Transforming Research with an Advanced ELN Platform

Asher had dedicated his entire morning to sifting through a towering stack of lab notebooks, attempting to reconstruct a complex protocol in the absence of one of his staff scientists. The notebooks, though filled with written notes and printed charts, lacked context and organization. As he flipped through page after page, hours seemed to slip away, yet all he could piece together were fragments of their work. A familiar frustration began to resurface, and Asher found himself imagining a more efficient method for handling his data. 

Asher’s predicament is not unique. As lab digitization trends progress, scientists struggle to manage an ever-increasing volume of data in multiple formats while ensuring that it is organized, accurate, and easily accessible for future reference and collaboration. When information is stored on paper, context is often lost due to ambiguous documentation, scattered data, or the lack of central tracking. 

Data security is also a major concern—paper lab notebooks offer little in the way of protecting sensitive research. Lack of data redundancy and built-in backup options introduce the risk of data loss due to physical damage or misplaced notebooks. Unsupervised paper notebooks are also vulnerable to unauthorized access. These limitations of traditional methods are becoming increasingly apparent in the scientific community and paving the way for innovative digital solutions. 

The innovation journey

An early pioneer of this digital shift was Gilson, the lab equipment manufacturer behind the well-known PIPETMAN® pipettes. In 2014, Gilson enlisted the help of BioSistemika, a Slovenian-based software consultancy, to bridge the gap between their machines and scientists. Though formed to develop a digital connector, the partnership soon led to an important realization—the necessity of a digital space for scientists to work with the data generated by these instruments. It is this realization that incidentally birthed SciNote, an electronic lab notebook (ELN).

Overcoming challenges

Brendan McCorkle, the chief executive officer at SciNote, remarked, “People were really committed to doing things on paper at the beginning.” To effectively solve this problem, the digital solution had to address concerns at the root of this resistance—namely ease of use and data security—and alleviate key pain points with a carefully considered approach.

As a company that was built by scientists for scientists, the developers understood these apprehensions and recognized the need to make the transition easier by addressing issues inherent to paper-based methods. Common pain points included time wasted on manual tasks, lack of standardization for managing data, and reproducibility issues stemming from confusing notes, disorganized documents, and the absence of change logs. To tackle these difficulties, SciNote developed features like automated data capture, smart annotation for cross-referencing data, version control, and activity logs to reduce the time scientists spend on routine tasks while ensuring that data are recorded accurately, easily retrievable, and traceable. 

“Compliance by design” through features that meet regulatory requirements, such as audit trails and electronic signatures, was also integral to solving data security and reproducibility challenges. From the beginning, SciNote has placed a strong emphasis on security with measures including data encryption, secure data storage and backups, role-based access controls, and comprehensive identity and access management. These features and security measures help labs stay compliant with GxP and FDA 21 CFR Part 11. McCorkle emphasized their commitment, saying, “We really like to lead with security . . . We want to be building higher than the standards of regulation, and then if they raise the bar, we’re already two clicks higher.” 

Strong security measures have played a large role in the widespread acceptance of SciNote. Looking ahead, “This is driving us to get FedRAMP authorized, which is one of the heaviest lifts for compliance and will lead us to be the only federal-grade ELN,” said McCorkle. The pursuit of FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program) moderate, a US federal government compliance program for cloud-based products and services, reflects SciNote’s commitment to meeting the highest security benchmarks. 

User-centric philosophy

The goal for SciNote was to create something new—beyond just a digital version of traditional lab notebooks. In creating a more intuitive, flexible workspace, they prioritized an enhanced user experience to help ensure a seamless transition and streamline workflows, saving researchers time and resources. Initially, the ELN platform maintained a low profile, relying on word-of-mouth for growth and dedicating ongoing development efforts to improving user experience based on feedback. This strategy proved successful, ultimately leading to their recognition as a top-rated ELN on many third-party review platforms. 

With a solid foundation in place, the SciNote team worked closely with the scientific community to ensure the ELN software had the flexibility and customizability to support a broad range of scientific workflows, meet diverse lab needs, and facilitate lab scale-up. One facet of this evolution is SciNote’s capacity to support both linear and non-linear workflows, offering advantages over traditional paper formats and platforms that are limited to a single linear progression. This high degree of flexibility is especially important for fostering creativity and innovation in the R&D pipeline. But it must be balanced with structure, McCorkle stresses, to streamline data management and boost confidence in data accuracy and reliability. 

Another example of user-driven design arose from challenges users faced in both internal and external collaboration due to scattered protocol documents that exist in different formats, which slowed progress. “Each of these changes of medium introduces the risk of lost data or additional manual work,” McCorkle explains. A new Protocol Parser feature enabled users to import their protocols in Microsoft Word (.docx) formats into SciNote, converting them into interactive protocol steps in the ELN that users can click through as they complete each step. This also centralizes protocols from different users and teams and speeds up the collaboration process. “This continues to widen and ease the entry point into adopting digital tools in the R&D pipeline [and] continues the mission of driving better and more consistent science,” states McCorkle. 

As digitization becomes more prevalent and technology advances, it directly impacts how scientists capture and interact with data. “We adapt to some of these changes through partnerships, such as our work with Ganymede to bring instrument and system data into SciNote, and with our R&D, like launching an LLM AI feature three years before ChatGPT brought AI to all our dining rooms,” said McCorkle. McCorkle also emphasized the importance of adapting to customer behavior, as it often reveals opportunities to enhance workflows and user experience. 

SciNote today and in the future

SciNote continues to leverage advanced machine learning and AI capabilities to refine and expand upon existing functionalities, enhancing aspects like advanced search functions, report generation, experimental design, and collaboration. These advancements are anticipated to provide substantial improvements to the way data is managed and utilized, offering researchers more efficient and intuitive tools.

Evolving from a simple workspace, SciNote has become a balanced tool, adept at meeting the varied requirements of both small academic labs and large enterprises like the FDA and USDA. This transformation mirrors the broader shift towards digital lab notebooks, which has already led to remarkable gains in efficiency and productivity. Researchers have reported an average of nine hours per week in time savings with SciNote’s ELN, which translates into tangible economic benefits, with many labs recouping their initial investment three to four months after adopting the platform. Beyond the economic benefits, the considerable time savings enable scientists to focus more on innovative research.

Reflecting on this journey, McCorkle is most proud of how the company has “stayed true to [our] roots of by scientists, for scientists.” This ethos has underpinned every decision and innovation, ensuring that SciNote anticipates and fulfills the evolving needs of the scientific community. Because ultimately, the goal is to offer more than just another data management solution; it’s to facilitate scientific discovery.

To learn more, visit the SciNote Electronic Lab Notebook website.