Since the protocols.io mission is to accelerate science, we have to make sure that we support our researchers as much as possible, recognizing their different workflows. Researchers use a plethora of tools: there are 30-40 different electronic lab notebooks, different data repositories, and so on. Without APIs and integrations with other platforms, we make the users’ lives more difficult.
Moreover, for a startup like protocols.io, building trust in the community is critical. We actually have a section in our FAQ called “Can I trust your organization?” Long term preservation, well-documented API, mirroring, and enabling easy export as in the case of this integration with OSF — that is how we answer the question.
“I would say that the ability to export from protocols.io directly to OSF is a great feature that my students and I will use frequently in lab and course-based undergraduate research projects. It connects the two main open science platforms my students use for their projects and will help further the goal of learning how to do open and reproducible research.” – Chris Berndsen, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at James Madison University
There is a reason why both OSF and protocols.io have invested time into developing and documenting public APIs. We are both building tools to encourage reproducibility and collaboration among researchers, and it is fitting to enable collaboration among the platforms as well. Moreover, a key element of reproducible research is to back up data and knowledge in multiple places; this integration enables scientists to do precisely that, ensuring that their protocols are accessible and available at more than one platform.
See a quick demonstration of the integration below.
“Protocols.io is an outstanding infrastructure partner and we are thrilled to be a part of the platform. It is exciting to connect with so many dynamic systems through the OSF API, and we are always eager to talk with new communities about their OSF ideas and implementations.” — Eric Olson, Institutional Product Owner, Center for Open Science
Ready to integrate your protocols.io workspace with OSF? Watch this brief tutorial to begin bilaterally syncing your up-to-date methods and protocols, or visit this help guide for step-by-step instructions.
For more information about integrating open tools and services using OSF’s API, we recommend viewing Leveraging Open Ecosystems to Enhance Reproducible Workflows.
