Some scientists think keeping a lab journal is as a waste of time. They view it as a time consuming distraction from doing their real work. Nothing could be further from the truth. Having a well-kept lab journal is highly beneficial in lots of respects. Apart from your boss forcing you, there are seven more reasons to keep a lab book.
Writing a journal supports creativity
Documenting your work, observations, or experimental results is seen as likely to curb the creative process. But in fact, exactly the opposite is true. Keeping a journal was shown to enable the formation of creative ideas by noting down hunches and observations. Some of the most creative and successful minds kept journals. What worked for Leonardo da Vinci or Charles Darwin can work for you. Read in here why group leaders should encourage writing lab journals.
Writing up your work helps you to reflect on results
I know you have a busy schedule. But you should write up your experimental data into a lab book. Thus you are forcing yourself to sit down and collect all your data, results, and thoughts about your work. During this dedicated time, you get the chance to reflect on the results and possibly see some things you would not have seen otherwise. Besides, this process can help you to find some new ways to interpret your findings.
Writing a lab book gives you a sense of accomplishment
Getting recognized for academic accomplishments takes a long time. For example getting your results published can take several months. When you write your lab book entry at the end of a working day you get a sense of accomplishment. You know that you made a step towards your goals, no matter how small it may be. This keeps you motivated and you stay on track until you reach some of your larger milestones.
Documenting your work retains knowledge
If you leave your lab book at the institute after you are done with your work, the benefits are manifold. On the one hand, researchers after you do not have to start from zero. This is good for your institute. But adhering to this practice is good for you as well. Successors building on your work might want to co-author publications with you. They will reach out and this way you can build a network in your discipline. Besides, you gain the satisfying feeling that someone carries on your work and you did not do it in vain.
Writing a lab book helps protect your intellectual property
If you make a significant discovery or invention, you should document it in your lab book. When push comes to shove, your journal will act as prove that this really was your idea and not someone else’s.
Your lab book is useful when discussing results with your supervisor
Things do not always go according to plan in science and research. Unfortunately, you might not always be able to produce the results your supervisor was hoping for. In this case, it is good if you can show that this is not because you were idle. If you have a well kept record of your experiments, you will have a much easier time to convince your supervisor that you tried a lot of things. You can show him or her that you did a lot of work. Especially with experiments that did not work well, it is easy to forget that you did them and not mention them. Thus one could get the impression that you did not work hard enough. A lab journal prevents you from falling into this trap.
Writing a lab journal is a good practice for an industry job
Keeping a lab journal is a good practice if you want to work in industry one day. In industry jobs, thorough documentation often is paramount. If you form the good habit of documenting your work carefully, this will be an advantage for you later on.