A Guide to Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Analysis Using Web-based Tools for Non-Bioinformatician.

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) is a technique that has proven to be a powerful tool for a wide range of fields and research studies. However, scRNA-seq data analysis has been dominated by scientists highly trained in bioinformatics or those with extensive computational experience and understanding. Recently, this trend has begun to shift as more user-friendly web-based scRNA-seq analysis tools have been developed that require little computational experience to use. However, barriers persist for non-bioinformaticians in using this technique. Complex, unfamiliar language and scarce comprehensive literature guidance to provide a framework for understanding scRNA-seq analysis outputs are among the obstacles. This work introduces many popular web-based tools for scRNA-seq and provides a general overview of their user interfaces and features. Then, a comprehensive start-to-finish introductory scRNA-seq analysis pipeline is described in detail, that aims to enable researchers to carry out scRNA-seq analysis, regardless of computational experience. Companion video tutorials can be found at 'EasyScRNAseqTutorials' on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@scrnaseqtutorials). However, as scRNA-seq continues to penetrate new fields and expand in importance, there remains a need for more literature to help overcome barriers to its use by explaining further the highly complex and advanced analyses that are introduced within this paper.