I really wish that it was standard procedure to treat a lab notebook like a journal, in contrast to the status quo and this paper.
Scientific papers today try to separate the knowledge discovered from the authors own steps. It would be so useful to learn about the false starts and misunderstandings they had; that knowledge is just as important as the discovery itself in my opinion.
Over time, I have developed the habit of writing thoughts and detailed discussions of why certain things were done in my lab notebooks (I was taught not to do that as an undergraduate). It's very frustrating to have to follow someone else's work, particularly unpublished work, without knowing what had gone into designing experiments.
Scientific papers today try to separate the knowledge discovered from the authors own steps. It would be so useful to learn about the false starts and misunderstandings they had; that knowledge is just as important as the discovery itself in my opinion.