MANAGEMENT OF AND SCIENTIFIC ACCESS TO DATA

Michelle (Shelley) BartonMbarton@mdanderson.orgS9.8116b, MD Anderson

SOURCES:

“ASBMB Today”, September 2008www.asbmb.org

Barker, K. “At the Bench: A Laboratory Navigator”Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press

UCSD Office of Technology Transfer

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v434/n7036/full/434952a.html

TAKE HOME LESSONS

Your stored data in notebooks and on the computerare your only record and only defense.

It must be readable and verifiable.

You should get the credit you deserve from your work.

DO THE RIGHT THING…the consequences of cheating are not worth it!

A “permanent” record> 5 years (some say infinity)owned by the institution [not you!]

LEGAL documentsquestions of ethicsquestions of patent rightsquestions of authorship

YOUR NOTEBOOK…

THE FORMAT: YOUR NOTEBOOK…

Bound vs binder vs electronic

Bound vs binder vs electronic

Pro’s and con’s of each format:Bound - a pain to carry around

but best for legal reasons legacy of your work in the lab

Looseleaf binder - easiest to use portability to bench far too easy to lose sheets or alter

Electronic - best for specific datahas unpredictable problemslab server may be best back-up

Bound vs binder vs electronic

BACK-UP YOUR DATA!!

ANY FORMAT NEEDS SOME BACK-UP!!COPIES OF DATACOPIES OF PROTOCOLS/METHODSCOPIES OF COMPUTER STORED DATA

DISASTERS HAPPEN!!

“…nothing [in the lab] is as valuable as your raw data”

If you can’t produce your data to support yourfindings, it’s as if the work was never done.

DISASTERS HAPPEN!! TMC-Tropical storm Allison, 2001

X

IKESeptember 13, 2008

THE LAB NOTEBOOK

Number the pagesThe dateThe title of the experimentPurpose of the experimentThe experimental protocol

datacalculationspictures, print-outs

Results - one sentence summary

WRITE IN PEN NOT PENCIL

Marie Curie’snotebook

Nobel laureate’s

Your LAB NOTEBOOK

Number the pagesThe dateThe title of the experimentPurpose of the experimentThe experimental protocol

datacalculationspictures, print-outs

Results - one sentence summary

WRITE IN PEN NOT PENCIL

Marie Curie’snotebook

Nobel laureate’s

TABLE OF CONTENTS !!

Table of Contents

Table of ContentsDate title page11-15-10 Endless class 1

Great organizationaltool!

YOU WILL BE GLADYOU DID IT!

THE FORMATWRITE IN PEN NOT PENCIL

Keep track of details (e.g.) serum lot numbers cell passage number & counts antibody source antibody lot extract date centrifuge used, speed, rotor tubes used, source GOOF - UPS DELAYS & INTERRUPTIONS instrumentation used program version all the nit-picky details

YOU NEVER KNOWWHAT IS CRITICAL!

Technology Transfer Office

• Establish a complete and continuous record that is permanently fixed in a medium

Evidence of first date you conceived an inventive idea or made a discovery;

Demonstrate continuous efforts in reducing the idea to practice;

Validate results you reported;

Illustrate your contributions to inventions or discoveries

Keeping Research Notebooks

From: Dr. Denise Lew, Senior Licensing OfficerUCSD Office of Technology Transfer

Technology Transfer Office

• Keep a bound notebook with numbered pages - no looseleaf paper in 3 ring binders!

Make legible entries, consecutively and chronologically;

Cross out blank spaces or pages;

Use indelible ink, avoid using pencil or color codes;

Make corrections by drawing a line through, not erasing;

SIGN and DATE your entries on each page, and have them COUNTERSIGNED and DATED by a witness not connected to your invention, but with an ability to understand your entries.

Keeping Research Notebooks

Technology Transfer Office

• Research records should cover:

Why was work done; what was done; how it was done

Who suggested or came up with the solution or method to do it;

Who did it and when;

All results, both negative and positive; don’t be selective;

Concrete conclusions - use definite terms like “prove,” “demonstrate,” “show” and if possible, avoid ambivalent terms like “suggest” or “may mean.”

Keeping Research Notebooks

Technology Transfer Office

• Most electronic data can be easily altered and their legal acceptability is highly uncertain

Authenticate electronically generated data by printing hard copies;

Tape or glue a hard copy to a notebook or bind a collection together in a permanent volume (stapling is not recommended);

or convince your PI to invest in electronic storage systems that cannot be altered.

Keeping Research Notebooks

DATA MANAGEMENTRecord data on the spotStay up to dateMake weekly if not daily back-upsAttach pictures, films, print-outs, etc.Fill out the Table of Contents

DATA MANAGEMENTRecord data on the spotStay up to dateMake weekly if not daily back-upsAttach pictures, films, print-outs, etc.Fill out the Table of Contents

ADDITIONAL HELPFUL PRACTICESSummarize your work weeklyMake figures as you go!

what is publishable data??plan every experiment for publication!!

Make a weekly plan of experiments

AN EXPERIMENT IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE CONTROLS

“Omitting a result is falsifying data.”admitting mistakes is importantnote when a data point is dropped

scientific rationale needed to do so

“Your data are your responsibility.”but your advisor (PI) is ultimately liable

and responsible

Collaborations and credityour notebooks are essential for creditestablish guidelines as soon as possible

Sharing datamake sure all involved are okay with itmake it clear who did whatdon’t snoop, peek, sneak or grab!

the advisor isn’t snoopingbut you are

My advisor is pushing me -for a specific resultfor “publication quality” picturesto get results NOW

What’s good/bad?

DO NOT SUCCUMB TO PRESSURE, WHETHER REAL OR PERCEIVED,

BY FALSIFYING DATA

Nature 434, 952-953 (21 April 2005)Image manipulation: CSI: cell biology

Helen Pearson

“Digital photography and image-manipulation software allow biologists to tweak their data as never before. But there's a fine line between acceptable enhancements and scientific misconduct.”

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v434/n7036/full/434952a.html

From this article:

“For their part, scientists say that they feel under pressure to produce faultless images to present convincing experiments that reviewers and editors want to publish.”

From ASBMB today:

“Tools used to manipulate an image leave behind a unique fingerprint…” Software programs detect manipulation

What is acceptable?

Global adjustments…but not “blowouts” to obscure data

Cropping… but not to conceal relevant elements

Tooling…must show when separate parts are linked

“…nothing [in the lab] is as valuable as your raw data”

If you can’t produce your data to support yourfindings, it’s as if the work was never done.

R - Rescue patients, visitors, self A - Alarm C - Confine fire by closing doorsE - Extinguish or Evacuate

G - Grab your notebooks!

“grace under fire”

TAKE HOME LESSONS

Your stored data in notebooks and on the computerare your only record and only defense.

It must be readable and verifiable.

You should get the credit you deserve from your work.

DO THE RIGHT THING…the consequences of cheating are not worth it!