Keeping a lab notebook
Keeping an updated lab notebook is required to get a “Satisfactory” grade for your research units.
The main goal in keeping and maintaining a lab notebook is for you to be able to look at your look at your entries / data several years from now (which is probably around when we will be trying to publish this experiment) and know everything you need to know about the data because the associated notebook entry is complete.
Maintaining an up-to-date lab notebook is essential for:
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Data integrity, ensuring that all data records are:
- Attributable - Who recorded the measurement or performed the experiment? If changes were made to the data, who did it, when was it done, and why?
- Legible - Will the data still be legible when you graduate in several years? What about 5 years later, or 15? Data must be permanently archived and readable in perpetuity - not just for the duration of the project.
- Contemporaneous - Was the data collected at the time of the experiment? Data should include date and time stamps, leaving no room for ambiguity.
- Original - Is the record an original or approved copy? Even if a paper printout is transcribed into electronic format, the original copy must be retained.
- Accurate - Does the record reflect what was accurately measured? Workflows should be designed to eliminate any potential for data to be changed from its true value.
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Reproducibility, allowing others (and your future self) to replicate experiments based on detailed records.
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Accountability, providing a transparent trail of research activities.
What should go into your ELN entries:
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Start making dated entries into your electronic lab notebook (ELN) at elab.richhartman.com immediately, before the experiment(s) are started. Cut/paste emails, websites, PDFs, photos, etc. It should feel like you're scrapbookin' it. Include:
- Give each experiment a name so that you can refer to it quickly in subsequent entries.
- Detailed notes on all discussions, thoughts, etc. on experimental goals.
- Full details for all experimental organisms (source, genetic background, delivery conditions, catalog #, etc).
- Provide full justification of all experimental details (species used, temperature, reagents, etc.). Justification might be in the form of simple logic (stated in your own words) or references to other published research (with citations included).
- Reagent/media/chemical/drug/etc. details, including vendor (name, website, emails) and product information (brand, product number, chemical structure, purity grade, lot number, date of mixing/production, expiration date, etc.). Whenever water is used, specify deionized, distilled, tap, cold, hot, sterile, etc.
- Equipment details (brand, model number, sensitivity). In some circumstances it is important to record a serial number, just in case there was something unique about the item you used. For incubation chambers, always record bulb type / wattage / brand.
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Try to make a dated entry every day:
- Even if you have nothing, just type "nothing new to report" or “just checked on the flies – they’re doing well!” in the dated description.
- Record all info that you need to "perfectly" reconstruct data collection at any time in the future (years from now), including, but not limited to:
- Name of the experiment. If you just wrote, "Recorded weights" for a particular date, you would not have a record of which experiment you recorded or what specific data you were collecting.
- Time at which each procedure / test / trial started and ended.
- Purpose of the day's activities and detailed experimental protocols that could be easily followed by someone else. All experimental protocols should be accompanied by clearly-worded hypotheses and goals that indicate exactly what measurements are going to be taken and how.
- ID, group code, sex, etc. for each subject.
- Photographs that document key experimental details. Make quick drawings of experiment set-ups, location of experiment in laboratory, etc. These sketches do not have to be works of art. Take a pic and upload it to the notebook entry.
- Laboratory and incubation chamber conditions such as temperature (in Celsius, ideally), humidity, barometric pressure, light levels, light/day cycle (hours of each, and when night starts), etc.
- Annotate calculations so that all numbers, concentrations, units, etc. are fully explained and would be interpretable by another researcher.
- Information about your experimental parameters - what you were wearing (white lab coat etc), where you were standing, etc.
- Any anomalous events / observations (loud noises, caretakers coming into room, equipment issues, animals acting oddly, looking sick, falling off equipment, etc.).
- All mistakes, problems with procedures, and lapses in data collection so that you can fully explain “odd” results at the end of the experiment.
- Names / contact information of collaborators and people who assisted with data collection, techniques, statistical advice, equipment loans, stipend support, supplies funds. Write this information down immediately so that you remember to include it in your future acknowledgements sections when you publish your research. Keep notes about phone conversations and e-mail interactions.
- If other people are asked to care for your organisms and/or collect data, ask that person to keep a detailed log of what they did and record it.
- Upload / attach any associated data files and also list where the file is backed up (e.g., on laboratory computer in “Backup folder”, personal laptop, etc.). Give your file an informative name (e.g., “TBI_exp1_2018-12-25.xlsx”) rather than “experiment1.xlsx” and make sure to properly backup any such files.
- At the end, include a very brief plain English summary of the day’s events.