Laboratory Etiquette/Rules
Common sense and courtesy are the rules of thumb. Be aware, note unsafe situations before they happen, and leave the laboratory the way you would like it to be left for yourself. Please be guided by the following:
Safety- The principle investigator of the study and his/her designated users are responsible to make sure the laboratory is a safe environment. Please review your experimental protocol and make sure it is approved by your PI and Preston. Never leave a participant alone in the laboratory.
Courtesy- Do not remove any equipment or cables from the laboratory that do not belong to you. Return any equipment changes to their original state (e.g., moving monitors or chairs, etc.). Do not leave used equipment in the rooms (e.g., cables or monitors), as they can cause artifacts (e.g., with EEG) and accidents.
Cleanliness- Keep the laboratory clean (throw away garbage, ear plugs, etc). Pick up any loose cables or equipment (return to where you found them) when you are finished using them. Keep the shelves organized and neat. When you are finished with your experiment, the laboratory suite should look like you were never there.
Do not go over your allotted time– The rooms should be turned over to the next user group at the beginning of their session. This means you should leave time at the end of your slot to remove your participant and tidy the areas you used for the next user. Even if you get started late, your session must end on time. For scheduling see the Scheduling tab, and for any questions contact Preston (thakralp@bc.edu)
IRB approval: You can only use the laboratory for research studies if you have proper IRB approval. All individuals using the laboratory for research studies must be listed on the IRB approval associated with the study. It is the responsibility of the principal investigator (i.e., an affiliated Human Neuroscience faculty member) to make sure that safety and other procedures are followed. It is also the responsibility of the principal investigator to ensure that yearly IRB re-approvals are obtained on time. You cannot use the laboratory if your IRB has expired!
- Please ensure your IRB protocol is consistent with the best practices from the BC/IRB perspective, especially with respect to data storage (see here)
Food and drink: No Food is allowed in the laboratory, unless they are dry snacks provided to the study participants (e.g., chips or candy; please make Preston (thakralp@bc.edu) aware if this will be part of your experimental protocol). Hot food is never allowed because it is smelly and the laboratory is an enclosed space! Drinks are okay only if they are covered containers!
Responsibilities- As well as what is mentioned above, responsibilities also include filling out the log book (see below), backing up your data such that it is not stored on the computers in the laboratory. Please report any issues or broken equipment to Preston right away (thakralp@bc.edu).
Log book- The log book (Google Excel sheet) can be found in one the Scheduling tab on the left ('HML Participant Log'). After collecting data in the Human Neuroscience laboratory, please make sure to fill out the sheet with the following information when data has been collected: Date/Time, Subject ID, Experiment ID, IRB Protocol #, Experimenter(s), PI, Room #, and Equipment.