FLICKR, PLAXCO LABThis Monday (January 7) a neuroscience postdoc named Leigh started the twitter hashtag #overlyhonestmethods for researchers to confess the dark secrets behind their precise protocols. Hilarity ensued as Twitter-savvy scientists flocked to the conversation to vent the foibles and frustrations of scientific rigor.

Here’s a roundup of our favorite tweets from the conversation:

 

Indrayani Ghangrekar ‏@IndrayaniG
We used enzymes from NEB because the sales rep was nice and gave me free samples #overlyhonestmethods
 
Ben Seymour @benosaka
Blood samples were spun at 1500rpm because the centrifuge made a scary noise at higher speeds. #overlyhonestmethods
 
Ecological Society @ESA_org
Study site remains anonymous for confidentiality reasons but obviously it's the University where I work. #overlyhonestmethods
 
Kat James ‏@Kat_James
Healthy control blood was taken from a donor with informed written consent. I know they were informed because it was me.#overlyhonestmethods
 
Rebecca Weinberg @sciliz
the eppendorf tubes...
 
dr leigh @dr_leigh
incubation lasted three days because this is how long the undergrad forgot the experiment in the fridge #overlyhonestmethods
 
Bill Hooker @sennoma
pH of buffer B was adjusted with HCl. then back a bit with NaOH..then a bit more HCl. #overlyhonestmethods
 
dbaptista ‏@dbaptista
Samples were incubated with primary ab for exactly 1 hr, or the duration of my lunch. #overlyhonestmethods
 
Snarky Stuff ‏@BadPhysics
Study 3a was upgraded from double blind to triple blind when the key was lost. Correlation is left to the reviewer. #overlyhonestmethods 
 
 
We also asked you, our readers, to join into the public confessions. Here are a few of our favorite responses:
 
Jeff Clements ‏@biolumiJEFFence
We expanded the geographic range of our study to tropical locations because we were sick of sampling in -10 degrees #overlyhonestmethods
 
Science Isn't Scary ‏@sciencenotscary
Compound was determined to be air-stable when it was accidentally removed from glovebox and didn't burst into flame. #overlyhonestmethods
 

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