Wiki based management of chemometric research projects

As research projects grow in size, there is a tendency for the number of management tasks to increase even faster. There are many different data objects and relations which need to be managed as part of the whole project: raw data, script files, function files, results, plots, tables etc. Here it is suggested that a combination of wiki and version control software can be used as very effective and efficient tools in the management of chemometric research projects. A wiki provides a system for editing, viewing and navigating hyperlinked documents using web browsers. Easy syntax allows fast construction of web pages and hyperlinks without having to write HTML. Version control systems provide shared storage for source code and data (such as m-files, Python and Perl scripts, plot and diagram source files, LaTeX files etc). Items stored in version control are given version numbers and can be retrieved, worked upon and updated by multiple users in different locations without conflict. At the top level of a project wiki the main ideas and goals are described whereas at the bottom level there are scripts, tables and raw data. The structure suggested by the different levels supports a common understanding of the need to record information and of which information to record. All levels can rapidly be accessed by following hyperlinks in the wiki. Combining information into new wiki pages is also very easy in this framework.