Scientific notebooks

All rules pertaining to scientific notebooks are applicable to held notebooks and must be followed. Every entry must be dated and each sample labeled with their associated description in the book. No removed pages, no erasures, and no sections whited out are allowed. Sections may be crossed out if necessary, but in a manner in which the words can still be read. 

D.W. Hardy and C.L. Walker, Doing Mathematics with Scientific Workplace and Scientific Notebook, MacKisham Software Inc., Poulsbo, WA, 2003. 

Scientific work is basically worthless without appropriate documentation This statement is a fundamental rule valid for all scientific areas. The complexity of scientific work demands sufficiently sophisticated, efficient documentation. As the main documentation vehicle in the laboratory, the scientific notebook must meet complex, often rigorous, requirements. 

But what does appropriate mean for scientific documentation Obviously, simple documentation is not enough there are additional requirements for a scientific notebook. Some companies sell preprinted paper notebooks, usually containing 100 to 150 pages, square grid or horizontal ruled, serially numbered in the upper outside corner, and bound at the left margin. Loose-leaf or spiral notebooks are not acceptable, because pages can be intentionally inserted or removed or accidentally ripped out. Any such action opens up the possibility that someone will question the authenticity of the data. Here is a summary of the most important laboratory notebook rules ... 

Working examples take the familiar form of standard operating procedures that a chemist records in a scientific notebook as he carries out chemical reactions. They state concisely which compounds of the invention arise from these reactions. The accompmying list of compounds gives their complete chemical names or sometimes structural drawings. It identifies the compounds, which in either case can be recognized by the physical property or properties that the example furnishes. 

Every scientist creates a special form of diary - the scientific notebook. It is a log of the day-to-day experiments performed, and a partial interpretation of their results. These diaries are hardly ever published. They are usually not even read by colleagues, except those who witness the pages. Instead, reports containing portions of the log are distributed, and papers containing interpretations of the reports are published. Various verbal disclosures are common. The notebook remains private, is eventually stored away, and then seldom used. Although data mining of current and legacy database reports may recover some of the lost information, much more disappears forever. 

In 1820 Faraday finished his apprenticeship under Davy and in the following year married and settled into the Royal Institution. Faraday s early reputation as a chemist was so great that in 1824 he was elected to the Royal Society. In 1825 Davy recommended that Faraday succeed him as director of the Royal Institution. The appointment paid only a hundred pounds a year, but Faraday soon received some adjunct academic appointments that enabled him to give up all other professional work and devote himself full-time to research. Faraday s scientific output was enormous, and at the end of his career, his labo-ratoi y notebooks, which covered most of his years at the Royal Institution, contained more than sixteen thousand neatly inscribed entries, bound in volumes by Faraday himself... 

An electronic laboratory notebook system ( e-notebook or ELN ) addresses several different areas that impact upon scientific productivity, including time efficiencies and communication of information. 

Time spent in complying with regulatory and legal issues, for instance, completing the paper notebook write-up of an experiment, is time taken out of the lab and is therefore time not spent making new discoveries. Shortening the time taken to both set up new experiments and document experimental outcomes will therefore have a direct and positive impact on scientific productivity. 

A key factor in determining an ROI on the basis of increased efficiencies is to be able to apply metrics to the existing processes commonly this requires measurement of the process before the implementation of a new system and then a corresponding measurement of the process after implementation. In the case of ELN systems, this information can also be supplemented through the use of the ELN database itself, for example, by looking at the number of completed experiments created per scientist per week. These data can then be compared with an historical analysis of data from paper notebook archives on scientific productivity by similar groups. 

Protocol deviations in the processing phase of the study must be reported to the Study Director without delay. The Study Director will determine any potential impact upon the study that would result from the protocol deviation and will advise the PPI how to proceed with the study. Regardless of the form of communication by which the Study Director is notified of the protocol deviation, a formal description of the protocol deviation must be written by the PPI and submitted to the Smdy Director for an assessment of impact on the study. The assessment of impact by the Study Director should address any scientific and GLP compliance issues. A signed copy of the deviation report is included with the raw data notebook. 

GLP and SOP deviations are formally written up and signed by the PPI for inclusion with the raw data notebook. The PPI can assess the impact of the SOP deviation on the study. If there is no impact to the scientific or compliance aspects of the smdy, the signed original SOP deviation description is included in the raw data notebook. 

If the PPI determines that there may be an impact on the study, the Study Director must be consulted promptly to determine the proper course of action. Any impact on the scientific aspect of the study resulting from an SOP deviation may generate a protocol deviation. Any impact on the GLP compliance of the study resulting from an SOP or GLP deviation will at the very least need to be addressed in the GLP compliance statement from the processing facility which is included in the raw data notebook. 

Hagley Museum and Library is the richest repository of material about Carothers scientific career. Marjorie McNinch was particularly helpful during my visit. Hagley s collection includes the correspondence between Carothers and Du Pont about his hiring, Carothers notebooks, Carothers letters to his close friend, John R. Johnson and transcripts of interviews conducted with Carothers associates by David A. Hounshell and John Kenley Smith, Jr., and by Adeline C. Strange. 

Going further even than Muir, some eminent chemists stridently opposed modem alchemy and the transmutation hypotheses emerging to explain radioactivity. Toward the end of his life, Mendeleev, for example, became quite concerned about the implications of radioactivity for his scientific and chemical world view. As Michael Gordin explains, Mendeleev s most salient exposure to radioactivity, and the genesis of most of his hostile views of the phenomenon, was his visit to the Curies laboratory in Paris in 1902. What he saw evoked similar worries as the Spiritualists had. He wrote in his Paris notebook ... [M]ust one admit whether there is spirit in matter and forces Radio-active substances, spiritualism (Gordin 2004,213). Mendeleev... 

From the outset the student should accustom himself to keep a notebook in which all records of experiments and all observations are entered. Never rely on the memory in scientific work. 

The user can generate FORTRAN expressions that allow numeric computers to run faster and more efficiently. This saves CPU cycles and makes computing more economical. The user can generate FORTRAN expressions from MACSYMA expressions. The FORTRAN capability is an extremely important feature combining symbolic and numeric capabilities. The trend is clear, and in a few years we will have powerful, inexpensive desktop or notebook computers that merge the symbolic, numeric and graphic capabilities in a scientific workstation. 

Your lab partner has measured the mass of your sample to be 2,500 g. How can you record this more nicely (without scientific notation) in your lab notebook using a metric system prefix ... 

The measure of scientific truth is the ability of different people to reproduce an experiment. A good lab notebook will state everything that was done and what you observed and will allow you or anyone else to repeat the experiment. 

The order in which these and other science-oriented activities are performed are wholly up to the scientist, as illustrated by the wheel of scientific inquiry in Figure 1.5. No cookbooks. No algorithms of logic. Just equipment, a blank lab notebook, some self-discipline, and a healthy dose of creative curiosity. This is the scientific spirit. 

Several other entries in this period refer to similar observations. As far as I am aware at the present time, these observations were never published in the scientific literature (79), although Davy in the same notebook does make some remarkably perceptive comments regarding these systems (Section V). 

The legal community of internal legal counsel, third-party firms and the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is increasing its involvement in the issue. As the scientific community reacts to the availability of electronic laboratory notebook solutions, the pressure on internal counsel to form an opinion increases. Sometimes, the reaction of internal counsel is to seek external advice as well as look to the US PTO for possible rulings. ... 

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