Dos and don’ts in microbiome research
| Dos | Don’ts |
| Specific hypothesis designed to answer a clinically relevant question | Exploratory correlative surveys |
| Appropriate control populations | No control population |
| Incorporation of factors that influence microbiome data (ie, host genes, age, sex, diet, drugs) | No acknowledgement of potential confounders |
| Longitudinal study design | Cross-sectional study design |
| Large cohort | Small cohort |
| Consistent storage and processing of samples | Ad hoc storage and processing of samples |
| Accounting for potential contamination of low biomass samples | Processing low biomass samples in the same manner as high biomass samples |
| Correction for multiple hypothesis testing | No correction for multiple hypothesis testing |
| Publishing raw data and detailed methods (including code) for obtaining results | Not making raw data and detailed methods publicly available |
| Interdisciplinary team | Lack of expertise |
| Multiomic approach | Approach focused on 16S rRNA data |
| Discovery and validation cohorts | Only discovery cohort |
| Preserving samples | Discarding samples once study is complete |