Electronic lab notebook: experiments, protocols and e-signatures

Biocompile’s electronic lab notebook is built from experiments and protocols that live on a project. You record steps and lab notes in an experiment, reuse a protocol as a method, and send records for review and e-signature. Every approval step is written to the organization’s audit log.

Experiments

An experiment records what you did to test one or more hypotheses. When you create one, you fill in these fields:

Experiment Name, which must be unique. Otherwise Biocompile shows “Experiment name already exists”.
A description of what the experiment is about and what you want to achieve.
Tests Hypotheses, to link the hypotheses the experiment will test.
Predecessor Experiments, to chain this experiment to the ones it depends on.

Choose Create Experiment to save it. If the experiment already exists in the project, choose Link existing experiment instead.

An experiment has one of five statuses: Planned, In Progress, Completed, Failed or Cancelled. The Steps & Notes tab holds the work itself. Add a step as an Action or a Note, describe it, and record observations, results and deviations in its Lab Notes. Mark a step Critical or Optional, and duplicate a step from its options menu. Summary Notes document the overall methodology. The Experiment Chain lists what the experiment depends on and what requires it.

Completed experiments keep their record intact. Their banner reads “Completed. Structure is frozen.” Checkboxes, deviation notes, lab notes and parameter values stay editable.

Protocols

A protocol is a reusable procedure that you write once and load into experiments. Create one with Create Protocol, give it a Protocol Name such as PCR Amplification or Western Blot, and describe its purpose and procedure.

A protocol is a Draft until you publish it, then it is Published. A published protocol shows “Published (v” followed by its version number, and its content is frozen. To change it, choose New Version. Biocompile creates a new draft version and keeps the earlier ones under the Versions tab. A new version shows the protocol it was derived from.

To use a protocol in an experiment, choose Load Protocol, search for it and choose Import Protocol. Result: Biocompile shows “Protocol imported”, and all steps and actions are copied into the experiment as a method.

Review and e-signature

Records that need approval go through the approval policy of your organization. The policy is a list of steps, and each step names who may sign it: any organization member, a team member, a team leader, an organization admin, or a team leader or admin. A team can override the organization default under Approval Policy in its settings.

To send a record for approval, choose Submit for Review, then assign one person to each step as Reviewer or Approver. You cannot assign yourself, and each step needs a different person.

When a step is assigned to you, the record tells you that action is needed. Choose Sign Off, enter your password in the Sign Document dialog and choose Sign. Choose Reject to open Request Changes, explain what needs to be fixed and confirm. The author then updates the record and chooses Re-submit. Until the last step is signed, the submitter can choose Withdraw.

After the final signature, the record shows “This document has been approved and is now locked.” A signed record keeps reference names as they appeared at signing. Comments stay informal discussion and are not part of the approved record.

Audit trail

The audit log records member, team, invite, settings and approval events for the organization. Open the organization’s Audit Log, or choose View Full Audit Log to page through 50 events at a time. The columns are Time, Actor, Action, Target and Details.

Filter by event type, or by a From and To date, and choose Clear to reset the filters. The approval events are:

Approval Submitted, Approval Resubmitted and Approval Withdrawn.
Approval Signed, Approval Approved and Approval Rejected.
Approval Reset, Entity Locked and Signature Failed.

Limitations

What is limited	The limit	What to do instead
Structure of a completed experiment	Frozen	Edit checkboxes, notes and parameter values, or create a new experiment
Content of a published protocol	Frozen	Choose New Version
Content of an approved record	Locked	Make a controlled change through a new submission
Audit history on some plans	Shows a limited number of recent days	The log then shows a “Limited history” notice with the number of days

Troubleshooting

”Experiment name already exists”

Another experiment in the project uses that name. Choose a different Experiment Name, or choose Link existing experiment instead.

”You cannot assign yourself as a reviewer or approver.”

The person who submits a record cannot sign it. Assign each step to a colleague.

”Each step must be assigned to a different person.”

Two steps have the same assignee. Give every step its own Reviewer or Approver.

”Incorrect password. Please try again.”

Signing needs the password of your own account. Enter it again in the Sign Document dialog.

”No approval policy applies to this entity type.”

Your organization has no approval steps for this kind of record, so there is nothing to submit. An organization admin adds steps to the approval policy.

Common questions

Does Biocompile support electronic signatures on lab records?

Yes. Each approval step is signed by a named person who confirms with their account password, and the signed record is locked. Biocompile writes each submission, signature, rejection and withdrawal to the audit log.

Can I reuse a protocol in several experiments?

Yes. Load the protocol into an experiment with Load Protocol, and its steps and actions are copied in. Publishing a protocol freezes that version, and New Version starts the next draft.

Can I still edit an experiment after it is completed?

Partly. The structure is frozen, but checkboxes, deviation notes, lab notes and parameter values remain editable.