Organization

Staying organized makes EVERYTHING easier and is crucial to our ability to collect useable and reproducible data, protect the privacy of our participants, and report on our findings. Seriously, pretty, pretty, please stay organized using the tips below.


Lab Notebook

I strongly recommend that everyone keep a lab notebook. Date all entries and use enough detail that you would be able to go back in 5 years and understand what you did. Below are some ideas of what I record in my notebook:

  • To do lists

  • What I worked on (where I started, left off, what still needs done)

  • Issues, bugs, errors, etc. and what worked/didn't

  • Why I made certain decisions

  • Discussions with co-authors/collaborators and final decisions made

  • Edits needed to presentations, etc.

  • Random project ideas/snippets of papers I read that I want to be able to find later


File Organization

Make sure files are saved in their designated spot (not on the desktop, downloads folder, etc.) While each project is unique, the file structure might look something like this:

  • Study name

    • IRB Documents (e.g., consent forms, recruitment flyers)

    • Data Collection Documents (e.g., surveys, monitor logs)

    • Data

      • Time point (e.g., baseline)

        • Data type (e.g., accelerometry)

          • Raw data

          • Processed data

    • Dissemination

      • Paper

      • Presentations


File Naming Conventions

Use specific and dated names (not "paper.doc"). Specifically:

  • Data files should be named using the study prefix, participant ID number, and, if applicable, the time point. For example, I can tell from the filename "STUDY_001_T1" that this is a file from participant 1 at time point 1 from the STUDY study. Consistency is key!

  • Papers or Presentations should include the project name, target conference/journal/purpose (if relevant), and date. For example, "Walkability_ICAMPAM_June 11 2022" indicates this is the walkability project to be presented at the ICAMPAM conference and the document version is that from June 11, 2022.

  • If you are adding edits or comments to a document, add your initials to the end. For example, "Kim Thesis June 11 2022" becomes "Kim_Thesis_June 11 2022_kc"


ReadMe Files

It is often useful to let others know of issues/errors, major or minor changes, or where you started/left off. An easy way to do this is by using the 'ReadMe.txt' file within each folder. Add your comment, date, and name without deleting other entries. If you open a folder, you should check the ReadMe file for relevant changes or issues.


Emails

Use the subject line of the email to indicate its purpose. This will help if we are later searching for the email. The body of the email should provide at least some indication of the purpose/content of the email. While we may have just talked about it, this is useful for future us who need this context!