Open Notebook Science: Tools of the Trade

Scientific information is published in peer reviewed journals as a complete account. Unfortunately there is nothing complete about the process. Frequently intermediate and supplementary experimental data is excluded, methods are not nearly detailed enough, and results are manipulated for appearance. Open notebook science aims to be a complete account of the scientific process: from ideas and planning, to experimental setup and protocol design, all the way through data interpretation and commentary. Here I talk about tools to create and support an open notebook, effective use of the medium, and how social interaction creates a community using examples from my own open notebook and from Physics 308L Junior Lab.