Guidance for Acknowledging Core Facilities
Properly acknowledging core facilities and their personnel supports institutional funding, demonstrates return on investment, and advances the scientific careers of core staff.
Why acknowledge core facility efforts?
Per UT Austin policy, “Authorship of Scholarly and Scientific Publications: HOP 7-1070”:
“Individuals who make a significant contribution that does not rise to the level of authorship should be publicly acknowledged with their permission in advance of publication.”
Core facility personnel are scientists, and many have their own peer-reviewed funding sources. Acknowledging their efforts toward your research goals helps them in their career development and supports the growth of services that will further your own work.
Where should core facility usage be acknowledged?
Publications & Theses
Continued support for core facilities, including institutional and grant funding, depends on demonstrating return on investment. The number and quality of publications acknowledging core services are among the most important metrics used to show that these services are essential to ongoing research.
Grant Applications
Including a letter of support from a core director can demonstrate how your research will leverage existing facilities. The number of letters written and the total grant dollars awarded provide important indicators of core facility impact and guide planning for future expansion.
Seminars, Posters, and Other Presentations
Citing core facilities in presentations helps raise awareness of available resources and increases their user base. The breadth of utilization is another key metric for justifying ongoing institutional support.
How to acknowledge core facilities
Please acknowledge the use of core services and equipment using their Research Resource Identifiers (RRID#).
RRIDs are unique identifiers for key resources (core facilities, antibodies, model organisms, software, etc.) and help improve transparency and reproducibility of research methods. Please also send the citation to the core director for their records.
Example wording
Example 1 – Instrument or service
“[Instrument or service] was performed with the support of the [Core Facility Name] (RRID: see below), a core facility within the Center for Biomedical Research Support at The University of Texas at Austin.”
Example 2 – Individual personnel
“We thank [Core Personnel Name] for [service provided], which was performed with the support of the [Core Facility Name] (RRID: see below), a core facility within the Center for Biomedical Research Support at The University of Texas at Austin.”
When should core personnel be added as co-authors?
Per UT Austin policy, “Authorship of Scholarly and Scientific Publications: HOP 7-1070”:
“In general, authorship is granted to those individuals who have made a significant intellectual contribution and are willing to assume responsibility for the validity of the work. Authorship expectations, practices, and criteria should be discussed (and when possible, documented) among research teams and collaborators, including with students and trainees, early in the research process and throughout the conduct of the research as roles and responsibilities shift.”
If core personnel contribute substantially to experimental design, data interpretation, or the intellectual content of the work, authorship may be warranted rather than an acknowledgment alone. Discuss expectations early and revisit them as roles evolve.
Additional authorship and acknowledgment guidance