Remember, there is no universal guide for research
notebooks/logs/journals. You should consult your mentor for details
and expectations. The links below provide a host of information as a
starting point. Links open in a new window.
"Do's
and Don'ts for Keeping Lab Notebooks" from the Office for Technology
Licensing and Industry Collaboration at Tufts University
(http://techtransfer.tufts.edu/?pid=20&c=37)
"Guidelines
for Keeping a Laboratory Record" prepared for
students in an Experimental Biosciences course at Rice University.
(http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/notebook/notebook.html)
"The
Laboratory Notebook" prepared for students in chemistry courses at
Truman State University
(http://chemlab.truman.edu/Notebook_Files/LabNotebook.htm)
"Lab
Notebook Guidelines" prepared for students in electrical engineering at
Arkansas State.
(http://engr.astate.edu/jdg/Circuits/Lab/LabNotebookGuidelines.html)
"Guidelines
for Laboratory Notebooks" from the Office of Research at the University
of California, San Francisco.
(http://www.research.ucsf.edu/QG/orQgNb.asp)
"Example
of an Annotated Laboratory Notebook" from the Biotechnology program at
Madison Area Technical College.
(http://matcmadison.edu/biotech/resources/methods/quality/annotatNotebk.htm)
"Lab
Book Guidelines" from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
(http://www.warf.wisc.edu/inventors/index.jsp?cid=18)
Summary of faculty
activity at STEP workshop (5/24/2007) regarding critical components of a
research notebook/log/journal.