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Corresponding Author Name:_________________
Manuscript Number:_________________
Reporting Summary
Springer Nature wishes to improve the reproducibility of the work that we publish. This checklist is used to ensure good
reporting standards and to improve the reproducibility. Please respond completely to all questions relevant to your
manuscript. For more information, please read the journal’s Guide to Authors.
☐ Check here to confirm that the following information is available in the Material & Methods section:
The exact sample size (n) for each experimental group/condition, given as a number, not a range
A description of the sample collection allowing the reader to understand whether the samples represent
technical or biological replicates (including how many animals, litters, culture, etc.)
A statement of how many times the experiment shown was replicated in the laboratory
Definitions of statistical methods and measures: For small sample sizes (n<5) descriptive statistics are not
appropriate, instead plot individual data points
o Very common tests, such as t-test, simple χ
2
tests, Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney tests, can be
unambiguously identified by name only, but more complex techniques should be described in the
methods section
o Are tests one-sided or two-sided?
o Are there adjustments for multiple comparisons?
o Statistical test results, e.g., P values
o Definition of ‘center values’ as median or mean;
o Definition of error bars as s.d. or s.e.m. or c.i.
Please ensure that the answers to the following questions are reported in the manuscript itself. We encourage you to
include a specific subsection in the methods section for statistics, reagents and animal models. Below, provide the
page number or section and paragraph number.
Statistics and general methods
Reported in section/paragraph or page #
1. How was the sample size chosen to ensure
adequate power to detect a pre-specified effect
size? (Give section/paragraph or page #)
For animal studies, include a statement about sample
size estimate even if no statistical methods were
used.
2. Describe inclusion/exclusion criteria if samples or
animals were excluded from the analysis. Were
the criteria pre-established? (Give
section/paragraph or page #)
3. If a method of randomization was used to
determine how samples/animals were allocated
to experimental groups and processed, describe
it. (Give section/paragraph or page #)
For animal studies, include a statement about
randomization even if no randomization was
used.
Academic Journals Reporting Checklist, November 2020
