Criteria for Submission of Method Information to NEMI
Method information may be submitted by any public or private organization
for consideration of inclusion in the NEMI database. Guidelines for acceptance
include:
Documentation of method information in a manner such that it can
be practiced by other scientists trained in a defined applicable field.
This typically includes:
Documentation of applicable meta data such as percent recovery (or
other forms of bias), precision, detection levels, concentration ranges,
rates of false positive and false negative identifications, etc.
Factors that influence method performance such as interferences, required
or recommended quality control and quality assurance procedures, sample
preparation procedures such as concentration, dilution, digestions,
sterilization procedures, culturing procedures, etc.
Method publication date and source reference information, applicable
validation or verification procedures, lists of analytes or organisms,
instrumentation requirements, etc.
Public availability of the published full method by a governmental
or private sector publisher. This includes methods that are associated
with proprietary analytical instruments or equipment, copyrighted methods
that are sold, and methods that support the determinative step (e.g.,
methods for sample collection, sample preparation, or in-situ analysis).
Publication may be with a governmental or private sector publisher,
and includes both printed and electronic formats. Methods that are published
as research articles in journals or books are acceptable if procedures
and performance are well documented, and there is evidence that the
method has been successfully applied to a large number of environmental
samples.
Submitted methods are reviewed for technical quality and applicability
prior to being included in the database. A NEMI Review Committee has final
authority for determining if a submitted method meets the criteria for
addition to the NEMI database.
Nuts and Bolts of method submission
Forms have been developed to facilitate online submission of method information. Contact Dan Sullivan for information to gain access to the online forms.