Pioneering the use of electronic lab notebooks
The roll-out of an electronic lab notebook (ELN) system is putting the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the forefront of university research data digitisation.
Through centralised, better-quality data and streamlined processes, the new system will further enhance the School’s – and CChES’s – world-leading research.
In addition, the implementation process has generated invaluable insights that can help other institutions and companies transition from paper notebooks to ELNs.
Dr Samantha Pearman-Kanza, Principal Enterprise Fellow, is the initiative’s co-lead with Senior Enterprise Fellow Dr Matthew Partridge. They are building on the School’s long history of work towards better data capture, for example through the Physical Sciences Data Infrastructure (PSDI) group.
The ELN was trialled between January to October 2025, with impressive results.
“Before the trial, 75% of users were only using paper records; now all the participants are capturing data electronically, with lots of positive feedback about the resulting improvements.”
Dr Samantha Pearman-Kanza, Principal Enterprise Fellow
The benefits of moving from paper to electronic lab notebooks
“People like writing on paper because it’s more personal and they can do it their own way,” says Samantha. “But paper notebooks are more difficult to share and search, and hard to back up.
The ELN encourages people to capture information in a more consistent and structured way and supports more efficient ways of working.”
For example, the School’s ELN:
- Encourages people to record their data in one place, following FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) data principles. This makes data easier to interrogate and share, maximising the potential for collaboration and discovery.
- Integrates health and safety and inventory systems for ease and efficiency.
- Includes automated workflows across the School hierarchy, for example task assignment, review and sign-off, giving group leaders better oversight.
- Creates a built-in, time-stamped audit trail, for a range of uses from verifying patent information to investigating health and safety incidents.
- Enables researchers to enter data directly into devices in the lab, saving time and removing the risk of transcription errors.
“Implementing an ELN system is much more than just buying some software licences. There are lots of cultural, practical and resource implications to consider.”
Dr Samantha Pearman-Kanza, Principal Enterprise Fellow
Lessons for success: insights into effective ELN implementation
As Samantha explains, introducing an ELN system is a complex process. “It’s much more than just buying some software licences. There are lots of cultural, practical and resource implications. We spent a lot of time looking at how to develop the ELN, understanding the needs of the staff who were going to be involved, and working with the health and safety team, and setting up the system itself.”
Ingredients that put the School’s ELN trial on the path to success included:
- Senior staff buy-in to support the initiative.
- Sufficient staff time and resource to thoroughly examine the School’s needs and priorities, evaluate available software solutions and configure the system.
- Recognition that people are more likely to adopt software that is familiar and works with their existing tools. For example, the School chose Revvity Signals, a commercial ELN system created by the developers of ChemDraw, a package already in use and popular among our chemists.
- Consideration of the practicalities – for example what devices to run the ELN on, where to put them in the lab, and availability of power sockets/wifi.
- Data gathering before and during implementation to monitor progress and address any evolving issues.
- Communication, training and ongoing support to break down cultural barriers and bring people on board.
- Realistic expectations and timeframes.
Continuous improvement: enhancing the ELN
As the School’s ELN roll-out continues, Samantha and her colleagues are exploring ways to build on its benefits. For example, they’re talking to University spin-out Data Revival about options for bringing legacy data into the system. They’re also looking at how to leverage the power of AI to improve notetaking at source.
Samantha is delighted that things have moved on since 2017, when she completed her PhD on the complexities and barriers associated with ELNs. Back then, the idea of School-wide adoption felt near-impossible, with lots of resistance to giving up paper records. “It’s great to be in this position now,” she says. “With the ELN in place we can look at all the different ways we can enhance it.”