The importance of efficiency-correction in qPCR

Yes the story is continuing! More and more researchers, biological journals, academic and commercial institutions worldwide, are supporting the MIQE guidelines. The recitation record of Scopus and Google Scholar documents this. As for May 2019, we count multiple thousand citations (1) for the qPCR MIQE guideline (2) (6.150 by Scopus and 8.200 by Google Scholar) as well as for the digital MIQE guideline (3) (295 by Scopus and 365 by Google Scholar). Hence, the qPCR and dPCR MIQE guidelines are a worldwide standardisation success story, which are driven forward by scientific validity and credibility in the PCR community. The present third edition of the MIQE & qPCR iBook will push the ‘MIQE idea’ even further in any laboratory worldwide and beyond in the scientists’ workflow and minds. It should clearly show how to apply the guidelines and serve as a handy, visual, interactive and practical guide. Since the second edition in July 2016, we provided an additional MIQE & qPCR eBook version, which is readable on any eBook reader device (ePub file). This leaded to more than 2.500 extra downloads of the MIQE & qPCR iBook and eBook from over 40 countries worldwide. Our goal for the third edition is to update the existing content by new topics, and to create an overall fancy interactive tool, by interfacing scientific publications with educating pictures, videos and scientific talks. The editors implemented multiple new chapters, describing the significance of the efficiency correction in qPCR, and how to compare results between multiple plates or qPCR runs (both authored by Jan M. Ruijter and Maurice van der Hoff). As well, new chapters around digital PCR were authored by Afif Abdel Nour and scientists from Eppendorf and Stilla Technologies (will follow in autumn 2019). Finally we implemented a chapter about RT and qPCR Troubleshooting and how to improve your data authored by application researchers from Analytik-Jena. In summary, we are proud to present a selection of international highly recognized authors from the academic field and from industrial research presenting their latest research applications. The described qPCR and dPCR methods and applications are tightly linked to the MIQE context, and show it clearly based on educational questionnaires or interactive ‘how to do’ instruction sheets. The at-hand MIQE & qPCR iBook & eBook should deliver the MIQE guidelines directly to the researcher and help to solve the daily problems in the molecular biology laboratory using quantitative PCR, digital PCR, single-cell qPCR, microRNA applications or any comparable techniques using PCR. The editors hope you like our explanatory, interactive and educational iBook, eBook and ePub concept, showing the advantages of the MIQE guidelines in an easy and understandable way. The proper application and recommendation mentioned in that publication should guarantee the successful qPCR or dPCR application in the lab, and will help authors, reviewers, editors, and researchers to evaluate the quality of the presented publication.