Recording Your Research (Lab
Books, in Clinic and Electronic
Information)
Richy Hetherington, Richard
Oliver and Simon Cockell
Why do you need to keep records?
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For Your Progress Panel and Viva
For Your Supervisory Team
For Anyone Who Continues Your Work
For Academic Integrity
For Intellectual Property
For Your Sponsors
Most of all for you: Writing your thesis and your
publications will be easier the better your
records are
Which Standards?
University Lab Books
All should be
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Have continuous numbered pages
Have a table of contents
Entries should be made permanently in Pen
No correcting fluid or tipex should be used
A single line should be put through any
errors
When to record
• Record as you go
• If you can’t do it as soon
as you can
• It is easy to forget
New Methods
Always describe thoroughly a new procedure
For example
“Solution B was made by adding 500µl of water
to 1.02mg of substance B, in 1.5ml microfuge
tube, the solution was vortexed for 30 minutes to
ensure Substance B was dissolved.
Would be better than
“A 2mg/ml of Solution B was made from
substance B”
Established Methods
Once methods are established it is fine to
refer back to them
Eg.
“Samples B1-B16 were tested using method A
(see 14th June 2014 RH/B1/ p14)”
Obviously note any deviations, intentional or
otherwise
Recording Deviation
E.g. (accident)
“Samples B1-B16 were tested using method A (see 14th
June 2007 RH/B1/p14). Deviating from the method
Samples B13-B16 were centrifuged twice at 14.2g for 5
minutes in stage 2, all other samples were centrifuged
once as per method A.”
Or
E.g. (design)
“Samples B1-B16 were tested using method A (see 14th
June 2007 RH/B1/ p14). Deviating from the method all
samples were centrifuged at 14.2g for 10 minutes at
stage 2, to ensure a compact pellet formed.
Equipment, Reagents and Samples
Equipment used list
Model
Number
Serial
number
Date used
notes
Equipment name
Manufacture
r
Centrifuge 1
Sigma
2-16
445332
24 June 2014-
Normally fitted with
Rotor A, takes 3 minutes
to get to top speed at
highest ramp rate
Rotor A
Sigma
11124
545434
24 June 2014-
Fits 24 microfuge tubes
Reagents used list
Lab name
Full Name
PEG600/
1
Polyethylene Glycol
600
PEG600/
2
Polyethylene Glycol
600
Supplier
Catalogue
Number
Lot
number
Dates used
notes
Polysciences
inc.
http://www.pol
ysciences.com
/
25322-68-3
345435
4
2 May
2014
to
3 July 2014
Went cloudy
8 July 08
ordered new
stock
Polysciences
inc.
http://www.pol
ysciences.com
/
25322-68-3
345455
3
9 July 2014
to
Recording the results
Make note of anything anecdotal or unusual.
“The cells appeared to be more irregular in
shape, than in previous experiments”
“The interview room was very warm; some
of the subjects seemed slightly
unconformable”
Seemingly unimportant things may
become important later
Eg
“Centrifuging for 10 minutes at stage 2 had no
perceivable effect on the compactness of the
pellet. When repeating increasing the rotor
speed to produce 15g may help compact the
pellet”
…later…
“Excessive centrifuging of samples B1-16 reduced
enzyme activity, solids in stage 2 must be
collected by filtering”
Results from machines
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Annotate Well
Reference page
Number the reverse
Stick in with sticky tape
Intellectual Property (IP) Issues
• Lab books must be signed off
(at least fortnightly)
• All experiments will need to be
reproducible
• Lab book will become a legal document if
a patent is applied for
• Should be retained by the supervisor once
you have your pass list
Faculty Lab books
• For PhD, MD & Mphil student Lab books
Should be available through your institute
Office
• For Mres students from the Graduate
School Office
Outside of the Lab Environment
• Health Research
– Research Diaries (not retained)
– A personal reflection
– Remain a vital aid to memory