The monitor arrives the following Tuesday. "May I see the PI's current CV?" The coordinator hesitates. Which one? The electronic version in the eReg system is identical in content, easier to share, and timestamped. The paper version has the original signature. The sponsor's filing instructions reference "the eReg system" for all regulatory documents. But the investigator signed the paper copy first, and the institution's policy still requires a wet-ink signature on file.

This is not a story about disorganization. This is a story about a site living in two worlds at once -- paper and electronic -- without a clear framework for deciding which version is the official record and which is the reference copy. It is the most common document management challenge at research sites today, and it is the challenge this lesson equips you to resolve.

The monitor arrives the following Tuesday. "May I see the PI's current CV?" The coordinator hesitates. Which one? The electronic version in the eReg system is identical in content, easier to share, and timestamped. The paper version has the original signature. The sponsor's filing instructions reference "the eReg system" for all regulatory documents. But the investigator signed the paper copy first, and the institution's policy still requires a wet-ink signature on file.

This is not a story about disorganization. This is a story about a site living in two worlds at once -- paper and electronic -- without a clear framework for deciding which version is the official record and which is the reference copy. It is the most common document management challenge at research sites today, and it is the challenge this lesson equips you to resolve.