Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELNs) as key enablers of open science : open science monitor case study.
Date: 2019-10-31
Institutions: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation
Subjects: case study, cloud computing, open science, research policy, research results, right to reuse information, scientific cooperation, software

Electronic Laboratory 
Notebooks (ELNs) as Key 
Enablers of Open Science   

Open Science Monitor Case Study

Jon Switters, David Osimo 
April – 2019 

EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELNs) as Key Enablers of Open Science - Open Science Monitor Case 
Study 

European Commission 
Directorate-General for Research and Innovation 
Directorate G — Research and Innovation Outreach  
Unit G.4 — Open Science  
E-mail   Rene.VonSchomberg@ec.europa.eu 
RTD-PUBLICATIONS@ec.europa.eu 

European Commission 
B-1049 Brussels 

Manuscript completed in April 2019. 

This  document  has  been  prepared  for  the  European  Commission  however  it  reflects  the  views  only  of  the  authors,  and  the 
Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. 

More information on the European Union is available on the internet (http://europa.eu). 

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2019 

EN PDF  

ISBN 978-92-76-12110-7 

doi: 10.2777/07890 

KI-03-19-793-EN-N 

© European Union, 2019. 
Reuse is authorized provided the source is acknowledged. The reuse policy of European Commission documents is regulated by 
Decision 2011/833/EU (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39). 

For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not under the EU copyright, permission must be sought directly 
from the copyright holders. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Electronic Laboratory 
Notebooks (ELNs) as Key 
Enablers of Open Science 

Open Science Monitor Case Study 

2019 

Directorate-General for Research and Innovation 

EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table of contents 

Acknowledgments ................................................................................. 5 

1  Background.................................................................................... 6 

2  Drivers .......................................................................................... 7 

3  Barriers ......................................................................................... 8 

4 

5 

Impact ........................................................................................ 10 

Lessons learned ............................................................................ 11 

6  Policy conclusions ......................................................................... 13 

References......................................................................................... 15 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
Acknowledgments 

Disclaimer:  The  information  and  views  set  out  in  this  study  report  are  those  of  the 
author(s)  and  do  not  necessarily  reflect  the  official  opinion  of  the  Commission.  The 
Commission  does  not  guarantee the  accuracy of  the  data included in this  case  study. 
Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may be held 
responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein. 

The case study is part of Open Science Monitor led by the Lisbon Council, together with 
CWTS, ESADE, and Elsevier. 

Authors 

Jon Switters – The Lisbon Council  
David Osimo – The Lisbon Council 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
STUDY ON OPEN SCIENCE: MONITORING TRENDS AND DRIVERS (Reference: PP-05622-2017) 

1 

Background 

Our  society  is  becoming  more  digitalised  every  day,  changing  the  way  we  live,  work, 
communicate and spend our free time. Although research is often considered to be at the 
forefront of science with many laboratories and much lab equipment computer controlled, 
some  practices  remain  in  the  past  and  researchers  still  opt  to  use  more  traditional  and 
familiar methods such as the paper laboratory notebook.1   

Communication between researchers, funding bodies, industry and the general public is a 
crucial  element  of  research.  If  research  isn’t  shared  with  other  members  of  the 
scientific community, it is of little value. The paper laboratory notebook and scientific 
publications  remain  at  the  core  of  this  communication.  However,  is  there  a  better 
alternative that can make the research process more efficient and open?  

Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELNs) 

Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELNs) are now widely available. A study carried out by 
the University of Southampton (UK) identified 103 ELNs on the market.2 These ELNs have 
evolved over time with current versions offering much more than a mere electronic version 
of traditional paper version. They have become multi-functional data managers that 
are able to import data, notes, observations from other devices. Some are also to 
interact with other types of lab equipment and safely store and archive the scientific data 
that are generated by users.3 

Table 1. Different Licensing Categories 

Licence Type 

Paid for 

Paid (with free version) 

Open source 

Free 

Description 

Proprietary software that can be purchased and may use proprietary data 
formats. 
Proprietary  software  that  can  be  purchased.  It  also  has  a  free  version 
available for a specific period of time or with reduced features 
The  code  behind  the  software  is  openly  available  so  that  it  can  be 
redistributed  and  edited  in  adherence  to  licensing  conditions.  They  are 
often  free  but  not  always  and  uses  wither  standard  or  proprietary  data 
formats. 
This is software that is free to use. 

Source: Kanza et al. J. (2017). Electronic Lab Notebooks, can they Replace Paper? Journal of Cheminformatics 

ELNs vary according to the license type offered, ranging from proprietary software, where 
the user has to pay a fee to access and use the software, to free software. Open source 
software  is  of  particular  interest  as  the  code  behind  the  software  is  openly 
available  to  be  accessed  and  edited  by  users,  improving  the  flexibility  and 
adaptability  of  these  solutions  to  the  evolving  demands  and  requirements  of 
researchers. 

Despite the potential benefits of ELNs in research, their use still remains modest. Evidence 
suggests  that  this  is  due  to  many  different  factors  such  as  complexity  of  use,  cost  and 
accessibility of ELNs. Many researchers prefer to maintain more traditional practices such 
as generic notebooking software and the use of spreadsheets and other scientific tools to 
carry out their work.4 

ELNs and open science 

The digital nature of ELNs and the different benefits that they offer to researchers suggest 
that, when properly used, ELNs can help to promote the implementation of the FAIR 

1 Kanza et al. J. (2017). Electronic Lab Notebooks, can they Replace Paper? Journal of Cheminformatics 
2 Idem. 
3  Beckloff,  Nicholas 
https://www.genohm.com/2017/12/12/why-use-electronic-lab-notebook/ 
4 Kanza et al. J. (2017). Electronic Lab Notebooks, can they Replace Paper? Journal of Cheminformatics 

2017).  Why  Use 

(December 

(Electronic 

ELN 

an 

Lab  Notebook)?; 

6 

 
                                                
STUDY ON OPEN SCIENCE: MONITORING TRENDS AND DRIVERS (Reference: PP-05622-2017) 

data principles for scientific data management and stewardship and open science 
that aim to make scientific data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Re-usable. 
One of the main core values of open science is sharing, not only traditional research outputs 
such as publications, but also the scientific data and corresponding documentation. 

More  and more organisations, funders  and  publishers  are including open  science-related 
requirements  in  their  policies  which  researchers  will  have  to  adhere  to,  increasing 
collaborations, 
the 
reproducibility of research. This, in turn, will expand the impact of scientific research for 
the society as a whole. 

transparency  and  accountability  and 

increasing 

improving 

The adoption of an ELN can be a good vehicle through which organisations can begin to 
begin to become more open. There are already cases where researchers have started to 
share their laboratory notebooks online such as the Structural Genomics Consortium.5 In 
this project, notebooks were shared online in an attempt to streamline research, increase 
collaborations and accelerate the discovery of new medicines.6 

This  case  study  explores  the  reasons  behind  the  limited  uptake  of  ELNs  amongst 
researchers. It also identifies the drivers that can be exploited and the impact that ELNs 
are having on research practices and open science. Finally, the case study discusses what 
has to be considered in the future to help increase the uptake of these solutions as a tool 
to help further promote Open Science. 

2 

Drivers 

There  are  a  number  of  different  drivers  behind  ELN  uptake  in  research.  ELNs  can  offer 
significant benefits to researchers, particularly in areas directly related to the promotion of 
the  FAIR  principles  for  scientific  data  management  and  stewardship  and  open  science.7 
These include:  

•  Simplified  data  management:  the  digital  templates  available  in  most  ELNs 
facilitate  the  management  of  the  wide  array  of  data  that  researchers  have  to 
process including results, lot numbers and samples. An ELN provides a centralised 
system  where  all  of the information  can  be stored  in one  place,  streamlining the 
entire process and freeing up resources within a research organisation that can be 
dedicated to other ends.8  

•  Compliance with standards: researchers often need to be compliant with various 
rules  and  regulations,  both internal  and  external.  ELNs  can  provide  an organised 
and  controlled system  that  ensures compliance  and that  can  facilitate  audits  and 
reviews. This is particularly the case with those ELNs that provide features such as 
audit trails and controlled access.9 

•  Archiving and tracking: scientific data can be archived electronically on the ELN, 
making it more accessible and secure over time as it can be backed up on the server 
or on the cloud.10 Furthermore, ELNs facilitate the tracking process within a research 
organisation, such as the ability to monitor scientific data when sending samples to 
another research facility or to an external service provider.11  

5 http://ec.europa.eu/research/openscience/pdf/monitor/sgc_case_study.pdf 
6  Larsen,  Asgar  (2018).  Electronic  Notebooks  –  Should  you  go  “e”:  https://www.openaire.eu/blogs/electronic-
lab-notebooks-should-you-go-e-1 
7 European Commission Expert Group on FAIR Data (November, 2018). Turning Fair into Reality - Final Report 
and Action Plan from the European Commission Expert Group on FAIR Data. European Commission Directorate 
General for Research and Innovation 
8  Beckloff,  Nicholas 
https://www.genohm.com/2017/12/12/why-use-electronic-lab-notebook/ 
9 Idem. 
10 Idem 
11 Idem. 

2017).  Why  Use 

Lab  Notebook)?; 

(December 

(Electronic 

ELN 

an 

7 

                                                
STUDY ON OPEN SCIENCE: MONITORING TRENDS AND DRIVERS (Reference: PP-05622-2017) 

•  Enhanced  collaboration:  ELNs  digitalise  the  entire  research  process  therefore 
making  it  much  easier  to  search  amongst  previous  experiments.  This  is  also 
extremely useful for collaboration between research teams (even those outside of 
the research organisation) as they can simply share the scientific data stored in the 
ELN instead of handing over various lab books and papers.12  

•  Transparency and reproducibility: Once researchers have learnt how to use an 
ELN, they are quick and easy to use. Furthermore, the features that allow them to 
share and reuse content make them a very attractive alternative to traditional paper 
notebooks.  Some ELNs  also offer the  possibility  to  includes  links  to  relevant  data 
files and external research resources which can help improve the reproducibility and 
transparency of research. The editing process can also be logged and timestamped 
providing a detailed account of what has been done, how and by whom. Content is 
also digitalised which improves the legibility of what has been written, increasing 
reproducibility.13  

•  Knowledge  integrity:  By  using  an  ELN,  a  lab  manager  could  easier  enforce  a 
common structure for data, or even a common language throughout the lab. The 
ELNs could help safeguard the body of knowledge in a lab. If not properly recorded, 
the knowledge leaves together with the researcher. An ELN keeps knowledge in the 
lab where it belongs and ensures future accessibility for other researchers.14  

3 

Barriers 

Despite  the  number  of  benefits  that  ELNs  can  bring  to  researchers,  the  old-fashioned 
notebook  is  still  holding  strong.  According  to  the  results  of  a  survey  carried  out  by  the 
Slovenia  startup  Biosistemika15  during  their  webinars  in  2015  and  2016,  only  7%  of 
respondents answered yes when asked if they were using ELNs in their daily lab routines. 

Figure 1. Usage of ELNs (Biosistemika surveys 2015, 2016) 
Source: Kanza et al. J. (2017). Electronic Lab Notebooks, can they Replace Paper? Journal of Cheminformatics 

(December 

2017).  Why  Use 

12  Beckloff,  Nicholas 
https://www.genohm.com/2017/12/12/why-use-electronic-lab-notebook/ 
13   Larsen, Asgar (2018). Electronic Notebooks – Should you go “e”: https://www.openaire.eu/blogs/electronic-
lab-notebooks-should-you-go-e-1 
14  Beckloff,  Nicholas 
https://www.genohm.com/2017/12/12/why-use-electronic-lab-notebook/ 
15 Website of the company Biosistemika: https://biosistemika.com/ 

2017).  Why  Use 

Lab  Notebook)?; 

Lab  Notebook)?; 

(December 

(Electronic 

(Electronic 

ELN 

ELN 

an 

an 

8 

 
                                                
STUDY ON OPEN SCIENCE: MONITORING TRENDS AND DRIVERS (Reference: PP-05622-2017) 

This  evidence  is  further  supported  by  the  survey  carried  out  by  Dial-a-molecule  on  the 
potential use of ELNs in academia where only 11% of respondents stated that they were 
actively using an ELN in their research group. In both surveys, the strong interest from the 
researchers in finding out more about them should be highlighted. 

Table 2. Attitudes towards Electronic Lab Notebooks (Dial-a-molcule survey) 

Attitudes towards ELNs 

Awareness of ELNs 

Using an ELN in their research group 

Strong interest in implementing one or finding out more about them 

% 

98 

11 

76 

Source: Kanza et al. J. (2017). Electronic Lab Notebooks, can they Replace Paper? Journal of Cheminformatics 

This evidence shows a certain reluctance amongst the scientific community with regards 
to the incorporation of ELN into regular day-to-day research practices. There are a number 
of  barriers that  are  restricting the  widespread  use  of ELNs  amongst  researchers. These 
include: 

•  Cost: limited budgets are often a barrier to ELN adoption. A study carried out by 
SciNote  highlighted  that  users  were  not  only  worried  about  the  cost  of  the 
purchasing and installing the software, but also the additional associated costs such 
as training, troubleshooting, maintenance and support.16 Evidence from the Journal 
of  Chemoinformatics  goes  further  in  this  area  identifying  concerns  about  the 
additional  cost  of  database  administration  and  support,  with  some  researchers 
considering that hiring IT professionals to assist with setup and maintenance would 
be essential.17 

•  Complexity: Along with cost, complexity of current solutions is also a significant 
barrier  to  the  adoption  of  ELNs.  The  results  from  a  survey  carried  out  by  the 
University  of  Cambridge  at  the  E-lab  Notebooks  Workshop  in  2017  highlighted 
complexity as one of the main reasons not to use ELNs. The survey received 345 
responses with the majority of researchers stating that ease of use was one of the 
most  important  features  required  from  ELNs.18  Whilst  traditional  notebooks  are 
considered  easy  to  use,  ELNs  are  considered  to  be  more  difficult  to  take  notes, 
timelier to use and less flexible. Not to mention the training and minimal IT support 
that is required prior to use.19 

•  Resistance to change: the adoption of an ELN does not really make sense unless 
the  whole  department  is  using  it.  Blanket  adoption  at  department  level  will  also 
make the system more attractive from a financial point of view and with regards to 
standardisation  of  internal  processes  and  protocols.  However,  evidence  suggests 
that some researchers may reject the adoption of ELNs due to resistance to change 
and the point of view that using ELNs can lead to additional burden.20 

•  Accessibility: The lack of adequate hardware and software capabilities both inside 
and outside the lab can also pose a problem for accessibility. Whilst mobile devices 
could  be  a  solution  here,  there  are  additional  concerns  over  transporting  laptops 
around the lab, risk of damage or contamination, lack of WIFI access and lack of 
mobile  devices  in  general.  This  can  lead  to  additional  work  such  as  printing  out 

16  Oliver,  Tamlyn  (2018).  Electronic  notebooks  are  the  future:  https://www.biocompare.com/Editorial-
Articles/347276-Electronic-Lab-Notebooks-Are-the-Future/ 
17   Kanza et al. J. (2017). Electronic Lab Notebooks, can they Replace Paper? Journal of Cheminformatics 
18  Brown,  Chris 
https://unlockingresearch-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=1280 
19 Idem. 
20 Idem. 

research”  Solutions  –  Electronic  Lab  Notebooks: 

(January  2017). 

“Paperless 

9 

 
                                                
STUDY ON OPEN SCIENCE: MONITORING TRENDS AND DRIVERS (Reference: PP-05622-2017) 

experiments, writing up experiments retrospectively or using a combination of both 
paper notebooks ELNs.21 

•  Interoperability:  stand-alone  electronic  notebooks  do  not  fulfil  the  needs  of 
researchers. ELNs should permit integration with other tools, devices and operating 
systems. Data from an ELN Market study and comments from the Dial-a-molecule 
survey  also  highlighted  the  lack  of  availability  of  ELNs  for  Macs.  An  additional 
perceived  barrier  includes  concerns  over  the  integration  of  ELNs  with  existing 
infrastructure in research organisations and the perception that users would have 
to buy new ELN software every time the operating system is upgraded, therefore 
adding  to  implementation  costs.22  Compatibility  and  portability  is  also  of 
importance,  with  researchers  expressing  worries  over  being  “tied  into”  a  specific 
data format, meaning that the scientific data stored in one ELN cannot be re-used 
in another.23   

•  Security: researchers often have to deal with highly sensitive information in their 
experiments and research investigations. Data security is therefore of the utmost 
concern. However, due to the need to access different databases and notebooks on 
different machines within a research organisation, there are obvious concerns about 
data security, with expectations for the scientific data to be stored locally on in a 
centralised system.24      

•  One-size-fits-all  approach:  early  on,  many  vendors  started  off  by  promoting 
“one-size-fits-all”  solutions.  However,  it  has  become  clear  that  different  types  of 
ELNs  solve  different  problems.  For  example,  an  academic  research  lab  has  very 
different needs in comparison to a pharmaceutical quality control lab. An ELN needs 
to meet the requirements of the researcher or group of researchers that are using 
it.25    It  should  strike  a  balance  between  being  usable  across  multiple  disciplines 
whilst still providing enough domain specific knowledge.26  

4 

Impact 

In order to evaluate the impact of ELNs and their contribution to open science, the benefits 
that this  software  bring  to researchers  should be  estimated,  particularly  with  regards to 
their difference in productivity before and after going digital. A recent study by SciNote, 
the open source ELN platform, identified the main tasks on which researchers spend most 
of their time when an ELN software has not been implemented. These tasks include:  

•  Participation  in  meetings:  it  is  estimated  that  middle  management  (e.g. 
laboratory managers, principal researchers) spend approximately 35% of their time 
in meetings, whilst this can increase to 50% for upper management. Approximately 
half of these are update meetings. 

•  Data entry: it is estimated that an average researcher spends approximately one 
hour per day on data entry activities (paper to electronic). This number increase to 
2.5 hours for technicians.  

•  Searching for data: a researcher spends approximately 35 hours a year searching 
for data. It is also estimated that 17% of this research data is lost annually.27 

“Paperless 

(January  2017). 

21 Idem. 
22   Kanza et al. J. (2017). Electronic Lab Notebooks, can they Replace Paper? Journal of Cheminformatics 
23  Brown,  Chris 
https://unlockingresearch-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=1280 
24 Kanza et al. J. (2017). Electronic Lab Notebooks, can they Replace Paper? Journal of Cheminformatics 
25  Oliver,  Tamlyn  (2018).  Electronic  notebooks  are  the  future:  https://www.biocompare.com/Editorial-
Articles/347276-Electronic-Lab-Notebooks-Are-the-Future/ 
26   Kanza et al. J. (2017). Electronic Lab Notebooks, can they Replace Paper? Journal of Cheminformatics 
27 Vines, Timothy H.; Albert, Arianne Y.K.; Andrew, Rose L.; Debarre, Florence; Bock, Dan G.; Franklin, Michelle 
T.; Gilbert, Kimberly J.; Moore, Jean-Sebastien; Renaut, Sebastien and Diana J. Rennison (2014). The Availability 
of Research Data Declines Rapidly with Article Age. Current Biology 94-97, Elsevier Ltd 

research”  Solutions  –  Electronic  Lab  Notebooks: 

10 

                                                
STUDY ON OPEN SCIENCE: MONITORING TRENDS AND DRIVERS (Reference: PP-05622-2017) 

There  is  obviously  a  lot  of  room  for  improvement,  something  which  can  be  partially 
achieved  through  the  digitalisation  of  research  processes  through  the  use  of  ELNs.  The 
software as a service (SaaS) delivery is changing the landscape and it is making quality 
solutions available to smaller organizations without a significant internal IT infrastructure. 
The ELN innovations are mostly driven by the computer technology advancements and the 
vendors continually innovate to address user and business demands.28 

A team, at SciNote interviewed 7 SciNote users to ask them about the impact the use of 
the open source ELN has had on their productivity. The participants had different positions 
including  PhD  student,  Lab  manager,  startup  co-owner  and  research  assistant,  thus 
justifying  the  time  differences  in  the  different  categories.  On  average,  all  respondents 
saved  approximately  9  hours  per  week  after  the  implementation  of  an  ELN,  whilst 
maintaining  the  same levels of  work.  For  some  of the  interviewees, savings  reached 17 
hours per week, meaning that they were able to work 33% less on reporting, 16% less on 
scheduling and planning and 6% less on writing emails when using an ELN. However, it is 
important to highlight that only 7 users were interview for this study and so the savings 
are merely to provide an orientation as to the impact that ELNs can provide for a research 
organisation. 

Reviewing  the  aforementioned  main  tasks  where  researchers  spend  their  time,  we  can 
analyse the impact on the time spent on these tasks after the implementation of an ELN. 

Table 3. Impact of using an ELN for research activities 

Activity 
Main research activities 
Participation 
meetings 

in 

Impact of using ELN 

Data entry 

Searching for data 

The time spent in meetings does not generally change after the implementation 
of  an  ELN.  However,  meeting  preparation  is  reduced.  The  reduction  was 
calculated as being as high as 50% in some cases. This is due to more organised 
scientific data and the avoidance of some meetings due to collaboration online 
collaboration opportunities (comments on results, feedback etc.). 
As data is entered directly into the ELN, researchers can save time on manual 
data  entry  and  other  administrative  tasks  after  the  lab  work  has  been 
completed.  Some  researchers  indicated  that  they  could  save  up  to  5  hours 
when using an ELN, which could be spent on additional research.  
By using an  ELN, less time is spent  searching  for past information  and data, 
this can involve a saving of 50% less time in the case of searching information 
for emails. Also, some emails can be avoided directly by using the comments 
and collaboration features available on some of the ELNs, keeping the rest of 
the team updated on a regular basis.  

Additional research activities 
Scheduling 
planning 

and 

Reporting 

Researchers can plan their experiments directly using an ELN, linking it directly 
with laboratory data. Some researchers estimate that the use of an ELN for this 
type of task can save them up to 30% and that they are particularly useful for 
replicating and building-on experiments.  
Some  ELNs  allow  the  user  to  create  a  report  automatically,  selecting  the 
information that you wish to include, generating a detailed report instantly.  

Source:  (August  2018)  Return  on  Investment  When  Implementing  an  Electronic  Lab  Notebook: 
https://scinote.net/blog/return-on-investment-electronic-lab-notebook/ 

5 

Lessons learned  

The  key  lessons  learnt  from  the  process  of  introducing  ELNs  in  the  market  include  the 
following: 

•  Scientific  recording  is  an  essential  part  of  research,  and  the  progress  in 
science depends on existing knowledge and reproducibility. Recording is the 
process by which the scientific question, the choice of an experimental procedure, 
materials and methods, data analysis and interpretation of the results are gathered 
and, all these details are kept in paper labs notebooks. Today there is a physical 
gap between storage of raw and analysed data, and the scripts used for analysis 

28  Oliver,  Tamlyn  (2018).  Electronic  notebooks  are  the  future:  https://www.biocompare.com/Editorial-
Articles/347276-Electronic-Lab-Notebooks-Are-the-Future/ 

11 

                                                
STUDY ON OPEN SCIENCE: MONITORING TRENDS AND DRIVERS (Reference: PP-05622-2017) 

(electronic  format)  and  the  experimental  details  (often  recorded  in  paper 
notebooks) that could make difficult linking and retrieving experimental details and 
results. ELNs offer a solution to bridge this gap as it can be integrated with other 
laboratory informatics tools (such as laboratory information management systems, 
chromatography  data  systems,  analytical  instrumentation,  and  scientific  data 
management systems).29 

•  Different  research  groups  have  different  needs  when  documenting 
scientific  data.  Time  should  be  taken  to  analyse  the  workflows  of  the  different 
research  groups  to  see  which  ELN  can  meet  these  needs  and  therefore  the 
requirements of the group. The selected tools should offer flexibility and options for 
customisation  to  ensure  that  they  are  able  to  respond  to  the  requirements  and 
demands of the users.30 

•  One size definitely does not fit all. The selection and implementation of an ELN 
can  be  very  different,  even  between groups  that  have  similar  research  activities. 
Examples of this can be seen during pilot ELN implementation projects that were 
carried out in three research groups at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) 
in 2015. Even though two of the groups carried out research activities within the 
field  of  chemistry,  one  required  an  ELN  that  needed  to  link  their  experiments  to 
specific samples via a sample management system whilst the other highlighted the 
need for an ELN with a feature that allowed them to draw chemical structures.31    

•  Centralised support and guidance during the selection and implementation 
process of an ELN is very important. If this is done from a central unit within a 
research  organisation,  it  can  also  facilitate  the  exchange  of  knowledge  and  user 
experiences  using  a  particular  ELN.  In  addition  to  this,  there  are  a  variety  of 
resources online  from  past studies  that  analyse  the  different ELNs on  the  market 
and the features that they offer. These resources include the 2017 study by Harvard 
University  of  29  different  tools  covering  50  different  parameters.32  In  2017,  the 
Gurdon  Institute  also  carried  out  a  test  of  30  different  tools  and  compared  the 
different features on offer.33  

•  Engagement of high-level management is crucial to success. Organisational 
buy-in  is  a  key  driver  to  further  stimulate  the  uptake  of  ELNs  within  research 
organisations.  It  is important  to  contact  and  engage  with  the  appropriate  people 
who will be driving the process within an organisation and to establish realistic and 
achievable goals to ensure that the implementation of an ELN remains focused.34  

•  ELNs should not be considered as entirely replacing the traditional paper 
lab notebook. Until the technology is available where a screen can be written on 
as easily and accurately as paper and this technology is cheap, durable and easily 
replaceable,  the  traditional  version  will  always  take  precedent  for  some  specific 
tasks.  Instead,  ELNs  should  be  made  compatible  with  paper  notebooks  and 
considered  in  the  wider  context  of  the  scientific  research  process,  serving  as  an 
interface  between  the  paper  notebooks  and  the  electronic  documents  that  the 
scientists create.35  

29 Caterina Barillari, Diana S. M. Ottoz, Juan Mariano Fuentes-Serna, Chandrasekhar Ramakrishnan, Bernd Rinn 
and Fabian Rudolf, openBIS ELN-LIMS: an open-source database for academic laboratories, Bioinformatics, 32(4), 
2016, 638–640, doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btv606 
30 Kanza et al. J. (2017). Electronic Lab Notebooks, can they Replace Paper? Journal of Cheminformatics 
31 Larsen, Asgar (2018). Electronic Notebooks – Should you  go “e”: https://www.openaire.eu/blogs/electronic-
lab-notebooks-should-you-go-e-1 
32 https://datamanagement.hms.harvard.edu/electronic-lab-notebooks 
33 https://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/institute-life/computing/elnguidance 
34  Oliver,  Tamlyn  (2018).  Electronic  notebooks  are  the  future:  https://www.biocompare.com/Editorial-
Articles/347276-Electronic-Lab-Notebooks-Are-the-Future/ 
35 Kanza et al. J. (2017). Electronic Lab Notebooks, can they Replace Paper? Journal of Cheminformatics 

12 

                                                
STUDY ON OPEN SCIENCE: MONITORING TRENDS AND DRIVERS (Reference: PP-05622-2017) 

6 

Policy conclusions 

Whilst  there  is  certainly  a  growing  interest  in  the  use  of  ELNs,  the  market  will  have  to 
respond  to  and  overcome  the  barriers  that  currently  exist  to  ensure  a  strong  uptake  of 
these  digital  solutions.  This,  in turn  will  help to  facilitate the  documentation of  scientific 
data in research, creating a more transparent end-to-end process where data is findable, 
accessible,  interoperable  and  reproducible,  in  line  with  the  FAIR  data  principles  and  the 
concept of open science. 

Cloud technology is likely to be very impactful in the improvement of ELNs and 
their use in science. By using cloud-hosted applications, user concerns over their data 
footprint,  security  and  complexity  will  be  reduced.  Cloud-based  solutions  also  offer  the 
added benefit of being able to upgrade to the hardware needs of the research organisations 
more  quickly  and  efficiently  than  onsite  staff  and  infrastructure  can  do  so  at  present. 
Furthermore, this delivery of “software as a service (SaaS)” is able to make good quality 
solutions  available  to  smaller  organisations  who  do  not  have  sufficient  internal  IT 
infrastructure and at a price which is much more sustainable.36   

Semantic web technologies are already being used in ELNs creating Semantic Lab 
Notebooks (SLNs) to convert scientific research data into formalised metadata. 
It is also used to link the different data sets generated throughout the research process. 
Research Description Frameworks (RDFs) and ontologies are used to provide the existing 
data  with  meaning  and  context,  creating  important  links  between  the  results  of  the 
experiments and final reports. By using this technology, the data stored in the ELN is made 
machine readable, therefore increasing interoperability with other tools and systems and 
improves  the  automatic  generation  of  reporting  materials,  making  the  tool  much  more 
useful for the researcher.37 

However,  there  is  still  lots  of  work  to  be done  on  the  interoperability  between 
software solutions. There is a lot of potential to continue integrating and linking different 
software  solutions  so  that  they  work  in  sync  and  better  respond  to  the  needs  of  the 
researcher.  Traceability  of  research  is  also  an  area  which  needs  particular  attention.  In 
order to ensure more digital and traceable research, data has to be captured digitally and 
systematically at the moment of creation. All of the methods used by a scientist to capture 
data need to be considered with technologies such as note-taking, voice commands and 
hand gestures incorporated into ELNs.38   

Blockchain  technology  could  also  be  further  exploited  for  use  in  the  development  ELNs, 
helping  to  resolve  concerns  about  intellectual  property  linked  to  sharing  research  data 
before  it  is  published.  An  early  example  of  the  incorporation  of  this  type  of  technology 
within a platform can be seen in Astroblocks, which uses blockchain technology to respond 
to an extremely important issue for researchers, the proof of discovery or invention.39 This 
feature could be further extended and incorporated into current ELNs to make them even 
more powerful.40 

Due to the licensing nature of open source ELNs, other users/developers are able to view, 
access and update the code that is behind the software. This type of ELNs also provide the 
added benefit of providing software that can be used on any platform, they are often free 
(although  not  always)  and  have  a  greater  potential  for  longevity  in  comparison  to  their 
free, stand along counterparts. However, these are still a minority in the market and should 
be exploited as they can respond well to the needs of scientists and are in line with the 
principals of FAIR data and open science.41 

36  Oliver,  Tamlyn  (2018).  Electronic  notebooks  are  the  future:  https://www.biocompare.com/Editorial-
Articles/347276-Electronic-Lab-Notebooks-Are-the-Future/ 
37 Idem. 
38 Idem. 
39 Idem. 
40 Kanza et al. J. (2017). Electronic Lab Notebooks, can they Replace Paper? Journal of Cheminformatics 
41 Idem. 

13 

                                                
STUDY ON OPEN SCIENCE: MONITORING TRENDS AND DRIVERS (Reference: PP-05622-2017) 

SciNote – Open Source at the core 

SciNote is a development by the Slovenian startup Biosistemika that was 
started  in  2015  offering  a  cloud-based  ELN.  SciNote  has  different 
functionalities  including  electronic lab notebook,  inventory management 
and project management. The tool also offers different modules such as 
tools  for  molecular  biology  and  workflow  management  for  all  types  of 
biology labs.  It also has unique features such as the option to gather your 
research  data  and  present it  in  the  form of  a manuscript using  artificial 
intelligence technologies. SciNote is free to academics whilst companies 
have to purchase a licence, the cost of which depends on the number of 
scientists  that  are  using  the  platform.  SciNote  has  made  a  strong 
commitment  to  remaining  open  source  as  they  allow  paying  and  non-
paying customers to  access and modify the code, therefore making the 
solutions very flexible to adapt to the changing needs and requirements 
of researchers during the experimental  process. The software  has been 
developed in Ruby on Rails and makes use of Docker technology. 

The  ideal  long-term  goal  would  be  the  widespread  use  of  ELNs  where,  in  addition  to 
laboratory  digital  automation,  there  would  be  no  need  for  scientists  to  continue  to  use 
more traditional paper-based options. However, due to the restrictions of technology today, 
it can be estimated that ELN solutions will work alongside paper-based notebooks for the 
foreseeable future. ELNs will greatly improve the reproducibility of scientific experiments, 
lead to  greater  traceability,  data  annotation  and  help  scientists  to  collaborate  and  share 
results  more  actively.  This  will,  in  turn,  facilitate  interoperability  and  drastically  change 
how scientists carry out experiments and manage their data.42 As hardware and technology 
advances, there is even greater potential to fully digitalise the scientific research process 
helping to make the experimental process more transparent and open.43   

42 Kanza et al. J. (2017). Electronic Lab Notebooks, can they Replace Paper? Journal of Cheminformatics  
43 Idem. 

14 

 
 
 
 
                                                
References 

(August  2018)  Return  on  Investment  When  Implementing  an  Electronic  Lab  Notebook: 
https://scinote.net/blog/return-on-investment-electronic-lab-notebook/ 

(August  2018)  The  Biggest  Time  Wasters  in  Research:  https://scinote.net/blog/the-
biggest-time-wasters-in-research/ 

Barillari,  Caterina,  Diana  S.  M.  Ottoz,  Juan  Mariano  Fuentes-Serna,  Chandrasekhar 
Ramakrishnan,  Bernd  Rinn  and  Fabian  Rudolf,  openBIS  ELN-LIMS:  an  open-source 
database  for  academic  laboratories,  Bioinformatics,  32(4),  2016,  638–640,  doi: 
10.1093/bioinformatics/btv606  

Beckloff,  Nicholas  (December  2017).  Why  Use  an  ELN  (Electronic  Lab  Notebook)?: 
https://www.genohm.com/2017/12/12/why-use-electronic-lab-notebook/ 

Brown, Chris (January 2017). “Paperless research” Solutions – Electronic Lab Notebooks: 
https://unlockingresearch-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=1280 

Dickman, Steve (November, 2017). Lab Notebook Software, Bypassed By Biologists, Poses 
Tough 
Developers: 
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedickman/2017/11/08/lab-notebook-software-
bypassed-by-biologists-poses-tough-challenge-for-software-developers/ 

Challenge 

Software 

For 

Electronic Lab Notebooks, can they Replace Paper? Kanza et al. J Cheminform (2017) 9:31 
DOI 10.1186/s13321-017-0221-3 

European  Commission  Expert  Group  on  FAIR  Data  (November,  2018).  Turning  Fair  into 
Reality  -  Final  Report  and  Action  Plan  from  the  European  Commission  Expert  Group  on 
FAIR Data. European Commission Directorate General for Research and Innovation 

Larsen,  Asgar 
you 
https://www.openaire.eu/blogs/electronic-lab-notebooks-should-you-go-e-1 

Electronic  Notebooks 

–  Should 

(2018). 

go 

“e”: 

Tamlyn 

Oliver, 
https://www.biocompare.com/Editorial-Articles/347276-Electronic-Lab-Notebooks-Are-
the-Future/ 

notebooks 

Electronic 

(2018). 

are 

the 

future: 

Vines, Timothy H.; Albert, Arianne Y.K.; Andrew, Rose L.; Debarre, Florence; Bock, Dan 
G.; Franklin, Michelle T.; Gilbert, Kimberly J.; Moore, Jean-Sebastien; Renaut, Sebastien 
and  Diana  J.  Rennison  (2014).  The  Availability  of  Research  Data  Declines  Rapidly  with 
Article Age. Current Biology 94-97, Elsevier Ltd. 

Websites consulted during desk research: 

https://www.software.ac.uk/about 

https://scinote.net/ 

https://biosistemika.com/ 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Getting in touch with the EU 

IN PERSON 
All over the European Uni, on there are hundreds of Europe Direct Information Centres.  
You can find the address of thcenterre nearest you t: http://europa.eu/conta.ct 

ON THE PHONE OR BY E-MAIL 
Europe Direct is a service that answers your questions about the European Union.  
You can contact this service  
– by freephone: 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (certain operators may charge for these calls),  
– at the following standard number: +32 22999696 or  
– by electronic mail via http://europa.eu/contact  

Finding information about the EU 

ONLINE 
Information about the European Union in all the official languages of the EU is available on the Europa website at:  
http://europa.eu 

EU PUBLICATIONS 
You can download or order free and priced EU publications from EU Bookshop at:  
http://bookshop.europa.eu. Multiple copies of free publications may be obtained  
by contacting Europe Direct or your local informatiocenterre (see http://europa.eu/contact) 

EU LAW AND RELATED DOCUMENTS 
For access to legal information from the EU, including all EU law since 1951 in all the official language versions,  
go to EUR-Lex t: http://eur-lex.europa.eu 

OPEN DATA FROM THE EU 
The EU Open Data Portal (http://data.europa.eu/euodp/en/data) provides acces 
s to datasets from the EU. Data can be downloaded and reused for free, both for commercial and  
non-commercial purposes. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
[

C

a

t

a

l

o

g

u

e

n

u

m

b

e

r

]

This  case  study  explores  the  reasons  behind  this  limited  uptake, 
identifying  the  drivers  that  can  be  exploited  and  the  impact  that 
ELNs are having on research practices and open science. Finally, the 
case  study  will discuss  what  has to  be considered  in the  future to 
help increase the uptake of these solutions as a tool to help further 
promote Open Science. 

Electronic  Laboratory  Notebooks  (ELNs)  are  now  widely  available 
and  have  evolved  over  time  to  become  multi-functional  data 
managers that are able to import data, notes and observations from 
other devices. The digital nature of ELNs and the different benefits 
that  they  offer  to  researchers  suggest  that,  when  properly  used, 
ELNs  can  help  to  promote  the  implementation  of  the  FAIR  data 
principles for scientific data management and stewardship and open 
science  that  aim  to  make  scientific  data  Findable,  Accessible, 
Interoperable,  Re-usable.  Despite  these  benefits,  their  use  still 
remains  modest  amongst  the  research  community.  This  is  due  to 
many  different  factors  such  as  complexity  of  use,  cost  and 
accessibility of ELNs.  

Studies and reports