Originally published by StressMarq Biosciences May 2018 | Updated July 2025

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Updated July 18, 2025

Reproducibility is a cornerstone of scientific research. To support this, the scientific community has adopted a new system for citing antibodies and other research reagents using Research Resource Identifiers (RRIDs).

What Are RRIDs?

RRIDs are unique identifiers assigned to research resources such as antibodies, model organisms, and software tools. They help ensure that resources used in experiments can be accurately identified and replicated by other researchers.

RRIDs are managed through the SciCrunch RRID Portal, a centralized database that allows researchers to search for and obtain RRIDs for their reagents.

Why Use RRIDs?

• Improve reproducibility by clearly identifying the exact resource used
• Enable better tracking of reagent usage across publications
• Support transparency and data integrity in scientific reporting

How to Find RRIDs

To find an RRID for a StressMarq antibody or other reagent, visit the product page on our website. Each product listing includes its RRID for easy citation.

You can also search the SciCrunch RRID Portal directly to locate RRIDs for a wide range of research tools.

Best Practices for Citing Antibodies

When citing an antibody in your publication, include the RRID in the methods section or figure legends. For example:

HSP70 Antibody (StressMarq Biosciences, Victoria, CANADA, Catalog# SMC-100, RRID: AB_854199)

Further Reading

• Nature: 1,500 scientists lift the lid on reproducibility
• FORCE11 Resource Identification Initiative

By adopting RRIDs in your citations, you contribute to a more transparent and reproducible scientific ecosystem.

 

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Original Blog (May 2018)

How StressMarq is addressing reproducibility in science

Reproducing experimental results can be frustrating and time-consuming; you can use the same equipment and reagents in the same lab and still fail to obtain consistent results.  If reproducing your own research is tricky, reproducing other scientists’ research can be impossible. A survey conducted by Nature found that over 50% of researchers have failed to reproduce their own experiments and over  70% of researchers have tried and failed to reproduce other scientists’ experiments.¹  Known as the “reproducibility crisis,” this phenomenon is deeply troubling.

There are many components to this issue, including the pressure for scientists to publish in high-impact journals in order to receive funding.  To eliminate this would require drastic, long-term changes in how academic institutions and scientific journals function. In the short-term, we can start with enabling researchers to find and purchase the same products that have been used in publications. It is much easier to reproduce results when you’re using the same reagents.

Research Resource Identifiers

The Resource Identification Initiative seeks to improve research reproducibility by assigning unique identifiers to biological resources.  The pilot project generated Research Resource Identifiers (RRIDs) for antibodies, model organisms, and software tools.  The project was then expanded to include cell lines.

RRIDs were required to be:²

1. Machine Readable (ie. readable by online search engines)
2. Free to access and generate
3. Consistent across publishers and journals

 

Additionally, RRIDs must be unique for each product.

How to cite an antibody

StressMarq antibody product pages all contain the field “Cite This Product,” where the RRID is listed with other citation information. When citing other products, look to see if they have RRIDs by searching:

https://scicrunch.org/resources

We hope that by adopting this system, we can help make reagents easier to find and research easier to replicate.

What if a product doesn’t have an RRID? No problem! Just make sure to cite all the relevant information!

References

1. nature.com/news/1-500-scientists-lift-the-lid-on-reproducibility-1.19970
2. www.force11.org/group/resource-identification-initiative