Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A Cell paper's Key Resources Table lists a primary antibody with its supplier, catalog number, and RRID (e.g. RRID:AB_XXXXXXX) in a single row, so a reader can locate and cite the exact reagent used rather than inferring it from prose in the Methods text.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A paper published in a journal outside the Cell Press family may describe its reagents and tools only in free-text Methods paragraphs, without a structured Key Resources Table or RRIDs -- the information may still be present, but it is harder to extract, verify, and cite consistently than a STAR Methods table entry.
Editorial commentary
STAR Methods (Structured, Transparent, Accessible Reporting) is Cell Press’s standardized methods-section format, introduced in 2016 to address a specific driver of the reproducibility crisis: reagents, model organisms, cell lines, and software tools that are described inconsistently — or not uniquely identified at all — in a conventional free-text Methods section, making them difficult for other labs to source or verify.
Structure
A STAR Methods section has two parts: a Key Resources Table (KRT) followed by four narrative subsections — Lead Contact and Materials Availability, Experimental Model and Subject Details, Method Details, and Quantification and Statistical Analysis. The KRT is the distinguishing feature: it lists every antibody, chemical, recombinant protein, biological sample, critical commercial assay, organism/strain, cell line, oligonucleotide, software package, and dataset used in the study, each with a source/supplier and, wherever one exists, a persistent catalog or resource identifier.
Key Resources Table and RRIDs
Cell Press encourages — and for antibodies and organisms, effectively expects — authors to cite an RRID (Research Resource Identifier) in the Key Resources Table rather than only a catalog number, since RRIDs are machine-readable, stable across supplier changes, and searchable across the wider literature via the Resource Identification Initiative. This is the direct link between STAR Methods and the broader reagent- and tool-reproducibility push in the life sciences.
Adoption
STAR Methods is used across Cell Press’s life-science research journals (including Cell) and its partner/open-access titles iScience and Stem Cell Reports. Journals outside the Cell Press family generally do not use the STAR Methods format by name, though many have adopted their own structured Key Resources Table requirements influenced by it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is STAR Methods the same as a reporting checklist like ARRIVE or MDAR?
No. STAR Methods is a manuscript format for the methods section itself; ARRIVE (animal research) and MDAR (materials design analysis reporting) are reporting-guideline checklists some journals require alongside it. A paper can be required to follow both.
Does every Cell Press journal require STAR Methods?
Cell Press’s life-science research journals require it; format requirements can vary by specific journal and article type, so authors should check the individual journal’s guide for authors.
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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