About Prometheus Protocols
“Prometheus Protocols”: PROtocols, METHods, Explanations and Updated Standards, is a web-based, free-content resource project based mostly on volunteer contributions. Prometheus Protocols is designed for researchers in the fields of ecological and environmental plant physiology to easily access and share protocols and to provide a forum for discussion and debate on different practices. Science moves most rapidly when the majority of researchers use similar methods and can easily repeat and build upon each other’s discoveries. There is a strong need for standardizing in ecological and environmental plant physiology. According to Ancient Greek mythology, Prometheus was the Titan who first bestowed fire, at the time the greatest standardized technology.
Traditionally, information about protocols has been communicated either through conventional scientific peer-reviewed publications, or through word-of-mouth interactions and protocol sharing between specific lab-groups. The former is slow and formal while the latter is inefficient in what is now a global field. The impetus for this project arose from a desire to provide an up-to-date, centralised resource, using new technology to facilitate contributions from research groups across the globe.
Prometheus Protocols seeks to build a new method of communication about methods within the research community.
The Prometheus Protocols site is a collaborative effort between the Prometheus Protocols Editorial Board, and with the support of the ARC Research Network for Vegetation Function. Prometheus Protocols uniquely combines the open communication of the www with the traditions of peer review that ensure quality and prestige to deliver a useful resource for anyone conducting experiments in the fields of ecological and environmental plant physiology. Our site will provide a critical resource for students and experienced researchers to access and refine protocols in these fields.
We welcome contributions from all members of the ecophysiological community – from newcomers to established practitioners around the globe. Members of the editorial board will review each newly submitted protocol for appropriateness, safety, clarity of expression and duplication. Protocols assessed that meet these requirements are then posted live on the Prometheus Protocols. Your contributions and feedback will make this endeavour a success.
Unlike a paper reference source, Prometheus Protocols is continually updated, with the creation or updating of protocols on novel research areas within seconds, minutes, or hours, rather than months or years for the traditional scientific publication process. For certain protocols to promote standardization in the field Prometheus Protocols has established a Gold Leaf system. Once a protocol has been well tested, verified and has received favourable user reviews, it will be reformatted and made available in a non-editable version as a community-approved method, a Gold Leaf protocol. For further description click the Gold Leaf Editorial Process
How to cite material from Prometheus Protocols
Towards the top left hand corner of each page is a link to ‘Cite This’ page. This link brings up all the necessary bibliographic details for the given page including; page name, initiating author, date of last revision etc. Additionally, these details are automatically formatted into various common citation styles such as APA and MLA styles for you to copy and use directly.
Alternatively, where a reference has been provided to a paper using a described protocol, you may choose to refer to the published paper directly and note that you followed the associated protocol, as outlined on Prometheus Protocols.