ELN software keeps the experiment: the plan, the observations, the deviations and the conclusion, page by page, dated and signed, which is what an electronic lab notebook replaces the paper one with. ELN systems differ from a LIMS by the unit of record, the experiment rather than the sample, and a research group that also issues results needs both, linked. The best electronic lab notebook software for a small group is judged by three things: whether a page can be signed and witnessed and never edited after, whether the samples an experiment used are records rather than text, and whether the notebook exports. This page is that judgement, and the free results review sheet on this site works the review load on the sample side from the group's own numbers with no account.
What the notebook keeps
The page: what was planned, what was done, what was seen, what it means, with the date, the author's signature and a witness. A page that can be edited after signing is a document, not a notebook; the ELN's whole value is that it cannot.
Beside the sample record
An experiment uses samples, and the samples have records of their own: accession, lot, instrument, result. The best electronic lab notebook software links the page to the sample rather than retyping the accession number, so the question of which experiments touched this sample is a lookup in both directions.
Judging ELN systems for a small group
Signing and witnessing that locks the page; samples as linked records; an export of every page in a form the group reads without the vendor; and the price shape for a group that grows. This site publishes no ranking; Limslane Pro keeps the sample record and the notes against it, and the sheets work the sample side's figures free.
Questions people ask about eln software
What is ELN software?
The electronic lab notebook: experiment pages with plan, observations and conclusions, dated, signed and witnessed, locked after signing.
How is an ELN different from a LIMS?
The ELN's unit is the experiment; the LIMS's is the sample. A group that does both keeps both, linked rather than copied.
How is the best electronic lab notebook software judged?
By locked signing, samples as linked records, an honest export and a price that does not step up per user.