Guidelines for Laboratory Notebooks

Experience in carrying out standard organic lab procedures is essential to the development of good organic chemistry laboratory skills. However, learning how to properly document experimental results is also very important.  Documentation of results requires the keeping of a detailed laboratory research notebook. It is generally accepted that such a research notebook is necessary for the documentation of any scientist's work. For example, an industrial research notebook is the legal basis for defending and obtaining patents. A research notebook should be a permanent, original, and honest scientific record of all observations made and data obtained while working in the lab.

General Instructions.

• The 100-Page Top-Bound Carbonless Laboratory Notebook (available in the bookstore) is required. (Certain equivalent lab notebooks with carbonless duplicate pages are also acceptable).
• Make sure the back cover flap is placed between the set of pages on which the entry is being made and the following original page. 
• The yellow duplicate copies are ripped out and turned into the instructor at the required times throughout the semester.

Important Do's and Don'ts

• Do use ink. The lab record should be permanent and pencil is, thus, unacceptable.
• If you make a mistake cross it out with one or two lines and proceed (the original entry should remain legible). 
• Never record data on a loose sheet of paper first with the plan of copying it into the notebook later.  
• Never alter the duplicate page in anyway before turning it in (erasure, Whiteout, crossout, additional inking).
  
• Never tear out any original white pages.
  
• Do  label the notebook completely with all information pertinent to the course on the table of contents page. 
• Do keep the table of contents up to date. 
• Don't waste time being overly neat.
• Be sure that every page is dated and identified with your name, course information, and the experiment title and number.

Format.

The notebook entries for each experiment should be divided into two sections, (1) the "Pre-lab Plan" and (2) the "In-lab Journal". 

Each of these parts should be done on its own separate page(s). Do not start the in-lab journal on the same page as which the pre-lab plan ends.

"Pre-lab Plan"- To be completed before the start of each new experiment and turned in (yellow sheets) at the beginning of the lab period during which the experiment will be started.

This section consists of the following:

Experiment Number and Title

References: Give the title, author, and page numbers of all reference materials used.

Purpose: In two or three sentences describe the experiment in more detail than the title conveys. Tell exactly what will be done and how the results will be evaluated.

Structures and Balanced Chemical Equation: Give the structures of all compounds being used in the experiment. If the experiment involves a chemical reaction, then the balanced chemical equation should be given and should show the structures of the reactants to be used and the major product expected. Do not include equations for side reactions or give the full mechanism of the reaction being carried out (these will be addressed in your lab report).

Table of Reactants and Products: Include molecular weights, relevant physical constants, (i.e., densities of liquids to be measured by volume, bps of liquids, mps of solids), and amounts to be used of each reactant (in moles as well as in the units in which it will be measured). Make sure to do any needed calculations of amounts to be used before lab. Indicate whether each reactant is a solid or liquid at room temperature and whether any special safety precautions need to be taken with it. Also include the molecular weight, relevant physical constants, and theoretical yield of the major product(s) expected.

Planned Procedures:This should be a relatively brief outline (preferably in the form of a flow-chart or step-by-step list) extracted from the procedure given in the lab text and/or handout. Your planned procedures should be complete enough to allow you to be able to do the experiment while referring to your notebook only. Include sketches of any glassware apparatuses you will have to assemble. In addition, the sequence in the carrying out of important steps should be emphasized. Try to anticipate any time lags that may exist and plan a productive way to use this time.

Safety Precautions and MSDSs: Include all special safety precautions  associated with the specific experiment to be performed. Identify any particularly hazardous materials to be handled and any specific precautions to be taken with it. (Standard lab precautions such as wearing eye protection at all times should not be included here.) Find the MSDS for each chemical (if available) and either add it to your Favorites list or save it on your computer in a folder you can find easily during the lab. The idea is that the MSDS info should be easily accessible during the lab when you are working with the chemicals just in case any questions arise. We will check at the start of the lab to see that you have the MSDSs available on your computer.

"In-lab Journal" - To be completed during the lab and turned in to the instructor before leaving the lab. Make sure you start a new page for every new day in the lab. The date at the top of the page should be the actual date when all of the writing on that page was done!

Observations and Data  go in the right-hand column of the notebook page.

Observations

• All observations should be carefully noted - make sure you use enough words to adequately describe what you observe.
• Observations should always include the appearances of all starting materials and products.
• Observations of color changes, odors, phase separations, heat evolution, gas evolution, or any other unusual or unanticipated results are particularly important.
• Labeled sketches of glassware setups used are good to include here.
• Also record your initial observations on any spectra obtained, e.g., number of peaks, key peak positions, etc.

Data

• Make the data entries easy to find by underlining them or placing in a table.. 
• Never record data or observations first on a loose sheet of paper with the intention of copying it into your notebook later. 
• The data that is recorded should include (if applicable):
• tare masses (always subtract tare masses and record the mass of substance in the notebook)
• amounts of reactants actually used (as measured)
• weight of product obtained and % yield calculation
• any physical constants that are measured (i.e., mp, bp, refractive index, etc.)
• Also record the file name and acquisition time for all NMR spectra.

Actual Procedures go in the left-hand column of the notebook page.

• During the lab you should record faithfully what you are doing while you are doing it. 
• Do not merely copy the lab manual or handout procedure because you may actually do the work slightly differently. 
• It is customary in scientific writing to use the past tense, passive voice:
• Bad - "I am now refluxing a solution of 1-butanol and sulfuric acid. It has now been two hours and I am now discontinuing the reflux."
• Better - "I refluxed a solution of butanol and sulfuric acid for two hours...."
• Better - "Reflux a solution of 1-butanol and sulfuric acid for two hours...."
• Best - "A solution of 1-butanol and sulfuric acid was refluxed for 2.0 h...."

Signatures: - All three lab partners should sign at the bottom of the last page of the journal, signifying that they have read and agree with what has been recorded.

Note - Please also read chapter 3 in Mohrig for another perspective on how to keep a laboratory notebook. Most of what is written there dovetails perfectly with what I have written in these guidelines, if there are any disagreements however, make sure to use these guidelines as your primary reference.