Documenting Scientific Discovery

Lab notebooks are the key piece of evidence in determining inventorship. U.S. Patent Law states that inventorship is determined by the first to invent, not the first to file. (Foreign patent offices determine inventorship by the first to file method.) .

Maintaining good laboratory notebooks

• Use permanent ink
• Use consecutive pages and date the entries
• Identify subject matter
• Include and explain sketches, diagrams, etc.
• Photos, drawings, etc. should be identified and attached
• Avoid erasures
• Make new entries, do not alter existing entries
• Have entries witnessed on a daily or weekly basis
• Provide proper storage

Avoid common mistakes

• Identify the project to which all data relate.
• Avoid fragmentary diagrams or sketches, or diagrams or sketches without explanatory notes
• Avoid loose pages or inserts carrying sketches or other information
• One book should be complete in itself, especially when two or more investigators are working on the same project, they should not split entries between two or more laboratory books
• Make notations of the progress and completion of compounds, assemblies, or models being prepared for testing
• Successful testing of a compound or particular setup or piece of equipment is "reduction to practice" and the date of such accomplishment is important.
• Photographs are useful in keeping a complete laboratory notebook
• Never tear or cut out pages from a laboratory notebook
• Keep laboratory notebooks in a safe place when not in use