Depending on your discipline and the type of research you do (as well as some amount of personal preference), you may maintain research documents and records in a physical form (e.g., papers, notebooks), electronic form (e.g., digital files or platforms), or some combination of the two. This page presents best practices and suggestions for both formats of research note-taking.

Important Functions of Research Notebooks

• Record daily research workflows
• Document details of experiments which are later used for
  • Publication and reproducibility
  • Preparation of reports and presentations
• Allow supervisor review and avoid research misconduct
• Defend patents
• Meet contractual obligations of funders
• Validate research

Good Research Note-Taking

• Record entries chronologically
• Include descriptive information about the experiment or investigation being conducted
• Explain acronyms and include units for all data entries
• Enter observations immediately 
• Entries should include all relevant details that would allow someone else to repeat the experiment including:
  • Instrument type, manufacturer, serial number, software version, calibration information
  • Reagents and specimens including name, manufacturer, registry (CAS) number, lot number
  • Diluted reagents should include any appropriate info about stock preparation, method of dilution and storage
  • Methods or protocols should be detailed in full
• Summarize findings on a regular basis

This type of note-taking consists of lab and field notebooks, as well as other non-digital research documents and records. 

Best Practices for Physical Research Notebooks

• Permanently bound book with pre-numbered pages
• Date each page
• Make entries legibly in permanent black ink with no erasures
• Printouts, graphs and tables should be printed and secured with permanent glue, signed and dated

Potential Risks and Problems

• Prone to errors
  • Inconsistent entries
  • Missing data
  • Illegible handwriting
• Physical items can be lost or damaged
• Data and notes likely must be transcribed and/or digitized
  • Risk of introducing new errors

Reducing Risks and Problems

• Create a data collection and/or note-taking template and reproduce it in your notebook
  • Ensure data and notes are recorded in a consistent format
  • Make it easier to remember all data that must be collected
• Scan or photograph data sheets and/or notebook pages to create digital back-ups
• Use data validation and data entry checks when transcribing data and notes into digital format
  • Reduce risk of introducing new errors

Learn more about data validation and other data controls in popular spreadsheet applications:

Electronic research notebooks are typically some kind of digital platform designed for capturing research notes. However, electronic research note-taking can exist in other forms too, such as digital files (e.g., Word documents) or digitally handwritten notes. 

Potential Benefits over Physical Notebooks

• Digital error-reduction methods
  • Use of templates to reduce data collection inconsistencies
  • Typed (rather than handwritten) content is easy to read
• Storage, access, and sharing
  • Often cloud-based, enabling remote access to contents
  • Ability to share digital files or access to electronic notebooks with collaborators
• Some platforms enable inclusion of data (e.g., images) from instruments and programs
• Some platforms or files provide automatic timestamps
• Data and notes are born-digital (no transcription or digitization necessary)

Potential Drawbacks or Limitations

• Not all research is set up for electronic note-taking and data collection
  • Remote location (e.g., no internet connection)
  • Outside (e.g., inclement weather, extreme temperatures)
  • Method of data collection
• Lack of adequate device or platform
  • Insufficient battery life and/or storage
  • Large storage or user requirements may exceed limits or free or low-cost versions of platforms
  • Not all platforms and storage devices are appropriate for sensitive data (e.g., HIPAA, FERPA)
• Cloud-based notebooks rely on network connection to access and function
• Digitally handwritten notes may have illegible handwriting

Some Popular Platforms