An automated spreadsheet for determining analytical uncertainty of stable isotope measurements

The quantification and reporting of the analytical uncertainty that accompanies all stable isotope measurements is critical, providing a mechanism for assessing their comparability against other datasets. The ability to compare isotopic datasets generated across many labs is especially important as there has been a proliferation in the number of stable isotope databases across a range of disciplines, facilitating large scale metanalyses of a rapidly expanding library of isotopic measurements. This paper presents a simple and automated spreadsheet-based approach for quantifying and reporting analytical uncertainty of stable isotope measurements. • Automated spreadsheet for determining analytical uncertainty. • Uncertainty robustly captures random and systematic error. • Highly expedient, requiring minimal copying and pasting.