Policies for Self-Service Users:

Policies for Self-Service Users

Off Hour Access to the Electron Microscopy Core

For researchers already trained on instrumentation, the Electron Microscopy (EM) Core is accessible for self-use between the hours of 9am-5pm Monday through Friday. Outside of these hours the doors to the lab will remain locked regardless if staff is present. Staff often work outside these hours to finish processes or to prepare the lab but such presence does not indicate the facility is available for self-use.

Off hour access to the lab may be granted in a very limited capacity for certain situations:

• A) If a piece of equipment becomes difficult to access because the weekly calendar exceeds 80% occupancy, special arrangements may be made for after hour access to qualified users. Please notify staff if you feel an instrument is not accessible because of heavy use and to see what arrangement might be possible.
• B) Understandably, some processes of EM require lengthy preparation times that occasionally run longer than expected and cannot be interrupted without loss of sample or time invested. Qualified self-users may be granted extra time to complete such processes outside of normal business hours. This will be handled on an individual case-by-case basis. Starting a process knowing it will run beyond normal business hours is not an acceptable reason for an exception. Please contact a staff member as soon as you determine you might need more time so they can consider options to help.
• C) Cryo-EM data collection is time sensitive. If a quality sample has been loaded during normal business hours, data collection may continue after hours. This option is only applicable to self-users that have been cleared by staff for such access. In order to reach this level of access, the self-user is expected to have demonstrated proficiency on the F20 and logged at least 20 hours of self-use during normal business hours.

In any of the above scenarios, any-self user granted off-hour access is expected to only access equipment for which they have been granted off-hour access and to ensure the equipment and lab is secure before leaving. Failure to so will lead to denial of future access. After hour access is a privilege and may be discontinued at any time in the future.

“Electron Microscopy Core, Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America”

Authorship credit should be given if members of the UF ICBR Electron Microscopy staff have provided services or expertise that is critical to a manuscript. Although other circumstances may warrant authorship, authors are those that meet the items below:

• Agrees to be accountable for accuracy and/or integrity of the work and expertise. (In all our work the person executing the work takes the fullest degree of responsibility for accuracy and integrity.)
• Provides substantial contributions to the experimental design, acquisition, and analysis/interpretation of the work.
• Provides input on drafting of the work (often figures) and approves of the work to be submitted/published. (If a member of the facility has made substantial contributions it is expected that s/he will be given the opportunity to review drafts of manuscripts for accuracy/fidelity and should indicate agreement before a draft is moved forward to publication.)

If a member of UF ICBR Electron Microscopy has contributed work to a manuscript, but does not meet the criteria for authorship, the corresponding author should acknowledge the UF ICBR Electron Microscopy staff member who provided the data and their contributions should be specified.

These authorship expectations were developed in accordance with several other documents that outline criteria for authorship:

https://oir.nih.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/sourcebook/documents/ethical_conduct/guidelines-conduct_research.pdf

http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html

The Electron Microscopy core provides microscopic imaging services on a fee-for-service basis. The core is equipped with a set of microscopes having imaging capability from whole tissues to macromolecules. They include FEI F20 cryoelectron microscope, FEI Spirit electron microscope, Hitachi H-7000 transmission electron microscope, Hitachi SU5000 scanning electron microscope, Zeiss Pascal LSM800 confocal laser scanning microscope. A full range of ancillary instruments for sample preparation such as high-pressure freezer, automatic tissue processor, and ultramicrotomes are also housed in the core. Our main services are transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy analyses. Imaging projects are carried out by core staff members or by individual researchers after appropriate training.

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