Preparation for a paper All notes should be complete such that we can go back and reference them for future writing We want to tell a story so including motivation and plans is important (take the time it will be worth it) Preparation of figures and presentation slides along the way will help develop our story and solidify our plans Limited time necessitate preparing our presentation and any writing we want to do along the way

Image preparation Existing rasterized images (gels, photos etc.) should be modified (ethically) in photoshop New drawings or modification of graphs and tables should be done in illustrator Save in native adobe format as well as other formats for web or integration into writings Save graphs as.ps or.pdf from graphing program to import into illustrator

More imaging We will try to keep a standard format for figures as we go so that they can be put together easily Keep font sizes, line weights, color matching the same throughout image as well as across images When making images for presentations save as.png with transparency (also save as.ai or.psd)

Labeling and reaction mixing Label each sample carefully and non- ambiguously before adding reagents Make a list of reagents for each reaction before starting check off each reagent as you add them to the reactions Double check everything is there before incubating or running reaction

Pipetting Make sure you have the right pipette for the volume needed When taking fluid depress button of pipette only to the first level of resistance Look at tube and tip when taking up reagent When ejecting liquid depress button of pipette all the way down remove from sample and release