eLabJournal Reviews

Functionality and Superb Customer Support

Comments: Our overall experience with eLab Journal has been exceptional. We are glad we chose to partner with them because they were definitely the right choice! They have helped us immensely and we would not have achieved a successful project outcome without them.

Pros:

Working with the team at eLab Journal to implement our LIMS and make enhancements as our laboratory has grown has been a wonderful experience. Everyone we have worked with is responsive and collaborative. The software itself has amazing functionality and provides the features we need to act as an efficient, high throughput testing laboratory.

Cons:

When we implemented the software in 2020, some of the menu items and navigation seemed disjointed and not exceptionally intuitive. eLab Journal has evolved since then and we have seen improvements. The team is also open to our feedback as system users.

Keeping Track of the Research

Comments: This has been a great experience. At first had only planned to use for single aspect of research project and now pushing for us to incorporate into other areas. Customer support has been excellent. Always quick to respond when have questions or requests, and so very willing to work with us to customize the system to our needs.

Pros:

Although there was a learning process to using the system, it did not take more than a week for us to build the framework that needed for managing samples and recording experimental data. Have multiple users with different levels of comfort with technology and hearing more and more from group that so glad that set this up for this research project. Really appreciate that Microsoft Office integrated into system, not only for editing files but as sections within a entry. This has allowed users that do not have access to office to work with us with ease

Cons:

Lacking some options that know are available on other electronic notebook freeware (To Do Lists, Task assignment, Calendar, Messaging center, view only of integrating Microsoft office components, comment tracking, tags for indexing entries). One option that would love to have that seen in other electronic notebook software is the option to share study with outside user so can view (not edit) for defined period of time without using a licensed space. Would be happy if there was a limit on how many of these could exist at a time

Alternatives Considered: Labguru

Reasons for Choosing eLabJournal: Needed a inventory system that allowed better handling of aliquots and lineage. The permission management system was better for the needs of the group. And that hardly anything is every truly gone, can track history of pretty much everything.

Switched From: Labfolder

Reasons for Switching to eLabJournal: The customer service, the rep who set up our demo provided such good information. Was impressed that during the demo period (which was a month), he not only respond well to our questions but took our feedback and entered as requests for modification of the system. Demonstrated to us that would work with us to help us use the system to fit our particular needs

Product you can grow with

Comments: We leverage this tool to enable our IP documentation and trade secret processes. It is critical in our valuation and assessment of multiple processes across multiple species. It allows researchers to easily move between projects and scales well as our operations grow.

Pros:

This product enables us to ensure a secure environment for our IP related data. It is also seamless across our different labs and allows us to easily move between species and topics. The tool has also been easy to accommodate our rapid growth in researchers over the years.

Cons:

There are some features like stylus, etc. that would be nice to have. But overall it meets the majority of our needs.

The development is stuck

Comments: I'm thinking about moving my group back to good old paper reporting. I have already started doing this for short-time students that come to the group as trainees.

Pros:

When we bought into it, it seemed to be the most advanced and user friendly product on the marked

Cons:

Since we bought into it, the Journal is stuck in development or asks for additional money for features that should be integrated for molecular biology purposes.- still no possibility to use a stylus to annotate gel pictures or write entries. This would be to migrate from "paper book" to "electronic labbook" without loosing the ease of the "paper report".- gene bank files should be visible within the elab.

2-3 Things that NEED to be implemented into elab

Pros:

I like that you can edit samples easily, and that you have a lot of possibilities with the configuration-map

Cons:

you need to implement 3 functions:1. implement "personalised-view" of your samples everywhere! at the moment, we only have personalised view on the "sample-list". We truly need to have a personalised view in "Advanced-Search-Results", as well as in each specific Location.2. Possibilities to change Date-format. = we sort our Dates with this format: DD/MM/YYYY -> elab should register this and when we try sorting by date, it should start with sorting by YYYY. At the moment, it is only Sorting by DD, which is absolutely not usable for us.3. Allow Control-C/Selection of Search-Results in Sample-List (or/and advanced-Search, but only when number 1 has been adapted too) = this would allow us to rapidly export our search-results from sample-list to excel etc.

6 month of eLAB and don't want to miss it anymore

Pros:

We're working with several microorganisms and getting them organized into easily trackable collections are a big plus for us. In general we're using the customizable samples a lot, also for tracking individual fermentation batches. Together with the barcoding feature, tracking and identifying samples has become really straight forward. Another great feature is the collaborative approach we can use, when we work on different projects. Everybody in the team can contribute with individual experiments and still everything is organized into the same project/study, which makes tracking the overall progress really easy.

Cons:

One of the things that certainly need some improvement is the data-management system. You can store data within experiments and in a dedicated file-storage system, but these are not interconnected (at least not that I know). And to work with the file-storage is also not the most straight forward way to organize your files. A little more database management functionality here could go a long way.

Alternatives Considered: Labfolder

Reasons for Switching to eLabJournal: Labfolder has a very bad reputation for being rather slow and most importantly unstable.

eLabJournal has revolutionized our laboratory

Comments: This has made our lives in our laboratory so much easier. We are a clinical lab so we collect samples and then store them until a project is nearing completion before we can analyze them. This means we need to have be very organized in how we keep track of where specific aliquots of samples are stored so we can find them more easily later. I wish I could go back in time and have the lab use this decades ago, because until now, our samples were tracked by excel sheets and paper binders. eLabInventory saves us so much time because we don't have to sift through individual Excel sheets to find our samples. Plus, it is so much more secure than using excel sheets because we could easily lose data. We've already started using the automated barcodes to organize everything and reduce errors.

Pros:

Being able to easily search for samples and see their location immediatelyAbility to move samples from one location to another easilyEasy set up for new sample typesEasy sample entryEasy and quick configurationEasy and quick equipment entryBarcode automationAmazing customer serviceInexpensiveness compared to other inventory systemsSample import

Cons:

Not being able to move samples from one location to another with click and dragNot the most user-friendly system I tested but it is improving all the time

LIMS: A Blessing in Disguise

Comments: Organise our inventory. We have had great success with inventory managment, and eLab is big part of it. Love the API function, wish it had better documentation, especially using meta fields as many of our samples have meta fields

Pros:

I love the templates, bulk uploads, how UI looks. It is easy to use

Cons:

Many Features of Reporting are missing, We have to use Third Party Apps, that we pull data using the API

Review elab journal

Pros:

Digitization of the whole logging porccess of lab work, as replacement for had-written journals. More sustainable, better sharable.

Cons:

Improvements on CloneAssit, so it becomes completely functional. This would make the digital workflow of lab work more complete.

Great product for our company

Comments: eLabJournal has been a valuable addition to our company. It has allowed us to move away from endless spreadsheets. We are able to keep all pertinent project information organized and easily searchable. Using the inventory function is making out chemical, equipment and sample inventory a breeze.

Pros:

Each section is easily customizable to fit our company's needs. I like the ability to keep everything neatly organized and easy to search.

Cons:

I would love to see the export report function be able to turn an excel spreadsheet into a readable pdf. It currently does not allow for that function.

eLab has helped manage a veritable flood of samples

Comments: Overall, I'm very pleased with eLab. It has greatly streamlined the tracking of sample receipt and downstream processing for thousands of samples, allowing me to set up standard procedures that even novice undergraduate students can follow without difficulty. Likewise, the pricing was very competitive and the team at eLab has been very responsive and pleasant to work with.

Pros:

This product has greatly facilitated the standardization of sample intake and inventory. Likewise, I really appreciate the ability to set up lab protocols (with version tracking) and standardized experiment templates. These features, in particular, make it easy to bring on new lab helpers in an undergraduate setting. There is no need to manage and track shared files or folders, and when a student leaves, their records and activities are preserved. The interface has generally been quite intuitive and easy to maneuver, and customer support is responsive and helpful if a user runs into problems.

Cons:

There are still a few glitchy (largely aesthetic) areas. For example, the "Lineage" button appears to multiply as one clicks on or manipulates successive sample records. This can be resolved by refreshing the page, but it is not guaranteed that you will remain on the same sample record when you refresh. This doesn't seem to impact the integrity of sample records, but can be annoying when working with a lot of sample records. There is not yet a function to create copies of plates of samples (e.g., whole-plate aliquots, series, or downstream product). One can work around this with batch importation, but I do look forward to this feature eventually being incorporated.

Alternatives Considered: Benchling and SciNote

Reasons for Switching to eLabJournal: eLab offered a combined electronic lab journal and inventory tracking/management platform that was both intuitive and economical.

eLABJournal improves your data management

Comments: My overall experience with eLABJournal is very positive. It definitely improves my data management and it has a lot of benefits when you collaborate with colleagues and students. I definitely recommend this to any wet-lab scientist!

Pros:

Having worked with eLabjournal for nearly 3 year, I definitely learned to appreciate its overall function for data management. You collect everything (e.g. data, protocol, notes, analysis, conclusions) in one software and you have everything accessible with a few clicks. Furthermore, I enjoy the Inventory a lot, as I can easily find back all my samples quickly.

Cons:

As with any new system, in the beginning it takes some time to get used to the navigation in eLabjournal. Logically also the structure is different than in a "diary-like" hard-copy lab book.

eLabjournal: a clean and simple eLN.

Comments: If you are looking for a clean and simple eLN: eLabjournal is a great choice, especially for start-ups like us. The customer support is really good and it is clear from the beginning what eLN can and can't do. For us, our needs changed because of growth and we needed more extra features, but otherwise we would probably still use it. eLabjournal might not be the most intuitive eLN on the market and not the most fancy looking, but if you are just looking to replace those piles of paper on your desk or your labnotebook that is falling apart and has spills everywhere: eLabjournal is a good option.

Pros:

eLabJournal is a simple and clean eLN, without any complicated features. It is like having a digital version of a labnotebook. Nothing more and nothing less. There are no distractions of features that you would never use, therefore it is relatively easy to start working with it.

Cons:

It is a simple and clean eLN, but it doesn't work intuitive and typing text in either protocols and experiments was overly complicated. We had some issues with text not being saved. The barcode printing part never worked and then they discontinued a certain type of labelprinter. With a non-functioning barcode part, the inventory management part was also useless for us.

eLabJournal helps to established a better workflow and standarised the lab work

Pros:

Integration of the system is the daily work at the company has been decently easy. It takes a bit of time to make the transition but once it is in place, every step of the lab day becomes much mechanical and you are always sure that all the data is trackable and well organized. Samples, materials used, materials generated, protocols, and calculations are always available and referencable which allows higher performance and efficiency of the workers.

Cons:

It is not too flexible in terms of moving through the steps, you always have to save before you move on even if you are inside the same experiment. It would be nice if in the supplies- orders it could reference a PO number or integrate the items in shopping batches.

Alternatives Considered: Labstep

More than just documentation

Comments: Elabjournal enforces high-quality documentation and the rigid structure of Project > Study > Experiment with the definition of aims and sub-aims helps to break complex problems into simpler tasks.

Pros:

In my personal experience, elabjournal did not only improve the structure of my documentation, it also improved experiment planning, design and execution.

Cons:

table or list based viewing and editing can be a pain. E.g. entering many new samples to the inventory for largely overlapping yet different properties is a time consuming task.

Online Journal

Pros:

Switching from traditional paperback lab notebooks to online journaling is an overwhelming task in itself, but eLabJournal simplifies the process of writing, peer-reviewing, and signing off experiments/studies. Entries are accessible when needed to be shared with other laboratories or departments and with the eLabInventory integration, it's easier to keep track of and know the components of an experiment. An amazing feature is the ability to attach files and to link other experiments within an entry, this eases the need to manage local folders for various users since they are downloadable anytime (and anywhere). Their superb customer service needs praise on its own. They have knowledgeable people who are quick to help and go beyond in explaining things and even accommodate the needs of our lab, both in research and operations.

Cons:

An entry can only be signed-off by a single person which makes it tricky for experiments or studies that needs both internal and quality reviews. eLabInventory is glitchy when there's a lot of back-to-back updates or additions made in the system.

eLJ strongly increases productivity, some room for improvement

Comments: We use eLJ in quasi-GLP mode, with witnessing and a strict SOP for documenting. Overall very high improvement in productivity since we introduced it.

Pros:

- traceability of data, search function, easy to do forensics on what went wrong in an experiment - clear structure into projects, studies and experiments - basic functionality very easy to use, reliable - much faster than paper lab journal - collaboration of scientists across different locations

Cons:

- some functions cumbersome to use, e.g. bulk imports and especially exports of inventory or products - picture editing function very rudimentary, hardly usable - moving of experiments between projects or studies cumbersome

ELN and more

Comments: This software caters to the small biotech co's by providing a single solution ELN that integrates data and inventory management. As such, the pricing is in an very effective position to enable those same small biotech companies to acquire and use their software efficiently. Great customer support and service, this offers an appreciable and competitive value. This software is very good and taking in data, especially as a PDFs. Probably among one of the best ELNs out there. Unfortunately it's not a 'do-everything' solution, and does have some quirks. It would also better help these smaller co's that use it through implementing a less expensive 'module' add-in service that could pull from vendors like Fisher/VWR. This would allow for easier inventory management, and wouldn't require expensive custom solutions smaller companies wouldn't be able to afford anyway.

Pros:

The ELN is easy to start using from ground zero. Many features are intuitive, and easy to navigate. Organization is implemented nicely, and searchable.

Cons:

Frequent users will start to see issues with flexibility in correcting erroneous details of entries (not yet finalized), or setting up high-functioning templates for repeated experiments. More advanced features to integrate into ordering/inventory management are not modular add-ons, and treated as more expensive custom solutions.

eLAB Journal is a great tool for any kind of research lab

Comments: eLAB is definitely keeping everything from project planning, data, and inventory very organized and very accessible. The customer service from the company is also great. We had someone come to our lab to help us implement the system and are happy with the level of responsiveness from the company when you have a question or problem.

Pros:

The ability to easily track inventory, whether it be samples, chemicals, or freezer space. We also like ability to have central storage for our data that is easily accessible.

Cons:

The interface to print labels is very hard to use. You have to create code to make the labels, I was expecting a much easier setup since the rest of eLAB is so easy to use. We also wish that there was a way to create fillable data sheets in the system that was not just directly importing from excel.

Replace the paper notebook

Pros:

eLabJournal is an easy and efficient way to replace the paper notebook. It's really user friendly. We use also a lot the inventory and it is convenient to link samples to experiment.

Cons:

The most feature that could be improved is the way to add samples in experiment (in used/generated samples section). Indeed, when we search the sample, it's only in the browser, so we need to know the location of the sample and we can only add samples located in a same box at a time. If we could add a sample in experiment by searching a sample in the same way that we can search a sample in the Inventory -> sample list section, it could be really easy to add samples.

Defo recommended

Comments: Defo recommended, they are a friendly bunch and very speedy customer support!

Pros:

I like how customizable eLabJournal is! You can do anything you want.

Cons:

There are limitations to sharing samples throughout project groups and we have limited layers of organizing experiments. Structurally, these issues might be hard to overcome but it would be very helpful.

Highly Recommend

Comments: We have been using eLAB for about 6 months now and it has greatly improved our organization and efficiency. My favorite part is having the COA and QC documents pertaining to each individual antibody/protein all in one place. Shortly our company will be kicking off a 1,250 patient clinical trial and eLAB is going to be an integral part of managing the study. eLAB is very customizable and capable of meeting many different needs, I’m sure that with continued use we will discover even more features that will help improve our work flow. Additionally the eLAB team is incredibly responsive and easy to work with. Thanks for the help getting us going and answering all of our questions.

Pros:

I really appreciate how many ways you can customize the software to meet different needs.

Cons:

As of right now I can't think of anything.

This is the best!

Pros:

ELab is the most straightforward system we found. We paid for a different system, but despite trying to understand how to use it, we remained deeply frustrated. We checked out several systems; it was an easy decision to change to eLab one we tried it. The best part of eLab was the help from the support person, [SENSITIVE CONTENT]. It would be impossible to even begin to explain how much patience he had. He spent time between our calls considering our work and designing a template that would work for us. I had been unable to fully explain what I had in mind, but [SENSITIVE CONTENT] designed something that was exactly what I wanted (but couldn't explain). Whether you are involved in research with multiple layers of overlapping data or are tracking daily changes in a single study, this software can get you what you need...on the simpler end of that, it can be difficult to find a system that will work for you. The system, the support staff, and the price are all wonderful.

Cons:

There is absolutely no downside to this system. There is nothing to not like.

Best value for money ELN

Pros:

- cloud based - easy to set up - mobile phone/app integration - sync of photos from mobile phone - servers in Europe

Cons:

- no chemdraw integration - copy/paste works not flawlessly - not fully customizable

Easy to work

Pros:

I like this software because it is easy to work with and keeps things very organized and clean. It is also easy to share with others.

Cons:

I would like to hand-write directly on the document to have it like paper notebook. There are some differences in mobile app and the website. I would like to have similar features for mobile and desktop app.