imaging Centers (UIC) are committed to providing researchers with tools to ensure their research is rigorous and reproducible.

Rigor means following procedures that will increase the likelihood of obtaining an accurate representation of the phenomenon under study.

Reproducibility means recording and communicating those procedures such that they can be replicated accurately.

If your experiments are performed rigorously and reproducibly, other researchers should be able to replicate your procedures, have a high likelihood of obtaining similar results on similar samples, and have those results be an accurate representation of the phenomenon being studied.

Rigor requires you to pay attention to:

  1. The reagents and protocols used to prepare your samples. UIC staff follow best practices in sample preparation and can provide the exact protocols that were followed for inclusion in methods sections of papers.
  2. The condition of the instruments used to take images and analyze images. UIC staff performs regular maintenance on all of our instruments and covers our most complex systems with comprehensive service contracts. These actions contribute to a stable of reliable instruments that can be used by trained researchers with confidence. If UIC staff detects problems with any instrument or software, we communicate the problem to any users that might have been affected, as well as workarounds, and timelines for complete resolution.
  3. The controls included in your experiments. When requested UIC staff will provide general recommendations for controls in light-microscopy sample preparation.
  4. The way in which you decide which parts of your sample to study. This can involve decisions on which parts of samples to prepare (for example, how to section a piece of tissue, which sections to stain) and where in those samples to take images. UIC staff provide suggestions for how to make sampling decisions, as well as resources for further reading.
  5. The way in which a microscope is set up for imaging. UIC provides individual, detailed training with each researcher’s samples to ensure they know how to properly set up imaging conditions.

Reproducibility requires you to pay attention to:

  1. Documenting parameters used for image acquisition and saving data in proper formats. UIC provides advice on how to accurately record those parameters, as well as which formats are appropriate when saving data during our individual training sessions.
  2. Documenting procedures used for imaging and image analysis. UIC can provide advice on what constitutes a proper record of those procedures.
  3. Properly writing methods sections. UIC staff is available to consult on writing methods sections for papers and can provide detailed information on light sources, filter sets, detectors, and other hardware components for proper description in methods sections.

While the University Imaging Centers can guarantee work directly undertaken by its staff is done to the highest standards, it is the responsibility of the individual researcher to ensure they follow our recommendations to ensure the rigor and reproducibility of their research.

Manipulation of Digital Images

The issue of the manipulation of digital images has come to the forefront recently due to several publicized cases. The Microscopy Society of America has issued a policy on this issue (see Reference #2 below). We at the Imaging Center have considered the issue in depth and how it may impact our clients. Based upon these considerations, we have adopted a modified statement from the Journal of Cell Biology as the Imaging Center Policy on the Manipulation of Digital Images:

"No specific feature within an image may be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced. The grouping of images from different fields of view or exposures must be made explicit by the arrangement of the figure (e.g., using dividing lines) and in the text of the figure legend. Adjustments of brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable if they are applied to the whole image (and to corresponding control images as well), as long as they do not obscure or eliminate any information present in the original. All adjustments, especially nonlinear adjustments, (e.g., changes to gamma settings) must be disclosed in the figure legend or materials and methods."

It is our policy in the Imaging Center to encourage clients to optimize their cell/tissue processing and image capture parameters initially so that post-image capture manipulation becomes unnecessary. It is also good policy to relate any image manipulation performed in the figure legend, even if deemed to be minor. However, remember that the "raw" image must be maintained and saved so that any manipulations are done to a "copy" of the image. Journals may request to see the original raw, unaltered image (see #7 below). A good discussion describing issues related to digital image manipulations can be found in the following references.

  1. Rosser M, and Yamada KM (2004) What's in a picture? The temptation of image manipulation. J Cell Biol 166:11-15
  2. Mackenzie JM, Burke MG, Carvalho T, and Eades A (2006) Ethics and digital imaging. Microsc Today, pp. 40-41 (January 2006)
  3. Editorial (2006) A picture worth a thousand words (of explanation). Nat Methods 3:237
  4. Rosser M (2006) How to guard against image fraud. The Scientist, pp.24-25 (March 2006)
  5. Hayden JE (2000) The ethics of digital manipulation in scientific images. J Biocommun 27:11-19
  6. Couzin J (2006) Don't pretty up that picture just yet. Science 314:1866-1868
  7. Photoshop: Friend or Fraud? A JBC Editorial (2007).