Why do so many scientists still record data in paper notebooks in this day and age? The answer is that although technology permeates every aspect of our lives and is often incorporated into laboratory management systems, there are several perceived advantages to relying on paper laboratory notebooks. Paper can be easily used to jot down notes or draw scientific diagrams, providing the kind of...

Science, in theory, is a self-correcting field where any errors are doomed to be weeded out sooner or later. But spend some time doing scientific research, and you’ll notice that reality seldom lives up to this ideal – scientific errors occur regularly and are published at an alarming frequency. This is because despite years of training, scientists are still humans who are liable to make mistakes...