Flagging publications with cell type information
How to bring a paper with new cell type characterisation or synonym mapping to our attention, so it can be curated into the ontology.
We are always interested in published work that describes cell types in Drosophila, and we want to capture it in the Drosophila Anatomy Ontology (DAO) that powers Virtual Fly Brain. Two kinds of paper are especially useful:
- New characterisation of cell types — a paper that describes a cell type for the first time, refines its definition, or adds anatomical, connectivity, developmental or expression detail that would improve how we describe it.
- Synonym mapping — a paper that shows two named cell types are the same thing, gives a new name for a known type, or otherwise reconciles the naming used across studies. This is one of the most valuable things you can tell us, because it lets us link data that would otherwise stay separate.
You do not have to be an author of the paper. If you have read something that we should know about, please pass it on.
How to let us know
There are two ways, and either is fine. Whichever you use, the more precise you can be about which cell types the paper covers, the faster we can act on it.
Open an issue on the ontology repo (preferred)
Raise a ticket on the DAO issue tracker:
An issue is the best route because it stays with the ontology, is publicly visible, and lets us track the work and discuss it with you if we have questions.
Email us
If you would rather not use GitHub, email support@virtualflybrain.org. This address goes to a publicly archived support forum, which is fine for pointing us at published work.
What to include
A few details make the difference between a note we can act on straight away and one that needs a round of questions:
- The reference — a DOI, PubMed ID, or FlyBase reference (FBrf) if you have one.
- Which cell types — the names used in the paper, and, where you know them, the matching VFB or ontology terms.
- What is new — is this a first description, added detail, or a synonym/renaming? For a synonym, say which names refer to the same type.
- Where in the paper — a figure or section number that pins down the relevant part is very helpful.
You do not need all of this to get in touch. Even a bare reference with a line on why it matters is worth sending.