Review the following example page from a laboratory notebook and read the legend that notes both the positive and negative attributes of the entry. Check your own laboratory notebook and identify all the items that you have done correctly, based on this example. Note also anything that you need to change in your own notebook, based on this example.
The entry itself and the corporate name are fictitious. This entry is copied from a booklet published by Merchant and Gould, a patent law firm, who have kindly allowed us to reproduce it for educational use.
The citation is: MAINTAINING LABORATORY NOTEBOOKS
Legend for Notebook Diagram
- Top of the page identifies the notebook number, the page the work continued from, the page
number, date and project.
- The entries are organized and legible.
- Laboratory abbreviations and designations are defined and referenced.
- Methods are provided in sufficient detail so that a third party could repeat the experiment using only the references and materials supplied in the notebook.
- Methods are referenced to earlier notebooks. The term nbk should be spelled out in a designated place in each notebook.
- The cell line is sufficiently identified by its supplier.
- Well known abbreviations do not need to be defined further.
- An initial correction is made with a single line. The corrected text is placed in line, next to the
error.
- A later correction is properly initialed, dated and explained.
- The entry is in a single permanent ink.
- Raw data is identified and entered into the notebook.
- If the experiment did fail, a simple statement that the experiment will be repeated is sufficient.
Here, it appears that the results may show that the blockers did work at higher doses. Results
should be stated positively and repeated as necessary.
- Blank regions are blocked out in pen.
- New entries are re-dated.
- We do not know who or what MLP is. If it is a supplier, it should be spelled out or referenced
to an earlier page. If it is a person, the name should be spelled out or the initials provided in
the abbreviations index.
- i.p. is a well known scientific term of art for individuals in this field and need not be further identified. The test is whether an abbreviation could be reasonably interpreted by someone
similarly skilled in the art.
- This notebook page was timely signed and dated.
- The signature is illegible. Where this is a problem, the name should be printed at least once,
beneath the similar signature. Also, if MLP is Mark Folger, then a question arises as to
whether Mark is an inventor. Inventors must not witness notebooks reducing their invention
to practice.
- The witness date is much too late. Preferably the witnessing signature is provided within the
same week or two week period.
- Each page is labeled as confidential and the property of the particular research organization.
The printable version of this document.
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