A closed, dark green clothbound notebook and a pen on a laboratory bench beside glass beakers
AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.
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THE LAB NOTEBOOK

Write it so a stranger
could follow it.

NOTHING comes out

  • Bound book, numbered pages
  • Ink, dated, at the time
  • Cross out, never remove
  • Habits that make a record trustworthy

A lab notebook is a record, not a diary.

Research guidance asks for something simple and strict: write it down at the time, in ink, in a bound book, and never remove anything. The aim is that someone outside your lab could read what was done without you there to explain it.

Updated

Check a habit

THE SHORT ANSWER

Complete, in ink,
and in order.

The rules all serve one goal:
a record anyone can check later.

THE BOOK

Bound, not spiral

Guidance asks for a permanently bound book with consecutively numbered pages, so it is obvious if anything has gone missing.

Set one up

THE PAGE

Line through the gaps

If part of a page is left blank, draw a line through it. Mistakes get a single line too, so the original can still be read.

Check a habit

THE SHELF

Kept for years

The Medical Research Council asks for basic research records to be kept at least 10 years after a study ends, and lab notebooks are part of that.

See the numbers

A QUICK HABIT CHECK

Would this pass
a record check?

Pick a notebook habit to see what the guidance says. The bar shows how much the habit puts the record's trustworthiness at risk.

Habit check

Choose a habit
One line through a mistakeGood practice

Strike it out with a single line so it can still be read, then initial or sign and date the correction.

Gluing in a printoutGood practice

Attach graphs and printouts permanently, then sign and date them. If data is too big to fit, note where it is stored.

Leaving half a page blankLine it through

Do not skip pages, and draw a line through any part of a page you leave unused, so nothing can be added later.

Readings on scrap paper firstAvoid

Data should go straight into the notebook, not onto scraps of paper or into memory first. Enter observations immediately.

Tearing out a failed runNever

No pages come out. Failed or contradictory experiments and odd data points all belong in the record.

Sources: University of South Alabama, Laboratory Notebooks: Best Principles and Best Standards (2016); University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Good Practices for Laboratory Notebooks.

Based on university lab notebook guidance. Your own lab or organisation may have its own rules: follow those first.

TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING

Records outlive
the experiment.

Minimum retention periods in the MRC's
framework for research data and records.

10+ years

Keep records after the study ends

The Medical Research Council's minimum for basic research is at least 10 years after study completion. Where intellectual property may arise, notebooks may need keeping far longer, potentially indefinitely.

BASIC RESEARCH · MRC

20+ years

Keep records after the study ends

Population health and clinical studies have a minimum of at least 20 years. From 28 April 2026, clinical trials of medicines need at least 25 years.

CLINICAL STUDIES · MRC

The MRC notes that for some basic research, lab notebooks alone may give enough detail to understand what was done, when, how and why.

FOUR HABITS TO START WITH

A notebook
that explains itself.

A pen and ruler drawing a single diagonal line across an empty squared notebook page
AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

None of this needs special kit: a bound book, a pen with permanent ink and the discipline to write things down as they happen.

  1. Set up the book

    Use a permanently bound book with numbered pages. Keep a few pages at the front for a table of contents listing page numbers, dates and subjects.

  2. Start every entry the same way

    Date, title and a brief statement of purpose, then the method: materials, instruments and any deviation from the plan.

  3. Record as it happens

    Write raw data and observations straight in, in permanent ink and legibly, including the readings that look wrong.

  4. Correct, never remove

    Cross out mistakes with a single line, sign and date corrections, and never cover up what was there.

WHAT REGULATORS ASK OF DATA

Five letters:
A, L, C, O, A.

Rows of old hardback notebooks with plain spines standing on an archive shelf
AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

The UK medicines regulator, the MHRA, sums up good data with the acronym ALCOA: attributable to the person who made it, legible and permanent, contemporaneous, the original record or a certified true copy, and accurate.

It adds that data should also be complete, consistent, enduring and available for review. A well-kept lab notebook is a paper version of the same idea.

Questions

Questions people ask

Why a bound notebook rather than loose paper?

A permanently bound book with numbered pages shows at once if anything has been added or removed. Guidance specifically prefers bound books to spiral ones.

Can I use pencil?

Guidance asks for permanent ink, so that entries cannot be rubbed out. The MHRA's data principles likewise ask for records that are legible and permanent.

How do I fix a mistake?

Draw a single line through it so the original can still be read, then initial or sign and date the correction. Never remove or cover up what was there.

Should failed experiments go in?

Yes. All data goes in, including outliers, failed runs and contradictory results. Record what happened even if an experiment fails completely.

How long are lab notebooks kept?

It depends on the field and the funder. The Medical Research Council's minimum is at least 10 years after completion for basic research and at least 20 years for population health and clinical studies.

Sources

Where the facts come from

  1. University of South Alabama: Laboratory Notebooks, Best Principles and Best Standards (2016)
  2. University of Kentucky College of Medicine: Good Practices for Laboratory Notebooks
  3. MHRA: GXP Data Integrity Guidance and Definitions (March 2018)
  4. UKRI Medical Research Council: Retention framework for research data and records

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