While the scientific community is enveloped in a reproducibility crisis (and debates as to whether there is one), there are certainly steps life science researchers can take to ensure more reproducible outcomes. We can start by limiting self-bias and improving reporting standards. But first, what is reproducibility and why is there a crisis?

As one of the most common reagents in biology and medical research, there are more than 350,000 commercially produced antibodies available for research and clinical applications. However, the quality of the commercially available antibodies varies from vendor to vendor. Different suppliers have different protocols for validating antibodies and some researchers might want to verify the product before using them on precious samples. Here are some of the factors to examine when it comes to antibody quality.

The scientific community operates on a self-correcting model that relies on repetition and replication. However, according to a 2016 survey by Nature, more than 70% reported to have failed to replicate experiments from another scientist, more than 50% reported failure in replicating his/her own experiment. Out of the 1,576 scientists surveyed, 906 were from biology or medicine disciplines.