Laboratory Notebook

The laboratory notebook is where all information about laboratory experiments

should be stored. The idea is that the laboratory notebook is a permanent record

of all preparation, all observations and data in the laboratory, and all analysis of

data after an experiment. The main purpose is to record all that you have done

so that you and others can look at the notebook and replicate experiments.

Laboratory notebooks are routinely used in court cases to determine if samples

were handled properly and who gets awarded patents for new technology.

Guidelines for Maintaining a Laboratory Notebook

•Table of Contents is kept current with page numbers.

•Pages are numbered consecutively and no blank spaces are left in the

notebook.

•All entries are made in permanent ink at the time of the observation.

•Errors are corrected by crossing out with a single line, initialing the

correction, and dating when the correction was made.

•Procedures for the experiments are well documented.

•Notebook is signed and dated to document when data entry begins and

ends.

•Data and observations are recorded in an organized fashion.

•Data are recorded with appropriate units and significant figures.

•Notebook is signed by a witness at the end of data collection.

•Sample calculations and details of data analysis are provided.

•Summary of findings is recorded after the experiment.

References

American Chemical Society, “Guidelines for Chemical Laboratory Safety in

Academic Institutions.” 2016, https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/about/

governance/committees/chemicalsafety/publications/acs-safety-guidelines-

academic.pdf Accessed: February 26, 2023.

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