A Guide to Keeping a Laboratory Notebook

A Guide to Keeping a Laboratory Notebook

Georgia State University

Principles of Biology

Spring 2011

Why keep a laboratory notebook?

There are multiple reasons for keeping a laboratory notebook:

1. While it is primarily used by the experimenter as a record of ideas and data collection, a fellow colleague should be able to understand and duplicate the work documented in the laboratory notebook.

2. The lab notebook establishes the authenticity of the work through thorough reporting of observations and analyses. A scientist may be asked to produce the laboratory notebook to verify procedures or results in defense of his or her conclusions.

3. The notebook acts as a basis for technical reports and articles since it contains the details of experimental procedures and data collection.

Your job in the Principles of Biology Laboratory and Beyond

The exact format of lab notebooks varies among researchers. In the 2107/2108 labs, we provide guidelines for maintaining lab notebooks. A neat and organized lab notebook record is as important as the investigation itself.

Developing the skills and self-discipline to accurately and diligently report your procedures, results, and analyses will serve you well beyond the end of the semester. The laboratory notebook you generate as an undergraduate will be one of the tangible products that you produce during this course. When you are looking for jobs in research labs, your notebook can serve as a resource demonstrating to a possible employer your ability to keep accurate, clear records of experiments.

To start:

Your lab notebook should be a bound notebook.

You should always write in ink (pencil can be erased).

All entries should be dated and titled (in this course, the exercise title is appropriate).

Remember, a colleague should be able to pick up your notebook and replicate your work exactly – write neatly!

Guidelines for Formatting Notebooks...