research notebook design

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• Published: 14 January 2022

Considerations for implementing electronic laboratory notebooks in an academic research environment

• Stuart G. Higgins   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4653-5364 1 , 2 , 3 ,
• Akemi A. Nogiwa-Valdez   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1031-2388 1 , 2 , 3 &
• Molly M. Stevens   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7335-266X 1 , 2 , 3  

Nature Protocols volume  17 ,  pages 179–189 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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As research becomes predominantly digitalized, scientists have the option of using electronic laboratory notebooks to record and access entries. These systems can more readily meet volume, complexity, accessibility and preservation requirements than paper notebooks. Although the technology can yield many benefits, these can be realized only by choosing a system that properly fulfills the requirements of a given context. This review explores the factors that should be considered when introducing electronic laboratory notebooks to an academically focused research group. We cite pertinent studies and discuss our own experience implementing a system within a multidisciplinary research environment. We also consider how the required financial and time investment is shared between individuals and institutions. Finally, we discuss how electronic laboratory notebooks fit into the broader context of research data management. This article is not a product review; it provides a framework for both the initial consideration of an electronic laboratory notebook and the evaluation of specific software packages.

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Alongside millions of new research publications each year 1 is the creation of millions more laboratory notebook entries. These contain important metadata, reflecting the nuance of experimental work. The ability to readily access, use and share laboratory notebook data allows researchers to quickly infer meaning from results and can help facilitate reproducibility across experiments. Collaborative or multidisciplinary research fields require efficient methods for capturing and sharing notebook entries between a diverse range of scientists.

Research relies on computing to analyze and present data; therefore, storing laboratory notebook entries in a digital format allows them to sit seamlessly alongside research data as they are processed. Electronic laboratory notebooks (ELNs) are fundamentally a means of digitizing entries at the point of creation, enabling those data to be processed computationally. However, they are not a panacea. Before deploying an ELN, it is critical that the requirements of users, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches, are properly understood to avoid creating a system that hinders rather than helps.

The past 20 years have seen a rapid increase in the number of ELN software packages

ELNs have been mooted in various forms since the late 1950s 2 . In the 1980s, software such as RS/1 (Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Inc.) offered researchers the capability to store, analyze and comment on data 3 , 4 . ELNs are presented as a tool for improving the reproducibility of research by facilitating the transfer of vital experimental details, both between generations of researchers and across different research groups 5 , 6 . Recording, accessing and preserving paper-based records can be slow, inefficient and difficult to integrate with modern computer-controlled data capture systems. However, implementing an ELN is non-trivial. Its adoption requires clear understanding of notebook use in a given laboratory setting and the provision of sufficient resources.

Most current ELNs are commercial offerings. These offer access to proprietary software, typically hosted remotely and available via subscription, under a software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model. A few community-developed open-source ELNs exist, with freely accessible codebases. There are also a small number of commercial ELNs with open-source codebases and free (to non-profit organizations) ELNs with proprietary codebases. Reviewing specific products is beyond the scope of this article; however, a number of product comparisons are available online 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 .

In the past 20 years, the number of ELNs has increased dramatically, as the benefits of digitization have been recognised (Fig. 1 ). In this marketplace, not all ELNs have proven successful. A significant number of both commercially available and open-source software packages have ultimately become defunct. In our analysis ( Supplementary Method ) of 172 ELN products (96 active and 76 defunct), the average lifetime of an ELN was found to be 7 ± 4.4 years (median ± consistent median absolute deviation). The lifetimes break down as 6 ± 4.4 years ( n = 25) and 7 ± 4.4 years ( n = 147) for open-source and proprietary codebases, respectively. The longest-running open-source ELN in our survey was ELOG (Stefan Ritt, Paul Scherrer Institut) 11 , which has been active for 20 years. The longest-running proprietary ELN that we found was Gene Inspector (Textco BioSoftware, Inc.) 12 , which has been active for 25 years. Company acquisitions, changes in the commercial market and lack of developer support or funding for open-source projects can all result in defunct ELNs. Long-term support and data access should be a primary concern when implementing an ELN: many benefits (e.g., rapid access to historic notebook entries) disappear if archived material is trapped inside inaccessible legacy systems, or worse, deleted. Procedures for extracting and archiving data in accessible formats should be part of any deployment strategy.

The areas of the circles shown at the top of the figure are proportional to the numbers of new ELNs launched in a given year. Data are segregated into proprietary (blue) and open-source (pink) codebases and sorted within these categories according to the number of years that the software has been active. Insets are screenshots of a selection of ELNs, showing the progression of software development with time, including: RS/1 (Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc.), adapted with permission from ref. 3 , ACS; ELOG (Stefan Ritt, Paul Scherrer Institute), reproduced with permission from ref. 11 ; eLabFTW (Deltablot), reproduced with permission from ref. 24 ; OSF (Centre for Open Science), reproduced with permission from ref. 58 under a CC-BY 4.0 license. See Supplementary Method for a description of the survey methodology and limitations. This plot incorporates data from primary and secondary sources 9 , 14 , 59 . An interactive version of this figure, along with any updates, is available from a data repository (Zenodo) supporting this paper 52 .

Before choosing an ELN, the purpose of the laboratory notebook must be identified

A laboratory notebook serves various purposes. For the researcher, it is a record of experiments and work conducted. The notebook may describe experimental methods, be a direct record of original data or provide metadata required to contextualize other data. Formal metadata (experimental test parameters and control conditions) may be supplemented by unplanned observations and annotations, both facilitating data analysis and interpretation. A notebook may journal both the genesis of ideas and the decision-making process 13 . Successfully capturing this information is critical to the researcher and others attempting to replicate the work.

Laboratory notebooks can be used to enforce good practice and to standardize workflows. For example, institutions may mandate the inclusion of risk-assessment templates within synthetic chemistry notebooks to encourage researchers to identify and mitigate hazards immediately before conducting a reaction. Routine procedures with well-defined outputs may follow a standard notebook template, to streamline information capture and standardize record keeping or to record quality-control procedures. This process can aid adherence to best research practices, such as ensuring that enough details are captured to facilitate reproducibility. An ELN can simplify this by acting as a database of templates and protocols 14 , 15 . For researchers, managers and institutions, laboratory notebooks provide evidence of work completed, facilitating internal accountability and providing a legal record to demonstrate regulatory compliance and potentially aiding intellectual property protection.

Identifying a given laboratory’s requirements defines and constrains the choice of ELN. Academic research laboratories typically feature a diverse range of experiments, data types and disciplines, resulting in users having different requirements from the same ELN package 16 . Although many ELNs are specialist products targeting researchers in a specific domain (e.g., biochemistry or pharmacology), these may not be relevant or sufficiently flexible for most researchers. Although this limitation was recognized by the early creators of ELNs in the 1990s 17 , it remains an issue that has been highlighted again in recent studies 14 . Record keeping may be required to meet regulatory standards, for example, for laboratories accredited to the testing and calibration standards ISO 17025:2017 and ISO 15189:2012 18 , 19 , which stipulate requirements for laboratory information management, or for those wishing to adhere to general electronic record-keeping standards such as the Code of Federal Regulations Title 21 Part 11 20 . The motivating factors and requirements for a research group may not be the same as those of other groups at the same host institution, so care must be taken to identify the priorities of different stakeholders before selecting a particular product.

ELNs recover researcher time and enable better research practices, in return for financial cost

ELNs provide quality-of-life improvements over paper notebooks. In environments where ELNs have been implemented, the ease with which information can be sought and shared is regarded as one of the key benefits 15 , 21 . Figure 2 illustrates different ways that information can be shared via an ELN. Making ELN entries visible to multiple users is often simple to accomplish within the software. Project teams can instantly access relevant experimental data from different researchers, facilitating project management. Supervisors can remotely provide feedback without physical access to a notebook and add digital signatures to verify entries. Collaborators can be geographically separate, working in separate laboratories across multiple countries. Similarly, researchers can access their records from multiple locations, for example, from different laboratories or from home. This can be an advantage where physical access to facilities is restricted, as seen during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It also mitigates the need to transport physical laboratory notebooks between locations, reducing the risk of cross-contamination and data loss.

Researchers can create and secure entries, share information with colleagues and collaborators and access the records of former team members. The degree of sharing is dictated by local policy, software features and configuration.

Notebook entries can be archived in situ as team members leave, while allowing incoming students and staff instant access. The ability to rapidly search through all available content allows researchers to filter and access ELN entries pertinent to their own work 13 , 21 . When users leave an organization, if permitted, an ELN allows them to create copies of their entries for future reference. This can allow quick access to previous and ongoing research ideas as a researcher progresses through their career. Physically storing and preserving digital data over long periods is more space and time efficient than attempting to store paper notebooks.

Table 1 illustrates how the differences between interacting with paper and electronic laboratory notebooks are ultimately a choice between time and money. Paper notebooks can be an inexpensive medium, but executing actions that are trivial with an ELN (e.g., searching, sharing and data backup) are time expensive. Conversely, most ELNs are relatively expensive to implement and maintain, compared to paper notebooks, but provide far greater functionality at a much lower time cost to the researcher. Actions such as searching, reordering, sharing and archiving can be extremely fast compared to paper notebooks. Depending on the implementation, ELNs may introduce a time delay for users because they require turning on hardware and authenticating into the software before a notebook entry can be made. The degree to which this is an issue depends on the hardware (a modern tablet can wake and unlock within 1 s) and software (biometric authentication can offer rapid logins, or, more commonly, local policy can dictate how long user sessions remain active before forcing reauthentication).

The operating environment affects both paper and electronic notebooks. Laboratories that contain some form of protected environment (e.g., cleanrooms or biological containment laboratories) may have restrictions on the movement of items into and out of the space. Both paper notebooks and computer hardware can be contaminated in the laboratory. An ELN may help alleviate these issues by allowing access to notebooks via devices that remain inside the protected environment. However, this requires pre-planning of hardware requirements.

When considering any ELN system, the benefits of enabling more time to be dedicated to research and improving knowledge transfer and experimental reproducibility are balanced against financial costs. Recognizing who will bear these costs is important. For example, relying upon users to provide their own computing device to access an ELN effectively transfers this cost onto the researcher. This may cause people to spurn ELN adoption and disadvantages researchers without existing devices, as seen in studies of undergraduate web-based learning technologies 22 , 23 . If a laboratory already has a sufficient number of network-connected workstations, then this cost may be nil; otherwise, it can form a significant proportion of the overall implementation cost (a factor that is not included in any software vendor pricing).

An ELN is typically a combination of a user interface, a centralized database and a file store

Figure 3 illustrates a simplified view of a commonly adopted ELN architecture (although many different approaches are possible) 11 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 . Notebook entries may be stored in a relational database with attached files in a file store, with the ELN software facilitating user access and defining how notebook entries can be written and read. The software may be accessed via a web browser or in some cases through a custom application written for a specific platform (e.g., desktop or mobile operating system apps). Application-based ELNs may cause compatibility issues in academic research environments that typically feature a diverse range of operating systems 28 . Depending on the implementation, the separate ELN components may be separate servers 27 , in different physical locations. This major conceptual shift from paper notebooks brings both opportunities and challenges. Although the underlying technology is ideally invisible to the end user, the choice of ELN can influence the availability of different features. For example, most ELNs are ill suited to storing large volumes of raw data (either from a performance or cost perspective). A locally hosted ELN server may rapidly run out of physical storage space if not appropriately provisioned. A cloud-hosted server may quickly incur significant hosting costs as storage and bandwidth requirements increase. Even with these restrictions, the amount of information that can be stored is more than is possible with paper notebooks, which can store only small quantities of data.

Users interact with the ELN software via workstations and/or mobile devices, with off-premises access possible via technologies such as virtual private networks (VPNs) or by exposing the ELN to the wider internet (the latter introducing additional security concerns). Experimental hardware may interact directly with the ELN server (e.g., via an application programming interface (API)). The ELN software, database and file storage may coexist on the same physical server or operate on separate hardware. The server may be run as a local installation at an institution or as part of a cloud-hosted product from the software vendor. Additional requirements include backup servers, which should be geographically separate from the ELN (and should consist of multiple layers of redundancy). Third-party services include access to single sign-on servers (to facilitate a better user experience), trusted third-party timestamping authorities (for independently digitally signing notebook entries) or other laboratory systems (such as laboratory inventory management systems).

Sensitive data (e.g., patient or commercially sensitive information) may fall under local institution or legally mandated data-protection regulations (e.g., GDPR 2016/679 29 , which dictates the handling and safeguarding of personal data within the European Union). This may restrict the physical location and transfer of data, excluding the use of off-premises ELNs that use international cloud-based infrastructure 30 . Locally hosted ELNs may provide greater control over data security by restricting notebook access to users inside an institutional network (i.e., access devices must be physically on the premises or connected to the internal network remotely, for example, by using a virtual private network).

Data integrity can be enhanced by using version control and timestamping

The ability to create immutable notebook entries that cannot be removed or altered after creation is critical for academic and legal integrity. Paper notebooks typically implement this through rules and procedures (e.g., by prohibiting the removal of pages and signing and counter-signing entries). Not all ELNs address this issue, again precluding the use of some products. For example, general note-taking software packages, such as Microsoft OneNote and Evernote, do not typically include features to digitally sign or timestamp entries, with workarounds such as signing exported files required 28 , 31 . The level of verification required depends on both regulatory requirements and locally accepted laboratory notebook standards. For example, it may be sufficient to rely upon administrator-defined software features, such as the ability of a supervisor to lock notebook entries to prevent them from being edited or to disable entry deletion. Many ELN packages include a mechanism for version tracking, which record how a document is edited over time, a potential deterrent to modifying entries after the fact. This is a conceptual difference between paper and electronic notebooks. In a paper notebook, entries are instantly recorded (presuming some form of indelible ink is used). In an electronic notebook, there is typically a finite amount of time during which the entered text or other content remains malleable before it is saved to the server. This period can range from seconds to minutes, with the server creating intermediate versions of the entry, or a longer period until the entry is locked or finalized through some technical means. Excessive versioning may significantly increase storage requirements and overall running costs; hence, local policy is required to determine a suitable compromise for the period of time between making an entry and some form of versioning and ultimately finalization.

If verifying the provenance of notebook entries is critical, the ELN should incorporate technologies that adhere to recognized standards for trusted timestamping, such as RFC 3161 32 or ANSI X9.95-2016 33 . Trusted timestamping uses an audited third-party organization (typically a commercial provider) to digitally sign and timestamp a file. A cryptographic hashing algorithm is applied to a digital file (e.g., a portable document format file that corresponds to a notebook entry. The algorithm generates a file containing a hash (a mathematically unique representation of the original data). This hash cannot easily be reverse-engineered to recreate the original data and thus can be safely transmitted to the trusted timestamping authority via the internet. The authority digitally signs and timestamps the hash, in the process generating a third file (a timestamp token). This token is sent back to the ELN software and stored alongside the original portable document format file. Any modifications to the original file will invalidate the token, because recalculating the hash of the modified file will result in one different from the value contained within the digitally signed token. The process allows a digital file’s contents at a given point in time to be verified. Although technically complex, this process is typically performed invisibly to the user.

While trusted timestamping incorporates the concept of digital signatures, it adds the additional benefit of not only verifying the signer’s identity but also the time at which an entry was timestamped. In practical terms, local policy is required to ensure that users routinely timestamp their notebook entries, as the date and time of timestamping are being recorded, not the instant when an experiment was conducted. Procedures for archiving data should ensure that both the timestamped file and the timestamp token are properly preserved.

Open-source and commercial ELNs have different costs and benefits

In our survey, commercial ELNs were observed to be far more prevalent than open-source ELNs (147 versus 24 products identified). Table 2 compares commercial to open-source approaches. Although SaaS is a widely adopted licensing model (e.g., institutional subscriptions to Microsoft Office 365 or Google Workspace), SaaS ELNs may be prohibitively expensive for individual research groups because of per-user pricing, ever-growing file-storage costs and an indefinite subscription required to maintain access. In 2017, Kanza et al. reported that, in a survey of 169 users participating in an ELN pilot study, both limited financial budgets and the time required to implement an ELN were major concerns 14 . Similarly, although open-source ELNs can have relatively low initial and ongoing financial costs, they require time to run and maintain and may require server hardware to be purchased. The relatively modest requirements for many open-source ELNs make it feasible to repurpose old computing hardware to act as an ELN server, helping to reduce this cost. Costs can scale with the size of deployment; for example, commercial site-wide licenses may be negotiated at preferential rates rather than the per-user pricing available to individual research groups 34 . Implementing an open-source ELN at institutional scale can take advantage of pre-existing server infrastructure and support from information communication technologies departments. Some commercial providers offer free or reduced pricing for academic users 14 .

Open-source ELNs have the benefit of allowing not only the data to be archived, but also the underlying software itself. Technologies such as virtualization and containerization present feasible pathways to preserve the operating environment of the ELN for future access, beyond software and hardware obsolescence. For example, provided the codebase has been properly archived, open-source ELN software may be resurrected as a virtual machine within a modern operating system, to allow historic file access and export. This can help facilitate future file interoperability by providing easy access to the original software. The open codebase also means that data formats and standards are fully exposed, facilitating the future development of tools to reparse or extract data. When assessing an ELN hosted by a third party, consider what will happen to notebook entries when the product is discontinued. Some open-source projects (such as the Open Science Framework) 35 may include contingency plans and funds to ensure the ongoing preservation of research data. If an ELN provides data export functions, these should be tested to confirm that they provide the required level of functionality. For commercial ELNs, it should be ensured that supplier contracts include the necessary terms to facilitate data export.

ELNs are not a solution to poor data management

ELNs do not resolve the challenge of systematically storing raw data and are just one part of a holistic data management strategy. Successfully implementing an ELN requires reflection on current practice to determine how a laboratory handles and stores information 36 , 37 . As with paper notebooks, policy, training and enforcement are required to ensure that users record timely, useful and complete notebook entries. New users require training to understand the purpose and expectations of laboratory notebook use within a given organization. A policy for how, when and by whom notebooks are monitored sets expectations. An offboarding procedure should be implemented to ensure that outgoing user data are appropriately archived.

Procedures for linking raw data, laboratory notebook entries, analyzed data and publication data should be clearly defined and enforced. Data should be stored on centralized group or measurement-specific servers or publicly available repositories, with redundant backups. Persistent identifiers such as digital object identifiers can be used to help link resources, with ELN entries acting as centralized documents that connect to multiple files and data 36 . Some ELNs already generate unique identifiers for each notebook entry 24 . To help verify the integrity of externally stored data, ELNs can be used to record cryptographic hashes of data files.

Some ELNs feature application programming interfaces that allow other software to directly read and write notebook entries 24 . For example, a user conducting a computer-controlled experiment could allow that equipment to directly record experimental or process details, potentially streamlining routine measurements. Laboratories with well-defined workflows, such as electron microscopy 38 or genetic analysis 27 , may benefit from specialized ELNs that incorporate notebook entries within the data capture workflow or that have been designed with equipment integration as a primary goal.

Successful ELNs recognize the needs of their users

Within an academic research environment, both time and money are at a premium. Ideally, if adopted, ELNs for the academic research laboratory should be implemented at the institutional level, harnessing existing ICT infrastructure, and with a sufficient commitment for ongoing support to encourage uptake 39 . Although a handful of university-based surveys and studies of ELN implementation exist 14 , 39 , 40 , the reported level of success varies, suggesting that careful user engagement, product choice and ongoing support are key to successful deployment.

Critically, the implementation of an ELN should not introduce a net burden to the user. If users are unable or unwilling to use time-saving features, adopting an ELN may ultimately be a hindrance. For example, for a researcher who regularly draws chemical structures or writes equations into their notebook, most non-specialist ELNs will be less convenient than paper 39 , and the introduction of an ELN may be undesirable 16 . Lack of support for systems such as LaTeX can be a barrier to adoption in specific disciplines 41 . Recognizing the needs of an often-diverse range of researchers is essential before making decisions on the choice of software and approach.

Internal trialing of a small number of products, jointly agreed compromises or incorporating integrations with specialist solutions, such as ELNs capable of handling chemical structures 42 , may be required. Simple infrastructure factors, such as unreliable WiFi 7 , 14 , 23 , insufficient benchspace to place a laptop computer 14 or lack of access to up-to-date hardware and software in the laboratory, can also adversely affect users 39 . The prevalent culture of private and personal academic laboratory notebooks should be recognized, with one ELN study noting that researchers felt embarrassed when required to share their notebook with colleagues 43 .

User training should be recognized as an additional time burden, with researchers already expected to master a wide range of software packages 44 . Similarly, many laboratories already use laboratory information management systems for inventory handling, equipment booking and procurement. Introducing a further standalone system can work against the time benefits of digitization and integration 45 . Implementing an ELN is an opportunity to reflect upon and consolidate existing practice, with many ELNs incorporating laboratory information management system–style components. Similarly, if it is intended for the ELN to integrate with specific pieces of hardware, it cannot be assumed that software will work seamlessly; thus, system integration should be tested before deployment, and the appropriate resources should be allocated to maintain the integration.

To date, there have been no published multi-year longitudinal studies of ELN implementation in academic environments. Hence, it is important to consider user issues that may appear over longer time scales. For example, determining how future researchers will be made aware of existing records if the original author (or the author’s supervisor) has left the institution. Individuals should be identified who will facilitate access requests to existing records from new users. Investing in user training from the start should ensure that third parties are able to effectively locate these records in the future (i.e., that sufficient notation and metadata are being captured at the point of entry). Academic institutions may be able to take advantage of the existing in-house expertise of academic librarians, research data managers, compliance administrators, systems administrators and archivists to help develop long-term workable policies. The general challenge of long-term digital data preservation and access exists within any large organization (e.g., email preservation), so leveraging existing good practice may aid deployment.

Box 1 describes our own experience of implementing an open-source ELN, illustrating some of the points discussed in the article. The choices made arose out of the specific set of circumstances appropriate to our research group; thus, this should be considered not as a prescription for the best approach to implementing an ELN but rather as a reflection on what we have learned.

Box 1 Case study of implementing an open-source ELN

Since 2018, the authors have used eLabFTW as our ELN 24 . The criteria for identifying a suitable ELN focused on accommodating scientists from multiple disciplines (e.g., cell biologists, synthetic chemists and engineers) and the correspondingly diverse range of laboratory environments. Much of the research is applied, so reliable timestamping integration was considered essential for intellectual property protection. With a large number of active users at any given time, the system had to scale affordably, with persistent and ready long-term access to archived user data.

The large number of users meant that the projected ongoing per-user subscription costs for commercial products were considerable. This potential cost combined with our other criteria led us to select the open-source software eLabFTW after a successful 6-month trial before wider deployment. The server runs locally behind an institutional firewall on modest repurposed hardware. The trial period allowed a local ELN policy to be developed. No user is forced to use the ELN, existing lab members can switch to the system and new members are offered the choice of electronic or paper notebooks. However, users may not operate both types concurrently, to avoid data fragmentation. All new users go through an induction and training process. Compliance with the policy is checked periodically to ensure that users are timestamping their entries (eLabFTW provides server- and user-level statistics to facilitate this).

Financial costs included purchasing an uninterruptable power supply (~£300), a network-attached storage device (~£190; one component of a multisite backup strategy) and a subscription to the third-party trusted timestamping authority (~£70/year). Indirect costs included the time of a researcher to act as system administrator to set up and configure the server (taking advantage of existing expertise within the group), support from institutional ICT staff to support configuration and integration with existing institutional services and the time cost of running regular user induction and training. Ongoing costs include administering the server (~3 h/month, performed internally by senior researchers within the research group) and training (~3 h/month).

After ~2.5 years, ~60% of current laboratory members have active ELN accounts. Anecdotally, onboarding new students and staff as they arrive in the group appears to minimize the inconvenience of adopting an ELN, as they develop their new workflows concurrently with learning how to use the system, as well as adapting to the wider standards and protocols of the group surrounding research data management and reporting.

Challenges have included occasional software bugs, requiring a workaround until an update was available. A handful of network- and power-related issues have resulted in a total downtime of ~3 d over the course of 3 years. Ongoing user training has included reminders of the importance to timestamp entries. The generic nature of notebook entries has presented some challenges for computational scientists, where computational notebooks are limited to file attachments within the ELN, an inelegant solution for those used to working with version-control systems such as Git. Understanding how new users use the ELN is an ongoing challenge—we have found that using a dedicated communications channel in Microsoft Teams has aided this process. In the long term, the ELN is reliant on having suitably qualified researchers able to administer the system (one of the costs of an open-source solution).

The advantages have included the ability to readily share laboratory notebook entries between users, for example, protocol sharing within the same project and providing new students and researchers with direct access to the work of former group members. This has included during the COVID-19 pandemic, where users are able to access the ELN from home. Students are able to share notebook entries directly and remotely with senior researchers, meaning that they can efficiently receive guidance, again useful in a period where laboratory access has been restricted. It has been observed that since the ELN has been introduced, the user base has grown spontaneously with awareness of the system.

ELNs are an opportunity to consider the broader philosophy of academic laboratory research

With care, ELNs can be used to support information capture, making it more consistent, accessible and usable to both current and future generations of scientists. Implementing an ELN provides an opportunity to consider how digitized notebook entries can help address some of the broader challenges of academic research. For example, some ELNs cater to aspects of open science 46 , 47 , allowing them to be configured to share data outside of organizations, supporting initiatives such as the FAIR Data Principles (a proposal that scientific data should be findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) 48 . Similarly, the integration of ELNs with institutional repositories may offer new opportunities to tackle the challenge of research data management, such as efforts by the University of Edinburgh to allow users to directly deposit data into an institutional repository via their ELN interface 49 .

Adopting an ELN abstracts the user from the underlying notebook storage technology, allowing a wide range of other approaches to be implemented, different from the one illustrated in Fig. 3 . Rather than using a private database of notebook entries, an ELN could implement a publicly distributed, decentralized record store, by using technologies such as blockchain and peer-to-peer networking 50 , to aid accountability or reduce the reliance on only one repository for long-term data storage. For example, the research project bloxberg is a blockchain operated by an academic consortium 51 that has been independently integrated into the ELN eLabFTW 24 . Cryptographic hashes of notebook entries can be timestamped and recorded on a publicly accessible ledger, distributed across the consortium network, thus removing the need for a single trusted third-party timestamping authority. In effect, verification of the integrity of notebook entries (or other scientific data) is distributed among the consortium members.

Because ELNs provide the primary interface to research data, there is the opportunity to consider how they can integrate with computational approaches that aim to automatically derive insights into the data. This could include the integration of an ELN with computational semantic technologies 16 , which allow the meaning of human language to be automatically inferred. This would allow research metadata to be automatically derived, aiding search efforts, or create automated insights by linking relevant data together 45 . Alternatively, an ELN might be integrated with existing community-defined ontologies and databases for specific disciplines. In this scenario, the ELN would act both as a form of input validation, ensuring that data are captured according to community standards, and as a mechanism for facilitating access to underlying data to facilitate large scale meta-analyses.

In summary, for researchers and institutions considering implementing an ELN, a nuanced understanding of laboratory culture is needed to facilitate a respectful and ultimately user-supported deployment. The barriers to entry must be carefully managed because these have the potential to create technological divides within the academic community, diluting the benefits of ELNs. Successful ELN implementation should be seen as an ongoing commitment to ensure that the needs of different users continue to be met. Given that the current median lifetime of ELN software packages is 7 years, it is of utmost importance to have sufficient ongoing institutional support to maximize the value to researchers and mitigate the risks, enabling continuity when software changes are required. With careful consideration, successful implementation of an ELN presents a pathway to greater knowledge development and transfer within academic research.

Data availability

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Acknowledgements

S.G.H. acknowledges support from a Cancer Research UK award (C71717/A30035). S.G.H., A.A.N.-V. and M.M.S. acknowledge support from a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award (098411/Z/12/Z). M.M.S. acknowledges support from the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform ‘Acellular/Smart Materials - 3D Architecture’ (MR/R015651/1). M.M.S. acknowledges support from the Royal Academy of Engineering under the Chairs in Emerging Technologies scheme (CIET2021\94). The authors acknowledge the feedback and suggestions provided by the reviewers and editorial team, which helped improve the quality and breadth of the manuscript.

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Stuart G. Higgins, Akemi A. Nogiwa-Valdez & Molly M. Stevens

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S.G.H. and A.A.N.-V. wrote the manuscript. M.M.S. supervised the work and edited the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Molly M. Stevens .

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S.G.H. and A.A.N.-V. are the system administrators for the Stevens Group ELN, which uses the open-source software package eLabFTW. S.G.H. has provided feedback via public forums to the developer of eLabFTW.

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Peer review information Nature Protocols thanks Laurence Brown, Michael Gotthardt, Rachel J. Harding and Samantha Kanza for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Higgins, S.G., Nogiwa-Valdez, A.A. & Stevens, M.M. Considerations for implementing electronic laboratory notebooks in an academic research environment. Nat Protoc 17 , 179–189 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41596-021-00645-8

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Creating Digital Research Notebooks

Digital notebook advantages, open science framework (free), create an osf project research notebook, labarchives (brown-paid subscription), create a labarchives lab notebook, further reading, learning objectives.

This page is designed to help you:

• Compare the advantages of using a digital research notebook
• Create a digital notebook for you and your collaborators to document the steps of your project and manage your project’s data

Below you'll find two tutorials for setting up a digital notebook using a free and open platform or using an Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN) paid for by Brown University.

• Create an Open Science Framework (OSF) online digital research notebook
• Create a LabArchives Electronic Lab Notebook  (ELN)

• Access online and via mobile
• Search for text and keywords
• Share with collaborators
• Track revisions
• Export and save digital copies

The Open Science Framework (OSF) is a free online project management platform developed by the Center for Open Science that is often used as a cloud-based research notebook. OSF is open software, so it is your own account and you will still have access if you leave Brown. Although "science' is in the name it is subject agnostic and can just as easily be used by humanities researchers.

• Set up an OSF Project to serve as a notebook for each of your research projects and share access with any collaborators.
• Add collaborators and grant viewing and/or editing privileges.
• After a project is completed (or even while the project is ongoing) make your OSF Project open to the public and get a link (URL) for sharing with others to view your project online and for citation.

An OSF Project is made up of Components . Each component you create and add to your project can represent a discrete part or stage of your project. For example, you could create a component for your experimental protocol, the data you have collected, your analysis, and one for writing up the results. Each component has its own Wiki that you and your collaborators can use to record your notes, experimental steps, and observations.

You can connect any existing free cloud storage and popular collaborative platforms to a component, such as GitHub for analysis code or Google Drive or DropBox for shared folders of project files. 

Create OSF Account

Go online and visit the URL: https://osf.io 

Click on Sign In in the upper right corner.

• Click on Select Your Institution and scroll down and select Brown University from the drop down menu
• Click Sign In and enter your Brown University username and password.

If you do not have a Brown University username and password, then click Sign Up and follow steps to create a free OSF account.

Create OSF Project

After signing in, you arrive on your  Dashboard  page. Your dashboard will show the OSF projects that you have created and/or OSF projects that you have been added to as a collaborator. To create a new OSF project follow these steps.

• At the top of the Dashboard page select  Create new project  (another way is from the search bar at the top of the page select  My Projects  and then  Create new project ).
• A pop-up window will appear where you will be able to enter the name of your new research project and then click  Create .

After you create your OSF Project you will be taken to its landing page. At the top you will see the URL for your project, the title of your project, your name and any collaborators you add, and the privacy setting. The default privacy setting for your new OSF project and any components you add is private, which means it is only viewable by you and/or any collaborators that you have added. You can choose to change this and make the project or any of its components public at any time.

• Click on  Description  and you can add a sentence describing your project to help you navigate projects in your dashboard page, e.g., “Digital Research Notebook for Summer Research Project.” 
• Below in the box titled  Wiki  click on the box-and-arrow icon and this will take you to the Wiki’s  Edit  panel. Enter your research questions and more detailed abstract about the project and click Save. You can edit your project wiki at any time.
• Affiliate your project with Brown University by clicking on  Settings  on the upper toolbar
• Select  Project Affiliation/Branding  among menu options
• Search and select Brown University in the search bar and click  Save .

View the online tutorial  Creating and Managing Projects  on the OSF site or watch the video below for more information on creating an OSF Project.

Create OSF Project Components

On the landing page of your OSF Project, in the box titled  Components , click on  Add component  and in the pop-up window give your component a name. You can repeat this as many times to add the separate parts comprising your project as they are required, such as a component for each of your experiments or for each of the stages of your project, such as an interview or survey. As you add components they will be listed on the Project’s landing page and you can reorder these, if needed. An important aspect of a component is integrating it with any tools that you and your collaborators use, such as GitHub repository or Google Drive, Box, or DropBox. To integrate these tools into your OSF Project components follow these steps.

• On the toolbar at the top of your project's landing page click   Add-ons
• Locate your preferred cloud storage provider from those available on the  Select Add-ons  menu.
• Next to the provider click on  Enable  and click  Confirm  in the pop-up window.
• The ones you choose to integrate into your Project space will appear in the box  Configure Add-ons . Click  Connect Account  next to each provider and then enter your username and password for each account you wish to grant OSF the permission to access.

View the online tutorials  Create Components   and  Connecting Add-Ons   on the OSF site or watch the video below for more information on creating components for your OSF Project and integrating cloud-based storage and collaborative tools .

Add Contributors

You can team contributors and grant them certain permissions via these steps.

On your Project landing page select  Contributors  from the top toolbar.

• Click  Add+  and enter the names and email addresses of your collaborators. If they already have an existing OSF account you can search for their name in the search bar and click to add them to your project. If they do not have an existing account click  Add as an unregistered contributor . Unregistered users will receive an email from OSF informing them of their addition to your project and inviting them to create an OSF account.
• Next to their name click on the  Permissions  drop down and select  Read  if you only want them to be able to view your project or  Read + Write  if you want them to be able to edit and add to your project.

View the online tutorial  Contributors and Permissions  on the OSF site or watch the video below for more information on adding collaborators to your OSF Project.

LabArchives@Brown  (LabArchives Brown University Edition) is Brown University’s institutional paid subscription to LabArchives . It is available to all members of the Brown University community, including clinical faculty affiliates. LabArchives is an electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) platform that offers more advanced features than many open digital research notebook platforms, including unlimited storage and more secure storage and versioning options such as being FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliant. Create a LabArchives Electronic Lab Notebook by following the tutorial below.

Students can create as many LabArchives notebooks as they wish. Once logged in students can view the notebooks they own as well as ones shared with them.

For Independent Research Projects

If you are a student and are working on an independent project, then by default you will have the  Owner Role  of your notebooks that you create. You can choose to add collaborators and grant them certain viewing and editing privileges. As owner you can share an entry, page, folder or even your entire notebook with a collaborator. You can have your notebooks transferred to a private LabArchives account when you leave Brown so that you can retain access.

Working with a Faculty Member/Primary Investigator (PI)

If you are working under a faculty member on their project or in their lab that uses LabArchives, then they may set up a notebook for you and invite you to the notebook as a User. You can make a copy of your LabArchives notebook before leaving Brown.

When you log-in to  LabArchives@Brown  you will see a landing page dashboard titled  Notebooks . Along the left side bar you can sort and view all the notebooks that you have created as well as those you do not own but you have been provided with view access or added as a contributor to a notebook owned by someone else such as a faculty member serving as a Principal Investigator (PI).

Create an Account

• Go online and visit the URL: https://library.brown.edu/info/labarchives/
• Click on Sign up or log in to LabArchives
• Enter your Brown University username and password

If you do not have a Brown University username and password, then visit labarchives.com and create a free account by clicking Sign Up and following the steps to create a username and password. The free version of LabArchives does not have the same storage features as the LabArchives Brown University Edition, including restrictions on the size of a file that can be uploaded and total storage size.

Create a Notebook

When you log-in to LabArchives@Brown you will see a landing page dashboard on the top of left-side toolbar called  Notebooks . Click on  Notebooks  and the  + icon  to create a new notebook. 

In the next pop-up window  Create a New Notebook  you can enter a name for the new notebook, e.g., “Summer Research Project 20XX.” Next will be asked to choose a Folder Layout. 

• If you select None , then you can create and name the folders as you need to fit your project (recommended)
• After selecting the folder layout click  Create Notebook . Your notebook will now appear in the left-side toolbar under  Notebooks .

View the tutorial  Getting Started   on LabArchives site or watch the video below for more information.

Add New Folders and Subfolders

After creating a new notebook you can start creating any folders and subfolders within folders where you want to store the pages of entries and/or project files. 

• To create a new folder go to the left-side bar and click into the notebook in which you wish to add the folder and click  + New  and then  Add new folder .
• To create a new subfolder within an existing folder click on the existing folder to open the folder and  click + New  and then  Add new folder  .

Add New Pages

In order to make an entry in your notebook, i.e., start writing notes and observations in your notebook or add a file or an attachment, you first have to create a Page. To keep your notebook organized it is recommended to organize pages with folders. For example, you could create a folder and name it the name of the project and then create subfolders named with the date, YYYYMMDD to hold the pages created on that date.

• To create a new page in your notebook click on the folder or subfolder you want the page to appear and click  + New  and  Add new page . A pop-up window will appear asking you to provide a name for the page.

Create New Entries

To make an entry on a page find the page you would like to add the entry.

• In the toolbar at the top of the page click  + New   and a drop down menu will appear with several options. Entries can be made in several different ways
• If you want to be able to type directly on the page you can select  Rich Text   on the upper toolbar. A  Rich Text Entry Editor  will appear and you can begin typing and create any hyperlinks or attachments as needed.
• If you prefer using  Microsoft Office  tools such as  Word  or  Excel  you can click on the built in  Office Document  in the upper toolbar. You can also use your own Microsoft Office tools and save to LabArchives by downloading the  LabArchives Microsoft Office Plugin  by clicking on the ellipsis ⋮ icon in the upper right hand corner of the notebook and clicking on  Downloads .
• If you want to attach a file click on  Attachment  located on the upper toolbar (e.g., attach a file such as an image to an entry and to use the annotation tools to write notes on the image).
• Add  Google Docs  or other tools (freezer boxes, calculators, periodic table) by clicking on the  Widget  in the upper toolbar   and select from the drop down menu. 

Remember to save an entry to the page by clicking  Save to Page .

View the online tutorial  Creating and Managing Entries  on LabArchives site or watch the video below for more information.

Sharing with Collaborators

Share a folder and pages.

• To share a folder or page left click (mac)/right click (pc) on the folder or page in the left-side navigation bar and select  Share . In the pop-up enter the names and email addresses of the persons with whom you would like to share access or you can choose to generate a sharing link. 

Share an Entry

• Scroll to the entry you wish to share on the page. Hover your cursor over the top and a toolbar will appear with the  Share  icon. In the pop-up enter the names and email addresses of the persons with whom you would like to share access or you can generate a sharing link. 

Share a notebook

• Click on the ellipsis  ⋮  icon in the upper-right hand corner of the notebook. Click on  Notebook Settings . Under  User Management  you can invite a collaborator to your notebook by entering their names and email addresses. Next to their names click on  Role  to select their permissions (e.g., Read + Write). They will receive an invitation to create an account or or you can choose to generate a sharing link.

View the online tutorial  Sharing LabArchives Notebooks  on the LabArchives site or view the video below for more information.

• Harvard Medical School Electronic Lab Notebook Feature Comparison Matrix

This guide was designed to help you:

• Compare the advantages of using a digital research notebook
• Create a digital notebook for you and your collaborators to document the steps of your project and manage your project’s data
• << Previous: Documenting Methods and Describing Data
• Last Updated: Jul 12, 2023 8:33 AM
• URL: https://libguides.brown.edu/DataManagement

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• Research Advice

How to Use Notion as a Research Lab Notebook for Ph.D. Research

Notion is one of my favorite tools for organizing my research lab experiments, notes, data, and tasks! Notion is a free and premium cloud-based app that allows you to create highly customizable and visual pages and dashboards for keeping your life organized.

I first started using Notion in 2021 during my Ph.D., when I created the free Simple Graduate Student Notion Dashboard . As I learned more about using Notion , I developed this Research Lab Notebook template to keep track of all my research lab-related tasks, protocols, and notes, all while storing important information like literature reviews and data. This research lab notebook is an excellent Notion template for Ph.D., master’s, and undergraduate students engaged in research. Sign up for a Notion account here if you don’t already have an account!

This Research Lab Notebook template is only for organizing research lab experiments. I currently do not have this template integrated with any manuscript, thesis, or dissertation writing tools aside from literature review. But this template is certainly designed to be used and referenced during the writing process!

What is Notion?

Notion is freemium software that allows you to create pages, templates, and databases for organizing information. This app is more than a basic note-taking app! It allows you to customize your pages and databases to what you need to work smarter and more efficiently. Notion is available across devices, so you can always access your Notion from your phone, computer, or tablet. Notion offers several subscription levels. The free version offers all basic tools for using and creating Notion templates. The premium subscriptions provide more tools and functionality for small and large teams or even entire organizations. The free software is sufficient for individuals, but if you work on a small team, like with a research group, the Plus subscription offers features like unlimited file uploads and more!

In addition to signing up for Notion, you can add on the Notion AI tool as well. This newly launched tool integrates the power of AI into your Notion workspace. I’ve enjoyed using Notion AI for summarizing, paraphrasing, brainstorming, and organizing my thoughts. The AI tool is seamlessly integrated into Notion and works very well!

Sign up for a Notion account here !

Why do I love using Notion?

I’ve been using Notion for several years now and have found it to be one of the best (and most fun) software to use for note-taking and organizing. Firstly, it’s plain fun to organize and design your template! You can easily create your own Notion aesthetic and design pages to fit your needs. I also love how I can use it across all my devices. It’s also very affordable for students, as there is a free version. And Notion AI is well-priced at just $8 a month.

Research Lab Notebook Notion Template Features

What is included in the research lab notebook notion template.

The Research Lab Notebook Notion Template includes

• Homepage with daily and weekly experiment and task trackers
• Daily lab notebook database for tracking the day’s experiments and taking notes.
• Project management database views so you can manage all your research projects in a single view
• Detailed literature review template/literature review database
• Data management plan page
• Protocols database that can be related to lab notebook tasks and entries so you never forget which protocol you used!

Research Tasks and Experiments Database – The Brain of the Notion Template

The Daily and Weekly Tasks and Experiments databases are linked copies of the “All Research Projects Tasks and Experiments” database, so I will start by explaining this database first. The “Research Projects Tasks and Experiments” database is where you can input all of your research-related tasks and experiments. Each task or experiment can be labeled with the project, the goals, the due date, and the status.

After you input this information, if the date is “Today” the tasks will populate the Today’s Tasks and Experiments Table. And if the date is “Today or within one week from today,” it will populate the This Weeks Tasks and Experiments Table! On the master Research Projects Tasks and Experiments database, you can create additional views by simply adding a view along the top of the database. I’ve included views by project, status, or the calendar view. The project view is beneficial when you want to look at everything you’ve completed for a single project.

Daily Research Lab Notebook

Now, once you’re in the lab and working, you’ll want to keep track of everything you do during the day! You can do this in the Research Lab Notebook. Here, when you create a new entry, custom template will be generated so you can begin planning and tracking your day! The “Tasks and Experiments” property allows you to link to the associated tasks you created in the Research Projects Tasks and Experiments database. This way, your tasks and lab notebook are always linked! In this column, you can link to multiple tasks and experiments in case you do multiple experiments in one day.

n the next column, you can similarly link to any protocols stored in the protocol database. And when you go back to your protocol database, you can see all the lab notebook entries that used that protocol! Cool right? Everything links together so you can easily reference your experiments, lab notebook, and protocols from multiple pages on this template. You can also use different views to visualize your lab notebook by project.

Protocols Manager

Here is a quick view of the protocol database! Create your protocol here and use the relation property to link it to any of your lab notebook entries! For each protocol entry, you can write out your methodology, take notes, and link to any associated literature.

Literature Review Template

Like the protocols database, there is a designated page for reviewing literature! This database uses properties that will guide you through your reading, offers a space for file uploads and note taking, and a property for relating your entries to lab notebook entries and protocols!

I hope this template is helpful for you to keep all of your research notes organized in Notion! Let us know in the comments what other ways you use Notion to keep your research life organized!

How can I get the Research Lab Notebook Notion Template?

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How to Set Up a Research Notebook

Getting Started with a Research Project

The Table of Contents in a Research Notebook

Number the Pages in a Research Notebook

Don't forget these in a research notebook.

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Research in the research notebook.

18 comments

For the most part, your system is like mine. One thing I've added is that I keep a list of revisions on the last page of the spiral that includes number, date, major change, and if I shared with anyone for feedback. Wonderful post!

OOO! That's a good idea. I do go into my outline (where I have footnotes) to add revisions with sources. (I learned that the hard way.) :) I like the idea of adding it to the spiral!

Annette this is such a thorough, detailed and very helpful presentation of your research process. I have just joined this group because there really aren't many books about writing nonfiction and I knew I needed something more in-depth. I will definitely sign up for your newsletter. Thank you for this article. Terry Northcutt

Terry, thank you for your encouragement! It's a blog post that I'd been wanting to write for months...but knew it wouldn't be a quickie. :) Best of luck to you as you dive into writing more nonfiction! Use KIDLIT25 for a 25% discount if you're interested in my video NF course.

Annette, I picked up several tips in this blog post, but especially love your nicknames/codes for various references! Congrats on your various books!

Thanks so much, Josette! Happy writing!

Thanks so much Annette for taking the time to write all of this down!

Annette, I love this post! As a fellow nonfiction KidLit writer, I love seeing an up close and personal look at your research process. You are amazing!!!!

Thanks so much, Nancy! You and I are always learning...even from one another!

Great post, Annette! Very informative and thorough. Thank you. :)

You're so welcome, Kathy!

Thank you Annette! I am planning a non-fiction for my next book, and I definitely am finding these ideas helpful. I had started the book a couple years ago, but I really lacked the organization and knowledge to go forward with it. This helps me feel like I should pick up my pencil and give it a try again.

Thanks so much, Brittany! Probably the most important tip isn't related to research...but to have FUN with your book! Happy writing! Oh, if you're interested in my NF video course, use KIDLIT25 for 25% discount!

Love the tips. You are definitely more organized than me when it comes to research. On the other hand, I did start a writing journal to record my thoughts/feelings about my writing projects. At first I wondered if I should be using up my precious writing time to journal, but I've found it to be extremely valuable. Helps me focus and keep track of what I need to work on next. Now, adding your tips to my writing journal. :-)

Have fun with this! Reflection is an important part of writing...I need to do more of THAT!

Awesome post and great tips and techniques! I see why you are so successful!

Thanks so much, Mindy! Now if only I could get my desk to be organized like a simple notebook and folder!

Oooh! Thanks for this notebook idea and the details! Pull out the spiral notebooks.

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Electronic research notebooks: what are erns.

• What are ERNs?
• Types of ERNs
• Security and Preservation for ERNs
• Transition to ERN
• Other Uses for ENs

What is an electronic research notebook?

Electronic research notebooks (ERNs) meet the demands of modern science by creating a digital, organized, and secure recordkeeping environment for scientists to efficiently function in an increasingly disciplinary and collaborative community. 

For hundreds of years, the paper notebook has played a key role in how scientific research has been conducted and served as the official record for measurements and observations.

As publishing, sharing and searching for information has shifted to an electronic workflow, the paper notebook has been left behind, filled with illegible writing and pasted experimental data from automated instruments.

Why use an electronic research notebook?

Electronic Research Notebooks offer the opportunity for scientists to make the output of scientific research more accessible and improve reproducibility and productivity in their work. 

Additionally, a 2013 memo from the Office of Science and Technology Policy and federal funding agencies are now holding scientists conducting research in academia accountable for providing infrastructure to support research data management. 

Other practical reasons for using an ERN platform include:

• Improved data curation for future reuse
• Track provenance of experiments
• Search individual notebooks and/or colleague notebooks
• Reduce work duplication
• Improve legibility
• Reduce pasting of automated results

Relevant Literature

• Electronic Notebooks: A New Leaf An article featured in Nature discussing the adoption of ERNs in industry compared to academic research and reasoning behind why ERNs should be adopted into the research lifecycle.
• Electronic lab notebooks: can they replace paper? An article in the Journal of Cheminformatics discussing two main issues identified that prevent researchers from adopting ERNs and the development of a cloud base notebook platform attempting to overcome the barriers.

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9 Great Tools to Maintain Lab Notebook for Researchers

You have scheduled a real time PCR to determine your primer efficiency. After thorough planning, you were able to successfully finish the experiment and get the Ct value. As you sit to write the experiment in your journal, you struggle to understand the notes you made while carrying out the experiment. You in fact, did not even write down the dilutions! Without writing the correct requirements and methodology, the results from the experiment aren’t reliable. Then you remember, how your PI had mentioned to note everything you perform in the laboratory as and when possible!

Table of Contents

Why to Maintain and Organize Lab Notebook?

Lab Notebook is one of the most useful  resources for a researcher . Although a mundane job, writing laboratory notes helps researchers gather information and track all the experiments, their results, and failures that are further used for optimization of the experiments. Despite its imperativeness, no researcher ever calls it an interesting job as it involves a lot of writing. This process is like journal completion only much more complicated, as the researcher has to mention each and every detail of the experiment they performed.

Following reasons make lab notes a reliable resource for researchers:

• Maintaining diligent records help researchers understand their results. There are times when the written results don’t make sense because the researchers analyze it after a few days of performing the experiments.
• Detailed note taking helps organize the research work. Furthermore, it helps picking up the work from where it was left.
• Good lab notebook provides written evidence, increase transparency, and lets researchers undergo data analysis ethically.

Researchers who decide to write and publish a paper after a few months or years after performing the experiments rely on the research note, as they ensure reproducibility, which is essential in paper publishing. Furthermore, details from lab notebook help researchers write the procedures and results with accuracy.

 Types of Laboratory Notes

Type of information a researcher documents in the journal, defines the type of laboratory notes. In a research project, research notes are of various forms like – literature report, experiment planning, timelines of experiments, raw data, requirements, procedures, statistical data, flowcharts, observational images and references, etc. The challenge lies in keeping a track of all the information documented based on these types. But, this task is not as challenging as it initially looks, because it takes discipline to maintain and organize various types of notes with good lab practices and healthy habit of notetaking.

Digital Lab Notebook – Simplifies or Complicates a Researcher’s Life?

Maintaining lab notebook is a discipline. Every researcher must inculcate the habit of taking notes from the experiments they have performed to the events they have planned for their project. However, Students in their early days of career are comfortable with taking notes because they are a mandate to acquire grades. However, with time and increasing  responsibilities of the project , students/researchers tend to miss out on taking notes regularly.

As mentioned earlier, making research notes can sometimes take longer than the actual duration of the experiment!

new lucrative applications are used to mitigate the trouble of spending long hours in making lab notebook.

Earlier, documenting data was a time consuming process. Digital applications or electronic lab notebooks improve time management of documenting project data. Unlike the pen and paper notes, digital lab notebooks are easily accessible and searchable. Retrieving data from the pile of raw data is an easy task in digital documentation. Moreover, there are applications which can organize data and help researchers set reminders for further planned experiments. There are apps that give complete overview of the project work and how to plan the project tasks in advance.

There are people who prefer writing their lab notes on paper over using the digital platform. Although a personalized exercise, writing on paper is a time consuming process. Over time research scholars who prefer hand written notes may have to adapt to electronic lab notebook and applications. There is no However, with growing pace of research and the race to  publish first , it is better to incorporate smarter tools to work with instead of perishing with knowledge worth publishing!

9 Great Tools to maintain Lab Notebook

Labguru web service and mobile application lets researchers plan, record, assess, and share information the entire day. Researchers can photograph and share experimental results, use whiteboard drawings, access conference posters, or visual notes for related steps in an experiment.

Notion organizes documents, databases, audio-visual content, notes, meetings, and schedules.

3. CloningBench

This application is specific for the biology field of research. CloningBench helps and guides researchers through important decisions in cloning research. It includes features like molar quantities calculator, gene size estimator, bacterial growth timer, etc.

4. PubChase

PubChase gives latest updates in biomedical publication. Furthermore, researchers can search through literature database and save interesting articles to read later.

5. Cell Imaging HD

This app allows researchers to find and visualize reagents, fluorescent dyes, and protocols. Furthermore, Cell Imaging HD is designed for research related to cell biology and major microscope systems.

It is used for calculations and unit conversions which are extensively used in designing various quantitative experiments. PCalc is one of the highest rated scientific apps.

7. Hivebench

Hivebench is a substitute for paper notebooks and specifically designed for lab research. Researchers can be more detailed, organized, and precise in their research project.

It is a quick reference tool. It looks up the genes used quite often in medical research. Scientists can get complete details about the genes appearing in relevant publication.

9. ResearchKit

It is an open source platform, allowing scientists to build customized application for their studies. This app allows to gather participant data. Researchers can look through the app and appoint suitable individuals for varied research roles. Moreover, this app works like LinkedIn, but specific to the research field.

Have you used any of the tools mentioned above? Did you like these tools and their interface? Tell us if you have used some  other innovative tools  and share with us your experience of using them. If you find this information interesting and want to explore the hacks for becoming a productive and efficient researcher, do write to us or leave a comment below!

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• What Is a Research Design | Types, Guide & Examples

What Is a Research Design | Types, Guide & Examples

Published on June 7, 2021 by Shona McCombes . Revised on November 20, 2023 by Pritha Bhandari.

A research design is a strategy for answering your   research question  using empirical data. Creating a research design means making decisions about:

• Your overall research objectives and approach
• Whether you’ll rely on primary research or secondary research
• Your sampling methods or criteria for selecting subjects
• Your data collection methods
• The procedures you’ll follow to collect data
• Your data analysis methods

A well-planned research design helps ensure that your methods match your research objectives and that you use the right kind of analysis for your data.

Table of contents

Step 1: consider your aims and approach, step 2: choose a type of research design, step 3: identify your population and sampling method, step 4: choose your data collection methods, step 5: plan your data collection procedures, step 6: decide on your data analysis strategies, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about research design.

• Introduction

Before you can start designing your research, you should already have a clear idea of the research question you want to investigate.

There are many different ways you could go about answering this question. Your research design choices should be driven by your aims and priorities—start by thinking carefully about what you want to achieve.

The first choice you need to make is whether you’ll take a qualitative or quantitative approach.

Qualitative research designs tend to be more flexible and inductive , allowing you to adjust your approach based on what you find throughout the research process.

Quantitative research designs tend to be more fixed and deductive , with variables and hypotheses clearly defined in advance of data collection.

It’s also possible to use a mixed-methods design that integrates aspects of both approaches. By combining qualitative and quantitative insights, you can gain a more complete picture of the problem you’re studying and strengthen the credibility of your conclusions.

Practical and ethical considerations when designing research

As well as scientific considerations, you need to think practically when designing your research. If your research involves people or animals, you also need to consider research ethics .

• How much time do you have to collect data and write up the research?
• Will you be able to gain access to the data you need (e.g., by travelling to a specific location or contacting specific people)?
• Do you have the necessary research skills (e.g., statistical analysis or interview techniques)?
• Will you need ethical approval ?

At each stage of the research design process, make sure that your choices are practically feasible.

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Within both qualitative and quantitative approaches, there are several types of research design to choose from. Each type provides a framework for the overall shape of your research.

Types of quantitative research designs

Quantitative designs can be split into four main types.

• Experimental and   quasi-experimental designs allow you to test cause-and-effect relationships
• Descriptive and correlational designs allow you to measure variables and describe relationships between them.

With descriptive and correlational designs, you can get a clear picture of characteristics, trends and relationships as they exist in the real world. However, you can’t draw conclusions about cause and effect (because correlation doesn’t imply causation ).

Experiments are the strongest way to test cause-and-effect relationships without the risk of other variables influencing the results. However, their controlled conditions may not always reflect how things work in the real world. They’re often also more difficult and expensive to implement.

Types of qualitative research designs

Qualitative designs are less strictly defined. This approach is about gaining a rich, detailed understanding of a specific context or phenomenon, and you can often be more creative and flexible in designing your research.

The table below shows some common types of qualitative design. They often have similar approaches in terms of data collection, but focus on different aspects when analyzing the data.

Your research design should clearly define who or what your research will focus on, and how you’ll go about choosing your participants or subjects.

In research, a population is the entire group that you want to draw conclusions about, while a sample is the smaller group of individuals you’ll actually collect data from.

Defining the population

A population can be made up of anything you want to study—plants, animals, organizations, texts, countries, etc. In the social sciences, it most often refers to a group of people.

For example, will you focus on people from a specific demographic, region or background? Are you interested in people with a certain job or medical condition, or users of a particular product?

The more precisely you define your population, the easier it will be to gather a representative sample.

• Sampling methods

Even with a narrowly defined population, it’s rarely possible to collect data from every individual. Instead, you’ll collect data from a sample.

To select a sample, there are two main approaches: probability sampling and non-probability sampling . The sampling method you use affects how confidently you can generalize your results to the population as a whole.

Probability sampling is the most statistically valid option, but it’s often difficult to achieve unless you’re dealing with a very small and accessible population.

For practical reasons, many studies use non-probability sampling, but it’s important to be aware of the limitations and carefully consider potential biases. You should always make an effort to gather a sample that’s as representative as possible of the population.

Case selection in qualitative research

In some types of qualitative designs, sampling may not be relevant.

For example, in an ethnography or a case study , your aim is to deeply understand a specific context, not to generalize to a population. Instead of sampling, you may simply aim to collect as much data as possible about the context you are studying.

In these types of design, you still have to carefully consider your choice of case or community. You should have a clear rationale for why this particular case is suitable for answering your research question .

For example, you might choose a case study that reveals an unusual or neglected aspect of your research problem, or you might choose several very similar or very different cases in order to compare them.

Data collection methods are ways of directly measuring variables and gathering information. They allow you to gain first-hand knowledge and original insights into your research problem.

You can choose just one data collection method, or use several methods in the same study.

Survey methods

Surveys allow you to collect data about opinions, behaviors, experiences, and characteristics by asking people directly. There are two main survey methods to choose from: questionnaires and interviews .

Observation methods

Observational studies allow you to collect data unobtrusively, observing characteristics, behaviors or social interactions without relying on self-reporting.

Observations may be conducted in real time, taking notes as you observe, or you might make audiovisual recordings for later analysis. They can be qualitative or quantitative.

Other methods of data collection

There are many other ways you might collect data depending on your field and topic.

If you’re not sure which methods will work best for your research design, try reading some papers in your field to see what kinds of data collection methods they used.

Secondary data

If you don’t have the time or resources to collect data from the population you’re interested in, you can also choose to use secondary data that other researchers already collected—for example, datasets from government surveys or previous studies on your topic.

With this raw data, you can do your own analysis to answer new research questions that weren’t addressed by the original study.

Using secondary data can expand the scope of your research, as you may be able to access much larger and more varied samples than you could collect yourself.

However, it also means you don’t have any control over which variables to measure or how to measure them, so the conclusions you can draw may be limited.

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As well as deciding on your methods, you need to plan exactly how you’ll use these methods to collect data that’s consistent, accurate, and unbiased.

Planning systematic procedures is especially important in quantitative research, where you need to precisely define your variables and ensure your measurements are high in reliability and validity.

Operationalization

Some variables, like height or age, are easily measured. But often you’ll be dealing with more abstract concepts, like satisfaction, anxiety, or competence. Operationalization means turning these fuzzy ideas into measurable indicators.

If you’re using observations , which events or actions will you count?

If you’re using surveys , which questions will you ask and what range of responses will be offered?

You may also choose to use or adapt existing materials designed to measure the concept you’re interested in—for example, questionnaires or inventories whose reliability and validity has already been established.

Reliability and validity

Reliability means your results can be consistently reproduced, while validity means that you’re actually measuring the concept you’re interested in.

For valid and reliable results, your measurement materials should be thoroughly researched and carefully designed. Plan your procedures to make sure you carry out the same steps in the same way for each participant.

If you’re developing a new questionnaire or other instrument to measure a specific concept, running a pilot study allows you to check its validity and reliability in advance.

Sampling procedures

As well as choosing an appropriate sampling method , you need a concrete plan for how you’ll actually contact and recruit your selected sample.

That means making decisions about things like:

• How many participants do you need for an adequate sample size?
• What inclusion and exclusion criteria will you use to identify eligible participants?
• How will you contact your sample—by mail, online, by phone, or in person?

If you’re using a probability sampling method , it’s important that everyone who is randomly selected actually participates in the study. How will you ensure a high response rate?

If you’re using a non-probability method , how will you avoid research bias and ensure a representative sample?

Data management

It’s also important to create a data management plan for organizing and storing your data.

Will you need to transcribe interviews or perform data entry for observations? You should anonymize and safeguard any sensitive data, and make sure it’s backed up regularly.

Keeping your data well-organized will save time when it comes to analyzing it. It can also help other researchers validate and add to your findings (high replicability ).

On its own, raw data can’t answer your research question. The last step of designing your research is planning how you’ll analyze the data.

Quantitative data analysis

In quantitative research, you’ll most likely use some form of statistical analysis . With statistics, you can summarize your sample data, make estimates, and test hypotheses.

Using descriptive statistics , you can summarize your sample data in terms of:

• The distribution of the data (e.g., the frequency of each score on a test)
• The central tendency of the data (e.g., the mean to describe the average score)
• The variability of the data (e.g., the standard deviation to describe how spread out the scores are)

The specific calculations you can do depend on the level of measurement of your variables.

Using inferential statistics , you can:

• Make estimates about the population based on your sample data.
• Test hypotheses about a relationship between variables.

Regression and correlation tests look for associations between two or more variables, while comparison tests (such as t tests and ANOVAs ) look for differences in the outcomes of different groups.

Your choice of statistical test depends on various aspects of your research design, including the types of variables you’re dealing with and the distribution of your data.

Qualitative data analysis

In qualitative research, your data will usually be very dense with information and ideas. Instead of summing it up in numbers, you’ll need to comb through the data in detail, interpret its meanings, identify patterns, and extract the parts that are most relevant to your research question.

Two of the most common approaches to doing this are thematic analysis and discourse analysis .

There are many other ways of analyzing qualitative data depending on the aims of your research. To get a sense of potential approaches, try reading some qualitative research papers in your field.

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

A research design is a strategy for answering your   research question . It defines your overall approach and determines how you will collect and analyze data.

A well-planned research design helps ensure that your methods match your research aims, that you collect high-quality data, and that you use the right kind of analysis to answer your questions, utilizing credible sources . This allows you to draw valid , trustworthy conclusions.

Quantitative research designs can be divided into two main categories:

• Correlational and descriptive designs are used to investigate characteristics, averages, trends, and associations between variables.
• Experimental and quasi-experimental designs are used to test causal relationships .

Qualitative research designs tend to be more flexible. Common types of qualitative design include case study , ethnography , and grounded theory designs.

The priorities of a research design can vary depending on the field, but you usually have to specify:

• Your research questions and/or hypotheses
• Your overall approach (e.g., qualitative or quantitative )
• The type of design you’re using (e.g., a survey , experiment , or case study )
• Your data collection methods (e.g., questionnaires , observations)
• Your data collection procedures (e.g., operationalization , timing and data management)
• Your data analysis methods (e.g., statistical tests  or thematic analysis )

A sample is a subset of individuals from a larger population . Sampling means selecting the group that you will actually collect data from in your research. For example, if you are researching the opinions of students in your university, you could survey a sample of 100 students.

In statistics, sampling allows you to test a hypothesis about the characteristics of a population.

Operationalization means turning abstract conceptual ideas into measurable observations.

For example, the concept of social anxiety isn’t directly observable, but it can be operationally defined in terms of self-rating scores, behavioral avoidance of crowded places, or physical anxiety symptoms in social situations.

Before collecting data , it’s important to consider how you will operationalize the variables that you want to measure.

A research project is an academic, scientific, or professional undertaking to answer a research question . Research projects can take many forms, such as qualitative or quantitative , descriptive , longitudinal , experimental , or correlational . What kind of research approach you choose will depend on your topic.

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The Best Notebooks and Notepads

A notebook is more than just a practical tool. It can be a source of joy, a covetable item that turns an ordinary, everyday task—note-taking, journaling, task-planning, brainstorming, or doodling—into a sublime experience.

Upgrading from a cheap notebook to a high-quality one usually costs just a couple more cents per page (or about $2 to $5 overall), and you’re worth it.

What we looked for

Ink bleeds from the edges of letters rather than creating crisp lines.

Pen ink is visible on the other side of the paper.

Ink actually comes through to the other side of the paper, or even the next sheet.

Toothiness refers to the paper’s texture. Generally, toothy paper is great for pencils because charcoal adheres better to paper that isn’t very smooth.

After interviewing experts, researching over 100 notebooks, and writing zealously in 34 of them side by side over several weeks, we have picks in a number of sizes and styles, priced from about $2 to $20. Any of these notebooks will provide an appreciably better writing experience than what you can get from a generic, off-the-shelf-at-Walgreens notebook.

We mention price per page when it’s notable, but our picks average 7¢ per page (at the time of publication). We also mention paper weight or thickness when that spec is important, but most of these high-quality pages are 80 to 90 grams per square meter (gsm); thicker isn’t always better, but all of the paper in our picks felt substantial and satisfying for us to write on. And most of the notebooks we tested had 7 mm lined ruling (close to college rule), but we note the exceptions below.

The research

Why you should trust us, a medium softcover notebook with silky pages: apica premium c.d. notebook (a5), a medium softcover notebook with more texture: midori md notebook (a5), a hardcover notebook for journaling or planning: leuchtturm1917 hardcover notebook classic (a5), the best budget hardcover notebook: paperage hardcover lined journal notebook, the best spiral-bound notebook: maruman mnemosyne n194a special memo notebook, disc-bound notebook for maximum customizability: levenger circa notebook, best pocket-size pick: muji passport memo, an upgraded pocket-size notebook: field notes 3-pack original kraft memo books, best reporter notebook: field notes 2-pack front page reporter’s notebooks, the best steno notepad: maruman mnemosyne n166 steno pad (a5), the best legal pad: rhodia no. 19 yellow pad, what about moleskine, how we picked and tested, other good notebooks and notepads, the competition.

Senior staff writer Melanie Pinola has tested and reviewed home office gear for Wirecutter since 2011, including webcams , USB microphones , and office chairs . She’s a die-hard stationery fan who uses notebooks daily for work and personal projects; it’s probably telling that almost everyone close to her has gifted her a notebook at one point or another.

During our preliminary notebook research, we consulted with and relied upon the work of experienced bloggers who review pens, pencils, and stationery, as well as a representative for online stationery store JetPens. These people care far more about the performance of paper against all sorts of writing implements than most people, and they also have a wide range of papers to compare notebooks with.

Apica Premium C.D. Notebook (A5)

The best medium-size softcover notebook.

This notebook is a pleasure to use thanks to its sturdy yet lightweight cardstock cover, excellent paper quality, and lie-flat design. The medium size can serve a wide range of purposes.

Buying Options

Get this if: You want a softcover notebook that is the size of a trade paperback book and has smooth paper your pen will glide over. The notebook’s paper shows off ink colors from fountain and rollerball pens brilliantly.

Why it’s great: Four out of five Wirecutter panelists chose the Apica Premium C.D. Notebook (A5) as their top or second-favorite notebook pick, saying the feel of the paper was the “best out of the bunch” and “silky yet not plasticky like some others.” The thick paper stood up well to a range of writing instruments—even demanding fountain pen ink—with little feathering and minimal ghosting.

We also liked the paper’s off-white, eggshell color—neither too bright nor too yellow—and the light-gray line ruling. The cardstock cover is sturdy, and the stitched binding is high quality, which allows the notebook to lie flat nicely. All in all, this is a great all-purpose notebook.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• The Premium C.D. Notebook’s super-smooth paper isn’t for everyone, especially those who are expecting a traditional paper feel as you get with typical composition notebooks. It feels more like the slick pages of The New York Times Magazine than the tougher paper that makes up the rest of the newspaper.
• It doesn’t come with a ribbon page marker, and although it has a small index on the first page, the pages aren’t numbered. Those features aren’t essential for most people, but if they matter to you, consider the Leuchtturm1917 Softcover Notebook Classic .

Size: A5 (5.8 by 8.3 inches); 192 pages Ruling options: lined, graph, blank

Midori MD Notebook (A5)

A minimalist notebook with creamy, slightly toothy paper.

Because of its texture, this notebook is especially great for writing, sketching, or doodling with pencils or ballpoint pens, although it holds up to fountain pens too.

Get this if: You want a medium-size notebook with paper that’s easy on the eyes and offers tactile feedback—the slightly toothy paper slows your writing down and makes you pay more attention to it, in contrast to slicker paper that your pen would glide across.

Why it’s great: The Midori MD Notebook is simplicity at its best, with a plain cream-color cardstock cover and matte pages with light blue ruling. Three out of five testers ranked this notebook in their top three, saying they loved the pleasant tone of the paper and the notebook’s minimalist aesthetic, which makes writing and journaling as distraction-free as possible.

It takes all sorts of ink, but it handles pencil especially well because of the paper’s slight tooth; the blank or graph versions of the Midori MD Notebook would be fantastic for doodling or sketching. We noticed some ghosting or show-through on the other side of the page, but we didn’t find it intrusive.

The quality of the stitching is terrific and allows the notebook to lie flat. (Compared with other notebooks of this size, including the Apica Premium C.D. Notebook, the Midori MD Notebook is bound in smaller sections, called signatures—16 signatures versus a more common eight or 12—which makes it sturdier and helps it lie flat more easily.) Unlike many other soft notebooks, this one has a ribbon bookmark—a silky green one that nicely complements the cream pages.

• Our main complaint against this otherwise lovely notebook is the dark horizontal line that runs across the middle of all the pages. While some people might use this line to divide their notes, we found it distracting and unnecessary.
• Although the cardstock feels sturdy, it’s not as rugged or as thick as other notebooks’ covers. (It comes with a thin plastic cover, but we found that more intrusive than useful.) Clear, paper, and leather covers are available at JetPens.
• Although most of our testers didn’t experience a lot of smudging with most writing utensils, our left-handed tester found that this notebook’s paper smudged significantly more with a gel pen than that of other notebooks.

Size: A5 (5.8 by 8.3 inches); 176 pages Ruling options: lined, graph, blank

Leuchtturm1917 Hardcover Notebook Classic (A5)

The best medium-size hardcover notebook.

With page numbers, index pages, two ribbon bookmarks, and sticker labels, this notebook has all the bells and whistles and simply feels a bit more special than competing notebooks.

Get this if: You want a medium-size hardcover notebook that helps you organize and keep track of your thoughts and ideas. All of the tiny details, such as the index pages and labels for archiving, make this notebook gift-worthy, too.

Why it’s great: The Leuchtturm1917 Hardcover Notebook Classic (A5) was the favorite notebook of three of our testers, and they listed many reasons for that. Most of all, the cream-color paper is exquisite, with a powdery, toothy texture unlike that of any of the other notebooks we tested or have used in the past. (In a pile of more than 20 notebooks, this is the one I could most readily pick out if blindfolded.)

The paper took well to pencil, ballpoint, rollerball, gel pen, and fountain pens, with very little smudging and no bleeding. Most of our testers said it just felt good to write on.

We love the firm cover and the ample page count, as well as all the extras this notebook offers: two thick ribbon bookmarks, labels for the spine and title page, page numbers, index pages, and a sturdy back pocket.

• Because its paper is thin, you might notice more ghosting with this notebook than with the other notebooks in this list. However, the ink doesn’t show through as much as it does with a Moleskine notebook —perhaps the most popular brand for notebooks of this size and type.
• The line ruling is narrower than in other notebooks we tested—6 mm versus the typical 7 mm. A difference of a single millimeter might not sound like a lot, but if you have large handwriting, this ruling might be too tight for you. On the other hand, if you prefer to have more lines per page, it could be a bonus.

Size: A5 (5.8 by 8.3 inches); 251 pages Ruling options: lined, dot grid, graph, blank

Budget pick

Paperage Hardcover Lined Journal Notebook

Top-notch paper at a budget-friendly price.

This simple journal-style notebook offers all the basics and a better writing experience than the more-popular Moleskine notebooks it mimics.

Get this if: You want an inexpensive, basic medium-size notebook with a hard cover but don’t want to sacrifice quality.

Why it’s great: We were pleasantly surprised by this $10 notebook. I compared it side by side with a similar Moleskine notebook, and the Paperage Hardcover Lined Journal Notebook paper was a significant upgrade, consisting of thicker, brighter pages that reliably handled rollerball, gel, and fountain pens with very little smudging or feathering.

Although it’s our budget hardcover notebook pick, it doesn’t skimp on extra details such as a silky ribbon bookmark, a back pocket that also has a secondary slot for cards, and spine and title page labels (although they aren’t as attractive as the Leuchtturm1917 notebook’s labels).

• It has thicker, 100 gsm paper than most of the notebooks we’ve tested. This makes the pages easier to flip and more substantial than competing notebooks, but we were torn about whether the added thickness was actually an improvement. Head of photo and video Michael Hession said it felt a bit “cardboardy.” The Paperage notebook offers a fine experience, but if you’re looking for elegantly thin paper in a hardcover shell, you’re better off with our pick from Leuchtturm1917.
• We also noted that the cover felt a bit cheaper than those of higher-priced notebooks—less soft to the touch and with more ragged edges at the rounded corners. But those are only nitpicky criticisms of an otherwise great notebook.

Size: 5.7 by 8 inches; 160 pages Ruling options: lined, dotted, blank

Maruman Mnemosyne N194A Notebook

A pleasant upgrade from standard school-style notebooks.

This large, versatile notebook has sturdy twin spiral rings, premium paper, and perforated pages.

Get this if: You prefer to write in a notebook with ring binding, which helps the notebook lie flat and makes it quicker to thumb through when you’re trying to find specific notes, as students and frequent meeting-notes takers are wont to do. Perforated pages are a big plus if you want to use the pages elsewhere—or if you often regret what you’ve written.

Why it’s great: The paper in the Maruman Mnemosyne N194A Notebook was one of our favorites, particularly when we were writing with a fountain pen. Its vellum-like smoothness made gel and fountain pen inks shine, with crisp, non-feathery edges. Compared with similar spiral notebooks, the paper is thicker and less smudgy, with very little ghosting and no bleeding.

The notebook’s page ruling and format are unique. Rather than a simple lined ruling, its paper has a large header at the top for date and title and then divides the rest of the page into thirds via darker lines. The format seems designed for more organized note-taking, but we’re ambivalent about the page divisions. We did love the notebook’s consistently effortless page perforation and its durable binding.

The poly cover feels strong and protective, but it’s not for everyone and perhaps not as durable as it looks—senior staff writer Kimber Streams disliked the plastic cover and found that it scratched easily from another spiral-bound notebook.

Size: B5 (6.6 by 9.9 inches); 150 pages Ruling options: lined, dot grid

Levenger Circa Simply Irresistible Sampling Kit

Like a binder but better.

This notebook has high-quality paper and accessories that you can arrange and rearrange for the ultimate in versatility.

Get this if: You want the flexibility of a binder but in a more grown-up, professional notebook format. The Levenger Circa Notebook is more of a system than a notebook, and Levenger’s sampling kit includes junior- and letter-size paper, as well as tab dividers and task pads to try out.

Why it’s great: A disc-bound notebook not only lets you move pages to a different section but also allows you to add pages and accessories of different sizes. That means you can add tab dividers, narrow pages with to-do lists, pouches to hold cards or small supplies, and more.

I’ve used several disc-bound notebooks over the years, including Staples’s Arc and the Martha Stewart–branded notebook system , but the Circa Notebook has the paper that stands up best to rearranging. It’s perfect for taking notes on different projects and then grouping them together in separate sections. The paper is a thick (100 gsm), toothy, matte white stock that takes all sorts of ink well.

Levenger also offers the widest range of accessories and style options for its Circa line—from leather covers to discs (in more than a dozen colors) to punches (to make any paper fit into the Circa Notebook). Page refills are available in all sorts of ruling as well as special formats like agenda planners.

The sampling kit comes with 60 sheets of paper in junior (5.5 by 8.5 inches) and letter (8.5 by 11 inches) sizes, as well as dividers, a task pad, translucent covers, and discs to create two notebooks. That should give you enough of a feel for a disc-bound notebook system without requiring too much investment in it.

• Prices for the paper refills are on the high end of the spectrum, on a par with the cost of Field Notes notebooks. You can expect to spend about 10¢ per page for the junior size or about 12¢ per page for the letter size. A binder with loose-leaf paper would definitely be cheaper but would offer a poorer writing experience.
• The translucent covers that come with the sampling kit aren’t as handsome (in our opinion) as those you’d find on our recommended hardcover notebooks (or even many softcovers), but they add to the customizability of the notebook, since anything you put as the first page will show through as the cover design.

Size: junior (5.5 by 8.5 inches) and letter (8.5 by 11 inches); 120 pages Ruling options: lined, grid, blank

Muji Passport Memo

The best all-purpose notebook to have with you at all times.

With a bargain price, a durable cover, and smooth, sturdy pages, this style is almost a no-brainer for a pocket notebook.

Get this if: You want to carry a small, simple notebook everywhere, for a price that doesn’t inhibit your note-taking.

Why it’s great: The Muji Passport Memo proves that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get a quality notebook. Its cream-color pages are silky smooth, with no bleeding (unless you use a Sharpie) and not much ghosting to be concerned about.

The stitching is strong—the little notebook held up to multiple folding and unfolding and bending tests—and the thick, coated cardboard cover withstood water spills.

The 48 pages provide just enough to cover a trip, an assignment, or some other use without making you feel like you wasted paper if you don’t completely fill it. The Muji Passport Memo is about half an inch shorter than similar pocket notebooks such as the Field Notes Memo Books and the Clairefontaine Basics Life Unplugged notebooks , which makes it a bit more lightweight and a better fit for more pockets.

• Although the notebook easily lies flat when open, getting it to lie flat closed after you’ve used it is nigh impossible. We wish it had an elastic band to keep it from flopping open at our desk, but that’s a minor annoyance.
• The dot grid is very light—you have to really look for it to see it. Basically, the experience feels like writing in a blank notebook.

Size: 3.5 by 4.9 inches; 48 pages Ruling options: dot

Upgrade pick

Field Notes 3-Pack Original Kraft Memo Books

A more stylish pocket notebook.

This Field Notes book offers a wonderful combination of paper quality, durability, and a range of page and cover choices.

Get this if: You want to carry a small notebook everywhere, and you prefer toothy paper and a range of cover styles to choose from.

Why it’s great: The Field Notes Memo Book is not the cheapest pocket notebook you can buy, nor is it filled with the most luxuriously smooth paper available, but it is the best widely available way to treat yourself to a better writing experience.

Aside from the Muji Passport Memo , our testing and surveys have shown that the Field Notes Memo Book is the best-performing notebook that actually fits in a pocket or bag without feeling like a second wallet. In a previous test with nearly 70 Wirecutter staffers, we found that this notebook feathered and smudged the least—even with heavy inks—and many testers liked the light-brown ruling and cover details.

As with the Muji Passport Memo, the 48-page length of the Field Notes notebook feels like the right amount for covering a three-day conference, documenting a weeklong vacation, planning a novel, scribbling a few weeks’ worth of grocery or to-do lists, or just jotting down a number of random thoughts.

Finally, the Field Notes site offers a great array of versions beyond the basic Original Kraft Memo Book, with some 16 covers and variations in different types of ruling available at the time of publication. Some are simply gorgeous or unusual covers, while others introduce unique features, such as being waterproof and tear-proof .

If you like these kinds of little surprises, and you take to Field Notes’s form and paper, you can sign up for a yearly subscription , which gives you four packs of Field Notes notebooks at a reduced price compared with buying them individually and also nets you a few other freebies.

• Field Notes paper represents a notable upgrade from the notebooks you probably bought for school or most memo or legal pads you might use, but it’s not the best paper in all respects. Many Wirecutter testers preferred other notebooks for their paper feel and ghosting performance.
• The Memo Book costs more on a per-page basis than other notebooks this size.

Size: 3.5 by 5.5 inches; 48 pages Ruling options: ruled, graph, plain

Field Notes 2-Pack Front Page Reporter’s Notebooks

A great handheld pad with a soft cover.

This stylish reporter pad is lightweight and has toothy, thick paper.

Get this if: You’re interested in a notebook this size for taking notes one-handed, fitting it in a large pocket or small bag, and stashing receipts or business cards inside the cover—and you’re willing to splurge on high-quality paper.

Why it’s great: The Field Notes Front Page Reporter’s Notebook has bright white paper with a classic matte feel—great for those who like writing in a notebook that gives a lot of tactile feedback. Using even the wettest, inkiest pen we tested for our guide to pens (the Uni-ball Vision Elite), we had a hard time creating a smudge or bleed-through with this notebook.

The spiral-ring binding and thicker paper (70 pounds or 105 gsm—the thickest of the notebook papers we tested) make page-turning much less of a nuisance than with other reporter notepads we tested. The overlapping cardstock cover keeps the double-ring spirals from catching or getting warped in your pocket or bag. And the pocket on the back cover, though open on one side, can serve as a convenient spot for any scrap you need to hold on to until you get back to your office.

Like other Field Notes notebooks, this reporter pad has a distinctive, charming design that makes you feel like you’re going on an adventure, even when you’re just taking notes at your desk.

• On a per-page basis, this notebook is the priciest we recommend (about 11¢ per page, versus an average of 7¢ per page). If you’re an actual news reporter, scrambling from one interview to the next and then flipping through a day’s worth of notes on deadline, paying this much probably isn’t worth it. Save this notepad for more precious notes you might want to refer to in later years.
• The cover is thin cardstock—not as sturdy as what you get with other notebooks, and more prone to getting bent or frayed. It also makes the notepad flex a bit more when you’re holding it with one hand and writing with the other.
• The partially enclosed back pocket can lure you into thinking it’s a totally enclosed and safe pocket, but cards or notes will fall out at certain angles.

Size: 3.75 by 8 inches; 70 pages Ruling options: lined

Maruman Mnemosyne N166 Steno Pad (A5)

The best top-bound, medium-size notepad.

With thick, smooth, perforated paper, this notepad is a fine companion for note-taking.

Get this if: You want a medium-size notepad that’s easy to flip through to refer back to your notes. Because it’s top-bound, leftie writers should find this notebook easier to use than other notebook formats, too.

Why it’s great: The Maruman Mnemosyne N166 Steno Pad (A5) had the best-quality paper of all the steno notebooks we tested. As with the other Maruman Mnemosyne notebooks we considered, the paper is smooth and thick yet slightly translucent—a little like vellum. Inky pens (rollerball, gel, and fountain pens) glided across it nicely in our tests, and it offers enough tooth to make writing on these pages with a pencil or ballpoint pleasant.

Compared with other steno pads, the N166 proved to be the most elegant in design and construction—though, to be fair, not many notebook makers are still producing steno pads these days. While other steno pads (including our previous pick, the Field Notes Steno Pad ) have dark, distracting lines, the light blue-gray lines of the N166 sit in the background—guidelines rather than dictators for your text. That’s especially important if you don’t intend to use the notebook for its two-column organization. Perforated pages mean you can neatly tear out your notes without jagged edges.

• We couldn’t find much to dislike about this steno pad, but if you prefer toothier paper or one with darker lines, the Field Notes Steno Pad would be a better choice for you. It’s more expensive, though, and it lacks page perforation.
• As with the other Maruman Mnemosyne notebooks, the poly cover and yellow cover page of the N166 Steno Pad might not be to everyone’s taste.

Size: A5 (5.8 by 8.3 inches); 140 pages Ruling options: Gregg ruled

Rhodia No. 19 Yellow Pad

The best legal pad.

This full-size legal pad has excellent, smooth paper with a light yellow color that’s easy on the eyes.

Get this if: You want a high-quality legal pad for taking copious notes on paper that will stand out from piles of white documents.

Why it’s great: The Rhodia No. 19 Yellow Pad has silky smooth, creamy yellow paper with subtle blue lines and a thin, double red margin—a big upgrade from the standard, cheap-feeling, less-attractive legal pads that may immediately come to mind when you think about the category. It takes all sorts of ink well, especially rollerball and fountain pens, and despite its thinness, the paper doesn’t show much ghosting or ink show-through on the back.

Unlike paper on competing legal pads, such as the Mintra Office Legal Pad , pages tear off cleanly from the Rhodia notepad. It has an iconic orange cover as well, which is uncommon for this type of notepad.

Rhodia also sells a number of other staple-bound notepads in different sizes and page colors, including a smaller (6 by 8.25 inches) white version for those who like the paper quality but don’t care for the canary color.

• Most legal pads measure 8.5 by 11 inches—letter-size, despite the name. The Rhodia pad’s A4+ size (8.3 by 11.7 inches) is slightly longer and narrower. This makes neatly stacking the pages along with, say, printed documents, impossible. But on the plus side, you’ll easily find your notes in such a stack.
• The Rhodia pad’s cardboard backing isn’t as sturdy as other legal pads, so writing on the notepad on your lap can be tricky.

Size: A4+ (8.3 by 11.7 inches); 160 pages Ruling options: lined, dot grid

Moleskine is the first name many people think of when they think of a fancy notebook. Most prominent among them are the Moleskine Cahier Journals .

But we compared the Moleskine offerings with the other notebooks we tested, and you can do much better. In a Moleskine journal, the ink from anything that’s wider or wetter than a standard ballpoint spreads quickly into the page, where the edges of your letters will feather, and it shows through strongly on the other side. Fine-tipped gel or rollerball pens can pierce the pages with the tips.

Standard Moleskine notebooks can work if you stick to one style of pen, but they cost more per page than most of our notebook picks—and you usually get to use only one side of each page because writing shows through on the other side so easily.

Most experts we read and consulted agree. “You shouldn’t be buying it,” said Elizabeth Newberry of No Pen Intended . “[T]here are too many other good options on the market that don’t have the ink challenges Moleskine does,” said Brad Dowdy of The Pen Addict .

These challenges include ghosting, feathering, and an utter intolerance for any wet ink, be it gel or fountain. Some stationery blogs go out of their way to suggest Moleskine alternatives . Moleskine offers many varieties, some with higher-quality paper, like the Volant Journals , but often at prices the same as or above those of the notebooks we tested for this guide.

If you just need paper to write on and want to save the most money, use any paper you can find. But if you write every day and need to keep your thoughts organized—especially on a specific project—having a good notebook can be a lifesaver.

The notebooks we tested and picked for this guide are designed to be pleasant to write in, nice to look at, durable, and worth the price for your plans, tasks, thoughts, lists, and reminders. They average about $9 per notebook and 7¢ per page, which is reasonable for something you might rely on daily.

We combed through the favorites of experts and co-workers and searched deep into the inventories of Amazon and JetPens. Sorting and filtering for price, plus the sizes and rulings that people find most useful (grid paper has its place, but most people prefer lined rulings), we narrowed a list of 106 possible contenders down to 34 test candidates.

Over the course of about two weeks, I wrote on several pages in each notebook using a variety of writing utensils: pencils and ballpoint, gel, rollerball, and fountain pens. I took notes about each notebook’s design and construction, as well as the feel of its paper, looking out for issues such as bleeding, ghosting, or feathering. Then I selected 10 notebooks that represented a sampling of each major brand and sent them to four other Wirecutter staffers—all notebook enthusiasts—to test. For a previous version of this guide, a left-handed tester also helped us evaluate the smudginess of each notebook’s paper.

Judging notebooks with similar characteristics is hard, especially when you might like the paper in one but prefer the format of another, such as a steno notebook versus a hardcover journal. To help divorce the paper from its shape and binding, many of our testers cut out pages from each notebook and wrote the same thing—a passage from Kant, a poem, or other famous and well-loved words—to compare the papers side by side.

After writing in each notebook over the course of a week, using the same pen or pencil in each, the testers filled out a survey selecting their top three notebook picks as well as their least favorite. They also provided the reasons for their selections. In (rough) order of importance, we rated the notebooks based on:

• the feel of the paper under pen and pencil
• bleeding (ink passing through to the other side of the paper)
• feathering (ink seeping from the edges of letters)
• ghosting (pen ink visible on the other side of paper)
• pen ink smudging
• look and design, including perceived durability

After the results were in, joyful paper nerding ensued in our Slack channel:

Our picks are based on our panelists’ rankings, expert advice, and my individual testing of other notebooks that I didn’t send to the panel.

Many notebooks we don’t recommend are still great options for the right person. We’ve highlighted reasons you might consider the following notebooks in addition to our picks.

If you need a large, thin notebook to dedicate to a single subject or class: The Apica Notebook CD15 can fit the bill. It has similar high-quality paper as our medium notebook pick, the Apica Premium C.D. Notebook , but in a 7-by-10 inch size. It has just 33 sheets of paper, though, much less than the 80-sheet Maruman Mnemosyne N194A Notebook .

If you’d like a hardcover reporter-style notepad: The Leuchtturm1917 Notepad is the best option. It has the same exquisite toothy and powdery paper as Leuchtturm’s other notepads but in a 3.5-by-6-inch flip-over design. Pages are perforated and numbered too, and it comes with an index page, back pocket, and labels. It’s just not as easy to use when folding the cover back as the Field Notes Front Page Reporter’s Notebook , nor as lightweight.

If you’d like two types of ruling in one notebook: We tested the Code&Quill Compass reporter’s notepad and appreciated its thick (100 gsm) paper, which has a unique ruling: dot grid on one side and indented rule on the other. But we found this hardcover notebook too bulky to write easily on when holding it with one hand. The company offers notebooks in other formats, though, so if the ruling appeals to you—it seems ideal for coders and creative types—take a look at its other offerings.

If you want a small notebook for your to-do lists: The pocket-size Word notebooks have high-quality paper (similar to that of Field Notes) and come in a variety of interesting cover designs, but the pages have bullet point guides, so the format is more suitable for task-planning or bullet-journaling than for general note-taking or other uses.

This is not a comprehensive list of all notebooks and notepads we’ve tested. We have removed models that are discontinued or no longer meet our criteria.

The Black n’ Red Professional Notebook , a previous pick, was our panelists’ least favorite notebook by far this time around. It had the smudgiest paper of the notebooks we tested, and we disliked the overall aesthetic, including its thick gray lines, the cheesy motivational quotes on the divider pages, and the obtrusive black markings in the page corners (which are there so you can scan the pages with the company’s smartphone app to digitize them).

The Field Notes Steno Pad is still a fine notebook, with a sturdy cover and great paper. The Maruman Mnemosyne N166 Steno Pad is a better value, though, costing about 7¢ per page versus the Field Notes pad’s 12¢ per page. The Field Notes steno pad also lacks perforation, and we found its lines to be too heavy in comparison with those of the N166.

The Rhodia Desk Webnotebook wound up as one of our panelists’ least favorite options because of its cheap-feeling cover and pages that felt too slick and waxy. This was a surprising disappointment because we love the paper quality in the company’s notepads.

We dismissed several cheap notebooks that ranged from 2¢ to 3¢ per page—the Blueline Steno Pad , the National Brand Subject Wirebound Notebook , and the National Brand Steno Notes —because their paper was very thin and flimsy. If you just want the cheapest scrap paper, one of these notebooks would be fine. Similarly, the Tops Reporter’s Notebook , which costs 7¢ per page, offers merely mediocre paper that’s no better than what you’d find in a dollar-store notebook.

We also dismissed most legal pads we tested, including the Amazon Basics Wide Ruled Lined Writing Note Pad , the Tops Docket Gold Writing Pad , and the Ampad Gold Fibre Perforated Pad . They’re more or less interchangeable budget notepads.

That’s not to say that there isn’t a place for these notebooks and notepads—they simply weren’t what we were looking for.

This article was edited by Ben Keough and Erica Ogg.

Brad Dowdy, The Pen Addict , email interview, September 2020

Elizabeth Newberry, No Pen Intended , email interview, September 2020

Ian Hedley, Pens! Paper! Pencils! and Pennaquod , email interview, September 2020

Meet your guide

Melanie Pinola

Melanie Pinola covers home office, remote work, and productivity as a senior staff writer at Wirecutter. She has contributed to print and online publications such as The New York Times, Consumer Reports, Lifehacker, and PCWorld, specializing in tech, work, and lifestyle/family topics. She’s thrilled when those topics intersect—and when she gets to write about them in her PJs.

Further reading

These Lovely Little Notebooks Help Me Get Ideas Out of My Head (and My Face Out of My Phone)

by Elissa Sanci

The Field Notes Memo Book is my everyday companion.

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Novelist Martha McPhee explains why, in this digital age, she finds notebook and pen not only relevant, but necessary.

How a $2 Notebook Helps My Insomnia

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Sometimes the fanciest remedies won’t work to combat anxiety-induced insomnia. But a $2 notebook helped this writer get back to sleep.

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How to take Research Notes

How to take research notes.

Your research notebook is an important piece of information useful for future projects and presentations. Maintaining organized and legible notes allows your research notebook to be a valuable resource to you and your research group. It allows others and yourself to replicate experiments, and it also serves as a useful troubleshooting tool. Besides it being an important part of the research process, taking detailed notes of your research will help you stay organized and allow you to easily review your work.

Here are some common reasons to maintain organized notes:

• Keeps a record of your goals and thoughts during your research experiments.
• Keeps a record of what worked and what didn't in your research experiments.
• Enables others to use your notes as a guide for similar procedures and techniques.
• A helpful tool to reference when writing a paper, submitting a proposal, or giving a presentation.
• Assists you in answering experimental questions.
• Useful to efficiently share experimental approaches, data, and results with others.

Before taking notes:

• Ask your research professor what note-taking method they recommend or prefer.
• Consider what type of media you'll be using to take notes.
• Once you have decided on how you'll be taking notes, be sure to keep all of your notes in one place to remain organized.
• Plan on taking notes regularly (meetings, important dates, procedures, journal/manuscript revisions, etc.).
• This is useful when applying to programs or internships that ask about your research experience.

Note Taking Tips:

Taking notes by hand:.

• Research notebooks don’t belong to you so make sure your notes are legible for others.
• Use post-it notes or tabs to flag important sections.
• Start sorting your notes early so that you don't become backed up and disorganized.
• Only write with a pen as pencils aren’t permanent & sharpies can bleed through.
• Make it a habit to write in your notebook and not directly on sticky notes or paper towels. Rewriting notes can waste time and sometimes lead to inaccurate data or results.

Taking Notes Electronically

• Make sure your device is charged and backed up to store data.
• Invest in note-taking apps or E-Ink tablets
• Create shortcuts to your folders so you have easier access
• Create outlines.
• Keep your notes short and legible.

Note Taking Tips Continued:

Things to avoid.

• Avoid using pencils or markers that may bleed through.
• Avoid erasing entries. Instead, draw a straight line through any mistakes and write the date next to the crossed-out information.
• Avoid writing in cursive.
• Avoid delaying your entries so you don’t fall behind and forget information.

Formatting Tips

• Use bullet points to condense your notes to make them simpler to access or color-code them.
• Tracking your failures and mistakes can improve your work in the future.
• If possible, take notes as you’re experimenting or make time at the end of each workday to get it done.
• Record the date at the start of every day, including all dates spent on research.

Types of media to use when taking notes:

Traditional paper notebook.

• Pros: Able to take quick notes, convenient access to notes, cheaper option
• Cons: Requires a table of contents or tabs as it is not easily searchable, can get damaged easily, needs to be scanned if making a digital copy

Electronic notebook  

• Apple Notes  
• Pros: Easily searchable, note-taking apps available, easy to edit & customize
• Cons: Can be difficult to find notes if they are unorganized, not as easy to take quick notes, can be a more expensive option

Overview: Cohort Study Designs

Bernadette capili.

Heilbrun Family Center for Research Nursing, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, Hospital, Room 106, New York, NY 10065

Joyce K. Anastasi

New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing, 380 Second Avenue, Suite 305, New York, NY 10010

This paper continues the series on the observational study designs, focusing on the cohort design. The word ‘cohort’ was adopted from the Roman term of 300 to 600 fighting soldiers who march together ( Hood, 2009 ; Hulley, 2013 ). The epidemiology community-initiated using ‘cohort’ during the 1930s to mean a “designated group which are followed or traced over a period of time “( Hood, 2009 , p. E2). The term is currently defined as a group of people with pre-defined common characteristic(s) (i.e., smokers, exposure to lead in drinking water, ICU nurses) followed longitudinally with periodic measurements to determine the incidence of specific health outcomes or events ( Alexander, 2015 ; Hulley, 2013 ; Song & Chung, 2010 ). Since cohort studies are observational, study participants are monitored, and study interventions are not provided. This paper describes the prospective and retrospective cohort designs, examines the strengths and weaknesses, and discusses methods to report the results.

Cohort Design

The cohort study design is an excellent method to understand an outcome or the natural history of a disease or condition in an identified study population ( Mann, 2012 ; Song & Chung, 2010 ). Since participants do not have the outcome or disease at study entry, the temporal causality between exposure and outcome(s) can be assessed using this design ( Hulley, 2013 ; Song & Chung, 2010 ). A vital feature of a cohort study is selecting the study participants based on mutual characteristics such as geographic location, birth year, or occupation ( Song & Chung, 2010 ). Cohorts are also selected based on exposure and non-exposure status ( Setia, 2016 ). Ideally, both groups are similar except for the exposure status. Additionally, the cohort can be divided based on exposure categories at study entry.

For example, an investigator could recruit people living with HIV (PLWH) who smoke and do not smoke (never smoked) from the same community and follow them over five years to determine the relationship between smoking status and HIV and the incidence of heart disease and stroke in this population. Alternatively, at study entry, the smokers could be categorized based on the smoking pack-years (less than five pack-years or greater than five pack-years) to determine whether heart disease and stroke are associated with the amount and duration of smoking.

Prospective Cohort Design

The prospective cohort studies are also referred to as longitudinal studies. It is used to answer a specific question(s) in a selected area. Investigators recruit a sample of participants and follow them over time, from the present to the future. At pre-determined time-points, characteristics are measured (using interviews, questionnaires, biological assays, physiologic measures) to understand the relationship between the cohort and study outcome. See figure 1 .

Prospective and Retrospective Cohort Designs

During the recruitment phase, the investigator must identify potential participants who plan to move and difficult to reach during the study’s follow-up phase. The eligibility criteria should reflect this consideration. The investigator should collect contact information from the enrolled participants, telephone, email address, mailing address, and at least two friends or family members the investigator can contact if they move or die during the follow-up phase ( Hulley, 2013 ). Additionally, the study protocol should schedule periodic contact with the participants, such as telephone calls to provide assessment results, study newsletter, or study incentives (gift cards) to keep the participants engaged.

In continuing with the HIV study example, study participants are recruited from local New York City HIV primary care clinics. The study plans to evaluate participants annually for ten years to determine heart disease and stroke incidence. PLWH are eligible to join if they smoke cigarettes with well-controlled HIV (undetectable viral load). At study entry, individual exposures for smoking are determined (smoking pack-years), medical history and cardiovascular health are evaluated. Participants identified at baseline to have heart disease or a history of stroke are excluded from the study. Participants are categorized into two groups based on smoking exposure, less than five pack-years or greater than five pack-years for this study. The independent variables ((predictor variables) (smoking pack-years, blood pressure, weight, waist circumference, lipid levels), and the dependent variable ((outcome), history of heart disease, and stroke) are assessed annually. The longitudinal design allows investigators to compare changes over time (Fitzmaurice, 2008) and determine if the level of exposure (smoking pack-years) and other variables are associated with the outcome (incidence of heart disease and stroke).

Prospective Cohort Design: Strengths and Weaknesses

A primary strength of the prospective cohort design is that it allows investigators to determine the number of new cases (incidence) occurring over time. From our example, the incidence of new-onset heart disease and stroke among the study participants. Additionally, measuring the predictor variables before the onset of the outcome (heart disease and stroke) strengthens the ability to assess the sequence of events and infer the causal basis of an association between the predictor variables and the outcome ( Hulley, 2013 ).

A limitation of using this design is that it requires a large sample size. Alexander and colleagues (2015) recommend at least 100 participants. Additionally, the cost of conducting the study may be costly in terms of participant recruitment, the number of staff to conduct the research, and the collection, storage, and analysis of the outcome measurements. Moreover, some conditions (i.e., breast cancer, chronic obstructive disease), despite being relatively common, could occur at low rates in any given evaluation period and not provide meaningful results. Therefore, participants need to be followed for a longer duration, thus increasing cost and the possibility of participants withdrawing from the study or losing them during follow-ups ( Hulley, 2013 ).

Retrospective Cohort Design

Retrospective cohort studies are also called historical cohort studies. The term historical is fitting since data analysis occurs in the present time, but the participants’ baseline measurements and follow-ups happened in the past ( Hulley, 2013 ). This type of study is feasible if an investigator has access to a dataset that fits the research question. The dataset must also have adequate measurements about the predictor variables. See figure 1 .

Generally, the participants for a retrospective cohort design are generated for other purposes, such as electronic medical records or an administrative database like medicare ( Hulley, 2013 ). This design’s primary goal is to review past data (predictor variables) to examine events or outcomes. Institutional review board approval is required for this design even though actual patient interactions do not occur. For example, to ascertain the incidence of heart disease and stroke among PLWH who smoke, electronic medical records of 500 HIV patients from a local HIV primary clinic are examined over ten years, 2010–2020. For this illustration, HIV patients are categorized by their smoking exposure status: smoking less than five pack-years or greater than five pack-years. The outcome of interest is the incidence of heart disease and stroke.

Retrospective Cohort Design: Strengths and Weaknesses

A strength of the retrospective cohort design is the immediate ability to analyze the outcome since it is already assembled with collected measurements and the participants’ follow-ups. This type of design is also inexpensive to conduct. A primary limitation of this study is that the available dataset may be incomplete, inaccurate, or measurements undertaken that do not match the research question ( Hulley, 2013 ). In other words, the investigator(s) do not have control over the data collection methods and procedures.

Method to Report Results

During the scheduled evaluation periods, investigators count the incidence or the number of participants who develop the outcome of interest (i.e., heart disease and stroke). The methods to measure incidence are risks and rates ( Alexander, 2015 ). Both terms can provide additional information about the exposure of interest (smoking, nonsmoking) by calculating the risk ratio and rate ratio ( Alexander, 2015 ).

Risk and Risk Ratio

The term risk is also known as cumulative incidence . It is defined as the number of participants who develop the outcome of interest divided by the total population (participants from the cohort) at risk ( Alexander, 2015 ). For instance, investigators conduct a study to evaluate the association between smoking and heart disease and stroke among PLWH who attend an HIV primary clinic in lower Manhattan. The investigators follow a total of 1000 PLWH for ten years. Among the 1000 PLWH, 500 were smokers, and 500 were nonsmokers. Participants were evaluated annually. A total of 125 heart disease cases and stroke were diagnosed in the smoking group, while 25 heart disease cases and stroke were diagnosed in the non-smoking group. All the cases of heart disease and stroke were diagnosed at the fifth year follow-up. (See Table 1 for calculations).

Calculation Example

• a = exposed participant and acquires the outcome of interest
• b = exposed participant and does not acquires the outcome of interest
• c = unexposed participant and acquires the outcome of interest
• d = unexposed participant and does not acquire the outcome of interest
• Risk (Cumulative Incidence) of PLWH diagnosed with heart disease/stroke: (a+c)/(a+b+c+d) = 150/1000 = .15 × 100 = 15%
• Risk Ratio among PLWH who smoke for heart disease and stroke: [a/(a+b)] / [c/(c+d)] = (125/500)/(25/500) = .25/.05 = 5

Interpretation Risk Ratio or Rate Ratio

• Risk Ratio or Rate Ratio = 1 Exposure is not preventive or harmful
• Risk Ratio or Rate Ratio > 1 Exposure is harmful
• Risk Ratio or Rate Ratio < 1 Exposure is protective

Rate (Incidence Rate) of heart disease/stroke among PLWH over a ten year period: a + c/ [(a × 5 + ) + (b × 10 $ )] + [(c × 5 + ) + (d × 10 $ )] =150/9250 = 0.016 cases/Person-year

Rate Ratio (Incidence Rate Ratio (IRR)): a/[(a × 5 + ) + (b × 10 $ )] c[(c × 5 + ) + (d × 10 $ ) = 0.026/0.005= 5.2

From the above example, 150 cases of heart disease and stroke were identified from the cohort sample size of 1000. Based on the calculations, the risk for developing heart disease and stroke was 15% among the study participants. Additional analyses using the risk ratio compared the risk between participants exposed (smoker) and unexposed (nonsmoker) to provide further information about the data. The risk ratio illustrates the relative increase or decrease in the incidence between the exposed and unexposed groups ( Alexander, 2015 ). (See Table 1 for calculations).

Using the formula from table 1 , the risk ratio was 5. The results demonstrate that PLWH who smoke (exposed) were five times more likely to be diagnosed with heart disease and stroke than PLWH who were nonsmokers. To further understand the meaning of the risk ratio results, if the result was equal to 1, then the exposure (smoker) did not affect the outcome. In other words, the risk was the same for the exposed and unexposed groups. Similarly, if the risk ratio was less than 1, it indicates that the exposed (smoker) group was protective for heart disease and stroke. When the results are further away (see figure 2 )

Risk Ratio or Rate Ratio Interpretation

Rate and Rate Ratio

The term rate is also known as an incidence rate (IR). It is defined as the number of participants who develop the outcome of interest (heart disease and stroke) divided by the person-time (days, months, years) at risk during follow-up ( Alexander, 2015 ). Person-time is the sum of each participant’s total time free (no heart disease and no stroke) from the outcome of interest. This measure provides the accumulated events (cases of heart disease and stroke) and the speed at which new health outcomes transpire in a study cohort. Another analysis used to compare and understand the rate of speed (increase or decrease) of a health outcome between the exposed and unexposed groups is the rate ratio .

In continuing with the example from above, the calculated rate was 0.016 (see Table 1 ). The result indicates that 0.016 cases of heart disease and stroke per person-year occurred in the sample, with a rate ratio of 5.2. This result indicates that heart disease and stroke rates were 5.2 times greater in the exposed group than in the unexposed group. Similar to the risk ratio , if the result was equal to 1, then the smoking exposure did not affect the outcome. If the rate ratio was less than 1, smoking exposure was protective for heart disease and stroke. The greater the rate ratio is from 1 (null association, the exposure is not preventive or harmful), the exposure had more impact on the study cohort. (see figure 2 ).

Reporting Recommendations

In continuing the Step by Step Research column with the observational studies, the cohort design also has a reporting guideline to explain how a study was conducted and how the results were obtained. Like the cross-sectional study, the cohort study uses the same guideline, Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) ( von Elm et al., 2014 ). The report provides specific recommendations for cohort studies in the 22-item checklist to guide investigators in what to include in their manuscript. For consumers of the research, the checklist helps the reader understand the paper better regarding study planning, conduct, findings, and conclusions ( von Elm et al., 2014 ). Additionally, the checklist contains information to allow a study to be replicated, useful to make clinical decisions, and sufficient information to be included in a systematic review ( https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/strobe/ ).

The cohort design is an appropriate method to determine the incidence of a health outcome or an event. This design is especially helpful in understanding the natural history of disease and conditions in an identified study population. Additionally, this design allows an investigator to examine the timing between an exposure and outcome(s).

Acknowledgments

This manuscript is supported in part by grant # UL1TR001866 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program, and by the National Institutes of Health/National Institutes for Nursing Research #R01NR017917

Contributor Information

Bernadette Capili, Heilbrun Family Center for Research Nursing, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, Hospital, Room 106, New York, NY 10065.

Joyce K. Anastasi, New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing, 380 Second Avenue, Suite 305, New York, NY 10010.

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• Hood MN (2009). A review of cohort study design for cardiovascular nursing research . J Cardiovasc Nurs , 24 ( 6 ), E1–9. doi: 10.1097/JCN.0b013e3181ada743 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hulley S, Cummings SR, Browner WS, Grady DG, Newman TB (Ed.) (2013). Designing Clinical Research (4th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. [ Google Scholar ]
• Mann CJ (2012). Observational research methods—Cohort studies, cross sectional studies, and case–control studies . African Journal of Emergency Medicine , 2 ( 1 ), 38–46. doi: 10.1016/j.afjem.2011.12.004 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
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• von Elm E, Altman DG, Egger M, Pocock SJ, Gøtzsche PC, & Vandenbroucke JP (2014). The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) Statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies . Int J Surg , 12 ( 12 ), 1495–1499. doi: 10.1016/j.ijsu.2014.07.013 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]

Dean Gerstein Receives National Science Foundation Research Grant

Dean Gerstein , director of sponsored research, has received a $1,884,361 research grant from the National Science Foundation to design, conduct and analyze a national sample survey on research development and research administration at U.S. colleges and universities.

At Pomona, Gerstein works with faculty members to secure external grants, which serve as a significant source of funding for faculty and students to carry out research.

Through the grant he has received, Gerstein will look at how institutions throughout the country do what he does at Pomona. The project will focus specifically on the challenges faced by researchers at emerging and primarily undergraduate institutions, and the results will inform funding agencies as they seek to strengthen the participation of these institutions.

The three-year project is titled “ Collaborative Research: RD/RA Support Networks at Diversified Research Institutions (SUNDRI) .” Pomona is the lead institution, and Gerstein is the principal investigator, with colleagues from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, Seattle University and Research Triangle Institute.

This grant is part of the National Science Foundation’s efforts to level the playing field, Gerstein says. He explains that at large research institutions, there are “whole infrastructures and very specialized workforces” who help bring in funds from agencies like the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Institutes of Health.

The challenge for smaller, undergraduate colleges such as Pomona, Gerstein says, is that “we are often competing with and subject to the same environment as these large research institutions.”

“The research developers and research administrators at many of these small institutions are constantly trying to figure out, ‘How do we maintain strong competitive positions for our faculty, our research enterprise, and ultimately, our students? As research assistants and in their senior capstone projects, they want and deserve to participate in the excitement of the leading edges of academic creativity and discovery?’” says Gerstein. “This is part of NSF’s effort to make sure that researchers, wherever they are, will compete on a somewhat equivalent basis when applying for external support.”

Current knowledge on research development and administration is based on anecdotes and small numbers of case studies. The more Gerstein and his colleagues investigated what was known, the more it became apparent that a clear enough picture of the landscape does not exist.

The grant will allow Gerstein and his colleagues to conduct a national survey of nearly 1,000 colleges and universities to obtain more systemic data. Their goal is to develop a comprehensive picture of how research development and administration functions are distributed and performed at four-year colleges and universities. They hope to learn what pressure points exist, what assets people are using to solve their problems and ultimately how stakeholders like the national funding agencies can better serve the country’s institutions of higher education.

“We’re looking for a much more sophisticated understanding,” says Gerstein. “It’s easy to do a survey and ask people questions; it’s not so easy to find answers that really help.”

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'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?

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When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.

ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form .

The best laptops for graphic designers: Expert tested

Why you can trust ZDNET

ZDNET's reviewers spend weeks to months testing each laptop on this list, using it for both everyday tasks like browsing, streaming, and gaming, to more performance-intensive work like photo and video editing. We aim to give you a view into how each laptop could actually fit into your life and workflow, and the pros and cons of their various features like performance, display, and battery life.

What to Consider

Whether your laptop is your ultimate workstation or source of entertainment, its design, display, and even portability determines how you interact with the unit.

Performance

For many, laptops are essential for workflow and communication. The best laptops promise efficient speed and performance, powered by the best and latest chipsets (like the Apple M2 Max).

Storage and RAM

It's likely you'll use a laptop to store key documents or memories and the best models have plenty of room for you to do so.

We strive to answer the question, "what laptop should i get if ___" as we know you have different workflow and entertainment needs and preferences, from graphic design to gaming.

The best laptop can be a pricey investment, so we considered qualities that assure you'll get your money's worth.

Many PC manufacturers offer laptops for all types of use cases, from everyday work to gaming and even graphic design. For that last one, it can be tricky to find the right machine, because a good graphic design laptop needs to balance performance, a good display, and a robust array of features. The best ones can make your job a thousand times easier, and help you succeed at work.

There are a ton of great laptops for graphic design to choose from. So much so that it can be rather overwhelming trying to figure out which graphic design laptop is the best for you. At ZDNET, we tested many of the best laptops for creative professionals on the market, looking for specific factors like operating systems, performances, features, and construction, to help you make the best decision.

Also: Best laptop deals

What is the best laptop for graphic design right now? 

ZDNET went hands-on with many excellent laptops to create this list. Our pick for the best laptop for graphic design right now is  Apple's 14-inch MacBook Pro  (2023), with its stunning display and excellent M3 chip performance. However, the list includes a variety of other top-tier options from Asus, Dell, and MSI, so there's an option for everyone.

The best laptops for graphic designers in 2024

• Stunning display
• Awesome performance from M3 chip
• Long battery life
• Limited amount of ports

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch

Best laptop for graphic design overall.

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch s pecs: CPU:  Apple M3 | GPU:  M3 integrated graphics | RAM:  8GB | Storage:  512GB SSD | Display:  14-inch Liquid Retina XDR Display 

Taking the top stop as our best graphic design laptop is Apple's 14-inch MacBook Pro from 2023. This entry probably comes as no surprise, as MacBooks are lauded for their hardware performance, and this model is no different. It boasts the latest rendition of Apple silicon in the form of the M3 chip. The hardware allows the MacBook to multitask across a variety of apps, handle resource-heavy software like games, and offer users a way to edit 4K resolution video without missing a beat. 

Its high level of performance is made very apparent thanks to the stunning 14-inch Liquid Retina XDR display which, itself, outputs content at 4K resolution. What's more, it has a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio for bright, vivid colors and support for ProMotion tech, enabling an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. To top it all off, the M3 MacBook has a maximum battery life of 22 hours so it can literally last an entire day.

There are two versions of the 2023 MacBook: the 14-inch model which we just described and the 16-inch option. We recommend the former for its more compact design and lower price point. However, if you want the best of what the MacBook Pro can deliver, go with the 16-inch laptop. Keep in mind, both are still expensive.

Review: MacBook Pro (M3 Max) review: A desktop-class laptop for an AI-powered age

• Gorgeous 2.8K touchscreen
• Compact design
• Comfortable keyboard
• Decent price
• Limited performance
• Doesn't come with a stylus

ASUS Zenbook 14 Flip OLED

Best 2-in-1 laptop for graphic design.

Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED  specs: CPU:  13th gen Intel Core i5-1340P |  GPU:  Intel Iris Xe Graphics |  RAM:  16GB LBDDR5, support dual-channel memory |  Storage:  Up to 1TB SSD |  Display:  14-inch 2.8K resolution (2,880 x 1.800) OLED

2-in-1 laptops, as a whole, lend themselves very well to graphic design work. Once you're done typing a document, you can immediately flip the screen around, converting the computer into a tablet. There are a lot of great 2-in-1 laptops out there , but if we had to pick one, it would be the Zenbook 14 Flip OLED from Asus.

It has one of the nicest, most lush OLED screens that we have seen. The high level of quality present is due to multiple factors. The display covers the entire DCI-P3 color gamut, plus it has a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1. Together, they combine to deliver a screen of unparalleled quality to the point where it seems like you can see the pixels on the screen. That's probably hyperbole on our end, but it does look really nice. You want that level of quality to accurately replicate colors.

After a hard's day work, you'll probably want to relax. Luckily the Zenbook 14 Flip doubles nicely as an entertainment machine thanks to its Harman Kardon-approved speakers. Audio from movies sounds fantastic coming from this hardware. The performance is made all the more better due to its support for Dolby Atmos.

If you're planning on picking this up for drawing, I recommend buying a stylus, because the Zenbook 14 doesn't come with one.

Review: I challenge you to find a better-looking laptop for under $1,000 than this

• Vibrant HD display
• Option for GeForce RTX 40-series GPU
• 2TB of storage space
• Storage space for Slim Pen 2
• Slim Pen sold separately

Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2

Best laptop for drawing.

Acer Swift X 14  specs:  CPU:  13th Gen Intel Core i7-13700H | GPU:  Intel Iris Xe, 6GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050, 8GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060, 8GB Nvidia RTX 2000 Ada | RAM:  16GB, 32GB, or 64GB LPDDR5 | Storage:  512 GB, 1 TB, or 2 TB SSD | Display:  14.4-inch PixelSense Flow DIsplay, 120Hz

We lauded the original Surface Laptop Studio for its focus on graphic design work, and the same can be said for its follow-up: the Surface Laptop Studio 2. Like its predecessor, the revamped model is a 2-in-1 computer with a screen that can be folded flat to have it serve as a tablet or upright as a traditional laptop. Also, there's an extra hinge allowing users to tilt the screen like an easel, ideal for drawing with the Surface Slim Pen 2 (although you will have to buy it because it doesn't come with a stylus).

It's not all the same array of features. The Surface Laptop Studio 2 makes multiple improvements to the original. The most impactful is the more powerful hardware. In addition to having a better processor, the model offers the option for a Nvidia GeForce RTX 40-series graphic card. With this equipped, the device is capable of handling intensive workloads better than the older machine.

Speaking of the previous laptop, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 also sports a sharp, touch-sensitive display, but this time, it outputs a much higher resolution of 4,500 x 3,000 pixels. Overall, it's superior to the old in almost every way except that it is pretty expensive.

Review:  I demoed Microsoft's Surface Laptop Studio 2 and was left all kinds of jealous

• Awesome display quality
• Ton of customization options
• Solid performance
• Mushy keyboard
• Can be heavy

Dell XPS 15

Best windows laptop for graphic design.

Dell XPS 15: CPU:  13th-Gen Intel Core i7-13700H, 13th-Gen Intel Core i9-13900H | GPU:  Intel Arc A370M, 6GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050, 8GB GeForce RTX 4060, 8GB GeForce RTX 4070  | RAM:  16GB, 32GB, 64GB | Storage:  512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB SSD | Display:  15.6-inch Full HD Plus, 15.6-inch 3.5K

Over the years, many PC manufacturers have released their own rendition of a MacBook -- a lightweight yet powerful laptop. Some have come close, but none have hit the mark quite like the XPS 15 from Dell. It has all the hallmarks one would come to expect from Apple hardware: great performing hardware, a vibrant 3.5K resolution display, and a sleek-looking design. But instead of macOS Sonoma, you have Windows 11 on board.

Design-wise, the XPS 15 hasn't changed much from the 2022 model. It seems Dell realized they hit a home run with the earlier version as the 2023 version keeps a lot of the same features from the smooth, clicky touchpad to the room-filling speakers. The main difference this time is it comes equipped with an RTX 40-series GPU. What's more, it has a wide array of ports including three USB-C inputs, a headphone jack, and an SD card slot. These are helpful to have on hand whenever you want to transfer photos from your camera to the XPS 15. 

Do keep in mind it is a bit heavy, clocking in at 4.21 pounds. The XPS 15 also came out with sibling laptops, the XPS 13 and XPS 17, that are just as capable. If you want something lightweight, go with the XPS 13. If you want a more robust multimedia machine, then the XPS 17 will be more your style.

Review:  I traded my MacBook for a Dell XPS 15 for a month, and didn't regret it at all

• Inexpensive
• Vibrant display
• Small trackpad
• Weak webcam

Acer Swift 3

Best budget laptop for graphic design.

Acer Swift 3 Specs: CPU:  AMD Ryzen 5 4500U, Ryzen 7 4700u | GPU:  Integrated AMD Radeon Graphics | RAM:  16GB | Storage:  256GB SSD | Display:  14-inch 1080p

One of the biggest problems with graphic design laptops is that they can be pretty expensive. After all, you're looking for high-quality performance and displays. Fortunately, there are plenty of cheaper options out there. The best one is the 2021 release of the Acer Swift 3.

It comes equipped with an AMD Ryzen processor and a 1080p display. The screen isn't 4K, but it can output stunning images with bright, vivid colors. We particularly enjoy its sturdy, magnesium-aluminum metal chassis allowing the Swift 3 to handle bumps, drops, and scrapes. You'd definitely want to protect its display as much as possible. And the best part is the laptop weighs a measly 2.6 lbs for easy carrying.

There are a few quirks worth mentioning. The webcam isn't great and the trackpad is rather small. It can cramp your hands. Regardless of these issues, the Swift 3 is still a great option. We mentioned the 2021 model in particular because it straddles the line between being budget-friendly and housing great hardware. The majority of 2022 Swift 3 laptops are substantially more expensive, but if you want more power, you have the option to upgrade.

• Powerful performance
• Huge 2TB SSD
• Robust cooling
• A little heavy

MSI Creator Z16 HX Studio

Best graphic design laptop for content creators.

MSI Creator Z16 HX Studio  Specs: CPU:  13th-Gen Intel Core i7-11800H, i7-13700HX, i9-13900HX | GPU:  Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, RTX 4060, RTX 4070 | RAM:  16GB, 32 GB | Storage:  1TB, 2TB SSD | Display:  16-inch QuadHD Plus touchscreen

MSI's Creator Z16 HX Studio is our recommendation for content creators looking for a truly powerful laptop. At its highest configuration, this beast sports a 13th-Gen Intel Core i9-13900HX CPU, GeForce RTX 4070 GPU from Nvidia, and a whopping 2TB SSD. You can store hours of footage on this thing and still have plenty of room left over. What's interesting is on the product page, MSI states the Creator Z16 can process Photoshop and Premiere Pro much faster than its predecessor. Apparently, it can render videos in 30 percent less time.

Speaking of videos, Nvidia Studio is installed on this machine. It consists of multiple AI features that can help turn your ideas into reality. The suite also houses some of the latest creation software tools, like ray tracing, to deliver realistic graphical works. Naturally, a laptop of this caliber sports a stunning Quad HD Plus (2,56 x 1,600 pixels) resolution display covering all of the DCI-P3 color gamut.

With this level of hardware, a normal laptop would turn into a furnace. It's going to be generating a lot of heat. To combat this, MSI installed a robust cooling system called the Vapor Chamber Cooler to ensure the Creator Z16 operates at a low temperature. 

• Lightweight
• Great AI features
• Display resolution peaks at 1080p
• Thick screen bezels

Asus Chromebook Plus CX34

Best graphic design laptop for students.

Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 specs: CPU:  Intel Core i3-1215U, i5-1235U | GPU:  Intel UHD Graphics | RAM:  8GB, 16GB | Storage:  128GB, 256GB SSD | Display:  14-inch 1080p

Back in late 2023, Google announced a new generation of Chromebooks specializing in productivity. Multiple models were revealed, and among the group, the Chromebook Plus CX34 is the best one, by far. It has a lot going for it. First, it's fairly inexpensive. Second, the laptop has a 1080p display enabling high-quality images. The one problem with the screen is that the bezels are thicker than we would've liked them to be -- they get in the way. That said, Asus makes up for this by including an anti-glare coating to the glass so it can be outside without the sun ruining the image.

The neat thing about this Chromebook is it's among the first to support Photoshop -- more specifically the web version of Photoshop. This is a big deal because previous models couldn't handle the editing software, forcing people to use other not-as-great options. Now you get the best. And once you're done with work, you can relax with a game of Minecraft because the title has unique compatibility with the laptop.

Additionally, the Asus Chromebook has a variety of AI-powered features. Our favorite is Magic Eraser which can intelligently get rid of mistakes or cover up objects in photographs. It's quite impressive. And there's the nifty File Sync. It keeps a copy of Google Drive on the computer at all times so you have access even when it's offline.

Review:  I tested Google's new Chromebook Plus and the generative AI features blew me away

What is the best laptop for graphic design?

We chose the 14-inch Apple MacBook Pro from 2023 as the best laptop for graphic design overall due to its exceptional high-resolution display and great hardware performance. 

The table below allows you to compare the best graphic design laptops according to price, screen size, and CPU.

Which graphic design laptop is right for you?

Graphic design laptops are capable of handling a wide range of tasks, but some are better than others in certain scenarios. Hardware-demanding work, such as video editing, requires a high-end computer. For this reason, you need to be sure of what you're looking for in a laptop. You don't want to buy a device that's going to struggle. Here's how to figure out which laptop for graphic design may work best for you:

Factors to consider when choosing a laptop for graphic design

A laptop specifically designed for creative users needs to provide far more power than a laptop aimed at general usage. Here are some of the top factors you'll want to consider before making a purchase: 

• Hardware: Creative professionals rely heavily on their laptop's graphics card to do a lot of the work. But graphics cards need to be paired with strong CPUs to perform at a high level and be supported by a good amount of RAM.
• Display: All that performance doesn't mean squat if the laptop's display can accurately show off your work. It's for that reason, creative professionals greatly prefer high-resolution displays so they can have the best image possible.
• Screen size:  16-inch or 17-inch displays are larger and much heavier than a 13-inch or 14-inch laptop. Regular travelers may want to go something smaller when on the run and leave the laptop with the big screen at the office or home.
• Battery life: Decide whether you need a high-end laptop that can accomplish tasks but only run for a few hours or a mid-ranger that can last an entire day. 
• Price:  Price is an important factor to account for when shopping for laptops. Obviously, the more expensive options tend to have the better hardware. But that doesn't mean you should completely discount the cheaper models because many still deliver awesome performance.

How we test laptops

There are many excellent laptops for graphic design on the market, and our staff at ZDNET gets an opportunity to review many of them. We look at all of the factors mentioned above, including display, battery life, and value. We then test them as we would use them in the real world, from surfing the internet to streaming videos to more specific use cases for graphic design. The goal here is to see what they're capable of in real-world use.

Once all the testing is complete, the ones we liked the most are reviewed and sorted, given a specific category like best Windows laptop for graphic design, and place on the list.

Is battery life important in the best laptops for graphic designers?

Yes, but it depends on what you have. 

For lightweight, cheap, or travel laptops, having a good battery life is incredibly important. These machines are ideal for travel. Most of the time, these models don't have the greatest hardware in the world and are often mid-range devices. As a result, they're not very power-hungry. You won't have to worry about your laptop dying on you in the middle of a project. Plus, they're not heavy.

For bulky, powerful laptops like the MSI Creator Z16, battery life doesn't matter as much. You're going to be using this machine primarily at home. Computers of this caliber are heavy. Speaking from experience, you don't want to lug around a big laptop every day. Plus, their hardware demands a lot of power so your battery is going to drain much more quickly. 

Is connectivity important in the best laptops for graphic designers?

Having a wide array of ports on a graphic design laptop is important to have, but ultimately, it comes down to what you, the user, need.

Some manufacturers choose to equip their hardware with only a few inputs in order to keep sizes small and weight low. This is a good design move for ultraportable laptops. However, creative professionals work with a variety of devices and peripherals. Perhaps, they need to connect their laptop to an external display or multiple monitors. This extends to audio equipment and SD cards from cameras. 

For many professionals, having good connectivity options on a laptop is crucial to their work. Luckily, there are solutions to this problem. You can solve this by buying a docking station to complement your computers. These devices offer way more inputs and outputs than a normal computer could ever hope to deliver. 

Also: The best 5 laptop docking stations 

If you just want a single device, then you may be better off buying a heftier laptop; one with a variety of ports. A lightweight machine is ideal for travel.

Are MacBooks really that much better than Windows laptops when in comes to graphic design?

When it comes to hardware, not really. Modern MacBooks certainly have powerful M-series chipsets allowing them to rise above the rest. But Windows laptops have come a long way in bridging that gap. I would argue that Windows hardware is comparable to, in some cases better, than Apple's tech.

The main difference between the two comes down to software. MacBooks have a great selection of apps onboard that still trounce Microsoft software. GarageBand is still great for editing music. iMovie is also fantastic for making basic video edits. Of course, many of the best editing software is exclusive to Apple hardware. 

Also: Boost your security and productivity with the top Mac apps

Windows 11, on the other hand, doesn't have the greatest selection. For years, base apps on Windows computers were terrible. No one in their right mind takes Paint seriously as an illustration tool. You have Photoshop for that. Things have gotten much better, but base apps on Windows 11 still pale in comparison to what's on macOS. And those starting software choices can make a huge difference.

Can gaming laptops be used for graphic design?

Definitely. Gaming laptops are a great alternative for graphic designers. They are often equipped with some of the most powerful processors in the tech industry. On top of that, they have great graphics cards, huge storage drives, and a ton of RAM, providing professionals with all the power and space they need for work. Many even have stunning displays.

However, there are multiple problems with them. 1) Gaming laptops can be heavy. In some cases, over seven pounds. 2) They're expensive. 3) They don't always have the most pleasing designs. Several models feature bulky, all-black designs. And 4) People may not enjoy their RGB lighting. On certain gaming laptops, the lightning can be too much.

Are there alternative graphic design laptops to consider?

As established earlier, we choose the top seven laptops based on pricing, performance, display, and more. But, if the group above doesn't work for you, here are other models to consider.

ZDNET Recommends

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Reflections from the Deputy Director of the HHS Office of Long COVID Research and Practice

Every day I receive e-mails from people with Long COVID desperate for help. I have friends, family, and colleagues who have Long COVID or similar conditions. My mother has lived with POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) for over a decade-it often dictates what we can and cannot do as a family. I personally know what it feels like for a medical diagnosis to suddenly upend one's life for an undetermined amount of time.

I have been doing this work since May 2022. A dedicated team has worked hard to create a new Office of Long COVID Research and Practice , launch the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Long COVID , hire our inaugural Director , and work with hundreds of passionate colleagues inside and outside of government. We are deeply committed to solving the challenge of Long COVID.

Today on Long COVID Awareness Day we recognize the tens of millions of Americans impacted by Long COVID. We recognize the clinicians and researchers that are working to understand and treat Long COVID. We recognize those who fight for answers. We see you.

Today we release a new report that lays out our goals and objectives for this work and how we think about it. We see this work falling into five domains: research, clinical practice, supports and services, public education, and coordination. Below are my reflections on each domain. Read the full report for more details.

Long COVID is complex. When Long COVID was first recognized, and research began, we lacked a fundamental understanding of the full clinical spectrum and causes of Long COVID—we didn’t know why people were not getting better. Before the RECOVER Initiative even started collecting samples, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) designed a comprehensive infrastructure to support collaboration between different government regulatory agencies, scientific steering boards, patient advocacy groups, and academic institutions to support the upcoming work and design a system that would most effectively capture meaningful outcomes. Next, RECOVER necessarily spent time and effort collecting observational data from study participants (e.g., asking them questions about their symptoms and collecting biospecimens like blood and saliva) to better understand the disease and its impacts on people’s lives, and find essential clues to the underlying causes of Long COVID. These clues have in turn helped develop clinical trials for treatments, cures, and ways to prevent Long COVID.

Long COVID is new, but we are not starting from scratch. RECOVER, other federally funded research initiatives at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , the Department of Veterans Affairs , and the Department of Defense are not starting from scratch. The research community is building on efforts to understand other infection associated chronic conditions that also impact the body in complex, hard to understand, and likely related ways. An advocate working on myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) for decades told me that she now, for the first time, believed that we would find answers to help people. NIH researchers tell me they have never seen anything like RECOVER. With Long COVID, we have the opportunity and responsibility to finally understand why some infections leave some people so sick for so long.

Clinical Practice

Healthcare providers want to help patients with Long COVID. Yet we know they face daily practical challenges. Care coordination across multiple specialties is difficult without the right support. Reimbursement models don’t account for the time needed with each patient and the sometimes complex and diverse tests that need to be performed. Long COVID clinics have emerged to meet this demand, but we continue to hear about long wait times and lack of access, especially for rural populations. As a result, healthcare research agencies within HHS are funding projects to study what high quality care looks like for people with Long COVID and how to expand access beyond Long COVID clinics. Other agencies are working with Community Health Centers to apply best practices to treat the populations most impacted by the pandemic. CDC provides information for clinicians and tips for patients to speak to clinicians. Provider associations have started to publish guidance for providers. We are forming linkages between researchers and clinicians to speed translation of research findings to implementation and for clinical practice to inform research.

Services and Supports

Long COVID research is underway. Clinicians are learning and developing new models of care. The fact remains that people affected by Long COVID need help today. We know that Long COVID can impact all aspects of a person’s life—their ability to work, study, take care of themselves and their families, and enjoy life. It is vital to continue the services and supports that can help people engage in their daily activities. In 2022 we released a report that pointed to federal programs that can help support people across all stages of life. However, many people with newly developed Long COVID may not realize they are eligible for accommodations and protections under federal law if their condition affects their ability to carry out one or more of your daily life activities. Numerous federal agencies are working to ensure that those with Long COVID are aware of their rights and have access to accommodations that allow them to continue to live their lives.

While Long COVID is on my mind most all of the time, and public awareness seems to be increasing, we still need to spread the word. Public health education campaigns are working to inform people that COVID-19 can cause Long COVID, but we still need help getting the word out. We also need to continue to spread prevention messages. As long as people are infected with COVID-19, some people will progress to Long COVID. And repeat infections increase your risk of Long COVID. Luckily, early research findings suggest that vaccination for and treatment of COVID-19 reduces your risk of Long COVID.

Coordination

Collaboration is critical to addressing Long COVID. The effects of Long COVID are far reaching, and therefore so is our work. We work with hundreds of colleagues across federal government departments and agencies, and nearly as many non-governmental partners. Working together allows us to share expertise, data, knowledge, and resources. It also ensures that diverse perspectives are represented. It is not easy or fast, but it is necessary. We listen to it all—the support and the criticism—and it helps us do our jobs better.

This report reflects our current thinking on Long COVID, and the activities the federal government is undertaking to meet the goals and objectives laid out here. The federal government continues to play a critical role in this work, but we will never be able to solve this challenge alone. If you are reading this, please find yourself in the work and join us.

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Driving Long COVID Innovation with Health+ Human-Centered Design

New report: Research and Innovation for Climate Neutrality by 2050: Challenges, opportunities and the path forward

Transforming Europe into a climate neutral economy by 2050 requires extraordinary efforts. Each sector must fundamentally rethink the way it operates to ensure that it can be transformed towards this new net-zero paradigm, without jeopardising other environmental and societal objectives, both within the EU and globally. Our ability to meet our climate neutrality target directly depends on our ability to innovate. However, the current level of innovation is insufficient to meet the net-zero challenge.

The aim of the report ‘ Research and Innovation for Climate Neutrality by 2050: Challenges, Opportunities and the Path Forward ’ is to provide policy recommendations regarding the design, principles and solution landscapes needed for a long-term, forward-looking R&I agenda to accelerate the transition to net-zero emissions. Through a methodological approach which combines literature review, climate neutrality scenarios analysis, foresight workshops and stakeholder engagement, the report focuses on broad high-risk (not yet close to market) R&I areas where significant investments are needed today to achieve maturity, commercialisation, and adoption in the coming 10-20 years.

The report advocates moving beyond the paradigm of individual technologies and embrace a systemic approach by focusing on goal-oriented R&I interventions, as well as considering how systemic interactions of climate mitigation approaches can be better integrated in the development of R&I programmes (thus considering socio-economic and technological challenges and opportunities, regulatory barriers/needs, enabling conditions and positive tipping points). To that end, the report identifies key R&I areas under 17 solution landscapes grouped under three key nexuses for climate neutrality, to better integrate systemic interaction of climate mitigation approaches in the design of R&I agendas: 

• Mobility – Built environment – Energy nexus
• Circularity – Industry – Carbon removals and capture nexus
• Agrifood – Carbon removals nexus

In addition, the report:

• Highlights some of the opportunities, barriers, and risks of general-purpose technologies (such as AI, synthetic biology, blockchain) in accelerating the net-zero transition.
• Underlines the increasing importance and significant innovation efforts needed over the coming decade regarding carbon dioxide removal solutions.
• Advocates the need for the EU to prioritise actions with key third countries to create competitive advantage across the international value chains emerging from the green transition.

More information

Read the report:  Research and Innovation for Climate Neutrality by 2050: Challenges, Opportunities and the Path Forward

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Generative AI fuels creative physical product design but is no magic wand

Although generative AI (gen AI) is in its infancy, the technology is already leaving an indelible mark on how physical products and packaging are conceived, innovated, and designed.

About QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey

QuantumBlack, McKinsey’s AI arm, helps companies transform using the power of technology, technical expertise, and industry experts. With thousands of practitioners at QuantumBlack (data engineers, data scientists, product managers, designers, and software engineers) and McKinsey (industry and domain experts), we are working to solve the world’s most important AI challenges. QuantumBlack Labs is our center of technology development and client innovation, which has been driving cutting-edge advancements and developments in AI through locations across the globe.

From product packaging to car components and retail displays, gen AI  enables industrial designers to explore more ideas and product experiences, including previously unimagined ones, and develop initial design concepts significantly faster than with traditional methods.

Additionally, with the ability to visualize concepts in high fidelity much earlier in the design process, companies can elicit more precise feedback from consumers as they work to fine-tune every element of the user experience (see images below). In product research and design alone, McKinsey estimates gen AI could unlock $60 billion in productivity . 1 “ The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier ,” McKinsey, June 14, 2023.

While gen AI tools can bring about extraordinary outputs, they cannot replace human expertise. Just as the industry saw with the arrival of computer-aided design (CAD) and later advancements such as 3-D printing and augmented and virtual reality, while the methods for designing physical products may change, design experts are needed to ensure the meaningful use of the technology and delivery of business value.

In the case of industrial design, experts conducting consumer research often unearth important insights that inspire pivotal design choices. Their skill in identifying the best concepts from the dozens of AI-generated images—assessing outputs with an eye for aesthetics and manufacturability and manipulating images based on user research and their design sense—is crucial in providing a final design that will resonate with users.

Although these tools are relatively new, our teams continue to see their significant impact on productivity. When they are used properly throughout the product development life cycle, we sometimes see a reduction upward of 70 percent in product development cycle times, providing teams with the opportunity to spend more time conducting consumer testing, refining designs, vetting suppliers, and optimizing designs for manufacturability and sustainability. These tools and processes are ultimately a vehicle for growth and innovation, enabling faster development of far better products.

But while R&D and product development leaders can use the technology today to propel innovation, they will need to understand and prepare for the technology’s limitations. In this article, we share ways gen AI can unlock creativity and productivity across the product development life cycle, examine crucial considerations for business leaders trying to create business value, and suggest steps for getting started based on our design work and the use of gen AI tools in our creative process.

Unlocking creativity and productivity across the design life cycle

When industrial designers create concepts or redesign packaging, consumer durables, experiences, spaces, or just about anything else, their creative processes generally go through a few essential phases: market and user research, concept development, and concept testing and refinement. Gen AI technology can provide tremendous value at each stage, enabling designers to iterate faster, connect the dots in new ways, and catalyze divergent thinking to create products that transform users’ everyday experiences (exhibit).

Market and user research

Almost all good physical product design starts with market research. What features or qualities are most important to potential consumers? How are consumer preferences and tastes evolving and how are our competitors responding? What gaps exist for creating a new category of offerings?

Using gen AI tools trained on large language models—such as ChatGPT, Bard, and others—designers can gather, synthesize, and make sense of existing market and consumer data far more expediently than previously possible. Moreover, because the tools draw insights from many more diverse data sources than humans alone could analyze, they can reveal untapped market opportunities and overlooked consumer needs or expectations. That enables industrial designers to build a much richer baseline of knowledge for stakeholder discussions and consumer interviews. One consumer packaged goods company augmented its market and user research with new insights from gen AI tools about consumer sentiment and how it might use its brand equity to expand into high-growth markets. With this knowledge, the design team broadened the scope of its ethnographic interviews, gaining feedback on important design elements that informed its subsequent work to develop and refine new concepts.

Concept development

As industrial designers and engineers create new product designs or iterate on the next generation of an existing product or engineering component, text-to-image gen AI tools provide a powerful medium for inspiration and innovation.

The technology’s ability to generate novel, lifelike images based on expert prompts can inspire bolder exploration and bring forward distinctive and potentially first-of-their-kind ideas. These visualizations, data, and other outputs that emerge as designers input rough sketches, ethnographic research insights, and features based on consumer sentiment into a gen AI tool can be a great starting point, drastically accelerating the concept development phase. That said, human intervention by an expert designer is still needed to validate, test, and refine outputs to make them meaningful, manufacturable, and impactful, as the images generated typically can’t be used in their initial state (for instance, some may not align with the company’s vision, others may not reflect the designer’s prompt in any meaningful way, and others still may be completely unmanufacturable).

As with previous technological evolutions, such as the emergence of CAD and 3-D printing, gen AI frees design experts from mundane and time-consuming tasks when preparing concept images, mood boards, and storyboards. By inputting iterative prompts about target performance goals and new specifications, for example, industrial designers can arrive at the “best answer” faster than if they tested different theories individually and then conducted highly manual due diligence (see images below).

Initial prompt

Prompt progression

Final, refined, and manufacturable

Industrial designers at an automotive OEM needed just two hours with the help of gen AI to create the initial design concepts for 25 variations of a next-gen car dashboard with a touch screen interface, charging surfaces, instrument panel, and other components. These concepts were then further refined by the design team using an image-editing software to provide stakeholders with a clearer picture of where the industry was going and how to evolve component interfaces, form factor, color, material, finish, and more for the latest models of electric vehicles (see images below). Without gen AI, creating images with similar detail and quality would have taken at least a week with many more iterations. This process empowered designers to bring a product experience to life in a far more tangible manner and in a fraction of the time.

Given that gen AI outputs currently require significant manipulation, the creation of these images typically happens in the studio. But as the technology develops and its outputs become more refined, industrial designers and engineers are increasingly sitting in meetings with business leaders and conducting consumer research sessions while using gen AI tools to create inspirational images in real time based on live feedback.

Concept testing and refinement

With the ability to elevate a conceptual napkin sketch or rough design idea to an immersive visual, industrial designers can also bring new concepts and experiences to life. This can enable more meaningful discussions with business leaders and consumers as they seek feedback on potential opportunity areas, concepts, and future visions.

Executives at a preeminent museum, for instance, could better visualize opportunities to increase accessibility of museum exhibits when industrial designers edited and combined AI-generated images with supplementary visual content (sketches, graphics, and so on) to create storyboards that illustrated novel formats, products, services, and experiences (see image below).

Following the testing of initial concepts with stakeholders, designers can then use the technology to refine product style, apply finishing touches, and map future concepts to inform product road maps—sometimes in hours instead of weeks—before moving to the subsequent phases of design detailing, refinement, engineering concepts, and design for manufacturing.

Would you like to learn more about McKinsey Design ?

Beyond design.

Leaders seeking to further use the technology in product simulation and testing should watch the gen AI space closely. The technology is rapidly evolving, and as it does, we anticipate even more capabilities will become available to simplify the handoff between design and engineering and dramatically accelerate engineering processes. We’re already seeing the market launch of gen AI software solutions that enable industrial designers and engineers to rapidly turn product concepts into CAD models. That allows them to model products far faster and begin the engineering process more expediently. While the tools are still nascent, we can imagine in the not-too-distant future that these tools will drastically improve and accelerate design-to-engineering handovers.

We also expect to see new tools capable of rapidly analyzing designs for manufacturability and serviceability—for example, to confirm whether a product can be manufactured using a facility’s existing injection molding tools. From an engineering perspective, gen AI is already revolutionizing the way experts approach long-established simulation engineering problems, such as how to optimize the structural performance of products. One gen AI tool for finite element analysis and topological optimization—cornerstone techniques for understanding how a part performs under different conditions and how to produce lightweight yet strong structures—can generate hundreds of improved-design options for parts based on identified criteria, such as forces, pressures, and environmental conditions. In the future, we can expect an even more comprehensive range of capabilities from such tools, including the abilities to transform rough sketches into detailed engineering part models, facilitate material selection and optimization, and identify ways to enhance manufacturability, optimize components for assembly, and reduce costs.

Crucial considerations for achieving business value

Without a doubt, gen AI outputs can be impressive. However, producing meaningful outputs and turning them into a desirable, user-centric, manufacturable product that matches user preferences, pain points, and expectations doesn’t happen by just pressing a button. To achieve business value, industrial design and engineering expertise are crucial in the following areas:

• Conducting consumer research. Consumer research gleaned from gen AI tools may seem comprehensive; however, these tools can provide incorrect information (often called hallucinations). Additionally, even when the insights provided are accurate, they can offer only a baseline of knowledge, as consumer trends and behavior often change faster than training data sets. As a result, design teams must still verify hypotheses and investigate emerging trends through primary research. By combining gen-AI-produced insights and ethnographic interviews, design teams can obtain a much richer understanding of user preferences than either can provide on their own in the same period.
• Developing effective prompts. Highly iterative prompting is required to produce something close to what designers envision, consumers want, and companies can manufacture. A simple sentence may generate an interesting image, but the output won’t necessarily be accurate, feasible, or relevant (see images below). Ultimately, design experts must provide context for the overall concept, including subject, medium, environment, lighting, color, mood, and composition. They need to determine how much detail to include (for instance, less detail might produce more variety but result in concepts that don’t have the specific features needed). What’s more, they need to consider prompt length and how to separate complex prompts (having fewer words in a prompt means each word has more influence, which can affect outputs).

• Refining gen AI outputs. Oftentimes, text-to-image tools generate flawed images: a rogue plant grows out of the top of a television, or an unflyable drone is created (see image below). Organizations should expect to perform substantial postproduction editing—for instance, by using image-editing software to fine-tune the colors, fonts, and patterns used in the final concepts—to achieve a meaningful result. Even when initial outputs look as though they could be on store shelves today, closer inspection typically finds they are a far cry from a manufacturable product. Today, designers and engineers must still create their refined version of a concept in CAD to ensure the product accounts for manufacturing specifications, requirements, and constraints.

• Curating the best concepts. Gen AI can produce dozens of concepts quickly, but as the famous “jam experiment” study showed, too many choices can overwhelm both important stakeholders and consumers. As a result, organizations will need design experts to identify the best ideas from the large number of images produced and refine them based on aesthetics, feasibility, fit for use, and more to ensure concept testing with users yields valuable feedback.
• Adding a good dose of human empathy. AI tools are only as good as the data they are trained on. And given the “averaging” that may occur with aggregated inputs, they can perpetuate historical biases, oversimplify solutions, and gloss over insightful bits of nuanced human behavior that can provide the seeds for innovation. Industrial designers and engineers, therefore, must provide ongoing oversight of the design, making certain that all facets of product use are considered—from the aesthetics (whether the design is aligned with regional and cultural preferences) to ergonomics (whether the gen AI output is too large or unwieldy for the target audience) and usability (for instance, whether the product is accessible for individuals with disabilities).

Getting started

Adding gen AI to the physical product design tool kit can accelerate and advance product design innovation, but only if teams can effectively use the technology. Based on our work and experience using the tools, we recommend R&D and product leaders consider the following actions to begin building their gen AI capabilities:

• Set aside time for learning and exploration. This action can involve empowering teams to test the technology in commonplace activities, such as iterating on new product features for an existing offering. It should also involve providing opportunities, such as a dedicated messaging channel or team meetings, to share successes and challenges. In other areas, such as software development, McKinsey research has found that the more practitioners use the tools and share their learnings with others, the better they get . We find the same is true in physical product design.
• Identify and launch a pilot in high-value domains. While it can be tempting to apply the technology to every project under way, leaders are best served by identifying a pilot project where there’s potential to generate considerable value. A pilot project could use gen AI across the design life cycle for a signature product, or it could focus on streamlining one process, such as research, across its entire flagship product line.

Evaluate risks and institute guardrails. Gen AI introduces new legal, ethical, and reputational risks that leaders must carefully consider and manage. These include concerns about data security (whether confidential information is being exposed when prompting the tool), intellectual property (whether the model outputs infringe on copyrighted, trademarked, patented, or otherwise legally protected material), and reliability (whether the tools are hallucinating and providing inaccurate responses to prompts), among others. In certain instances, such as gen AI’s capacity to hallucinate, the risks may be limited, as design experts typically vet and verify information provided by the tools and marry it with additional primary data sources. Furthermore, any surreal and fictitious image generated by the tools during concept development may be an asset, inspiring greater creativity and originality.

In other instances, especially those related to intellectual property rights and data security, action is required to ensure the responsible use of the technology. Leaders should review their legal processes and design standards to confirm they have the necessary diligence measures in place to ensure a final product doesn’t improperly reproduce third-party intellectual property, regardless of where their teams draw inspiration from—be it gen AI tools or their own research on- and offline. (In cases where teams wish to share AI-generated images they produce as is, leaders should ensure they understand intellectual property and ownership terms put forth by different tooling vendors as well as any relevant local laws that may govern ownership of an AI-generated output.)

Leaders should also implement policies that guide teams on what information can and cannot be used in gen AI prompts. Some best practices include understanding the terms of service for the given gen AI tool and refraining from using third-party intellectual property, proprietary insights, or other sensitive information in prompts.

• Educate business stakeholders on new processes. The level of detail and refinement of AI-generated images can create the impression that a product is much closer to completion than it is. As a result, as R&D organizations adopt these tools, they should be transparent about their use and provide stakeholders with a clear understanding of what the images represent, their use, and their limitations. Regular updates about the actual progress of a project can also ensure that the highly realistic visual representations don’t lead to overoptimistic expectations.
• Upskill industrial designers for future roles. Using gen AI in physical product design will invariably create new roles wherein design experts become “curators of creativity,” linking, manipulating, and drawing inspiration from the technology’s outputs to solve product challenges. This role requires storytelling and human-centered design skills, manufacturing know-how, competencies in other digital tools (such as CAD, illustration, sketching, and rendering software), a deep understanding of the use of different materials in design, and so on. It can take years to master these skills and understand how and when to pair with gen AI tools; as such, leaders should begin upskilling their teams today.

Gen AI has begun to reshape physical product design, enabling industrial designers to be more productive, creative, and strategic in building products that solve user needs. While the technology’s outputs can be dazzling, its ability to create business value becomes apparent only when combined with the skilled hands and discerning eyes of design experts. As adoption gains speed and as more designers and engineers integrate this technology into their workflows, we could see some genuinely revolutionary design and engineering solutions blossom. This will potentially lead to an entirely new aesthetic era with ingenious form factors, greater efficiency in material usage and manufacturability, and improved product life spans—benefiting both the companies that create these products and the people who use them.

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