An essential part of a scientific investigation is communication of the findings (message) to others (audience) interested in the same subject. Scientists have developed a special style of communication termed technical or scientific writing as an efficient mechanism for this communication. Below is an outline of how you (writer) should prepare a scientific lab report in the biological sciences. Laboratory reports should be written to inform an audience of your peers: developing scientists. Reports must be typed (preferably on a word processor), double-spaced, using a 12-point font, with one inch margins. Double-spacing and one-inch margins are required so that there will be sufficient room for editorial comments.
Title
(Center on the page and capitalize only the first letter of each major word)
(3 spaces)
Your Name(s)
(3 spaces)
Introduction (do not use this section heading)
This section should contain: (1) a description of the nature of the question or problem under investigation; (2) a one or two sentence statement of the hypothesis (message) derived from the question posed and the review of the background information and/or a logical argument; (3) a literature review (lab handout, textbook, other books, scientific articles, etc.) of that which is known that leads to the formulation of this question or problem; and (4) a one or two sentence statement as to what can be concluded from your study. Critique your preparation of this section by asking yourself if it clearly tells the reader the problem investigated, the background for it, whether the reader could derive the same hypothesis from the background information presented, and the answer you have found from your study. If a reader could not derive the same hypothesis from the introductory material provided, you must supply additional information. Avoid using quotes in this section and in the discussion section. Instead, paraphrase ideas and cite the original author.
(3 spaces)
MATERIALS AND METHODS (include this section heading)
(3 spaces)
WRITE THIS SECTION IN PAST TENSE!! DO NOT COPY WORD FOR WORD THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE LAB HANDOUT. Briefly and generally describe the materials and methods used in your study. Refer the reader to the lab manual, handout, or some other publication for the specific details. For example, "Water samples were collected and tested for dissolved oxygen, nitrates, and phosphates according to standard procedures (Lab Handout)." Materials include organisms in biological studies and methods include the procedures used for data collection and analyses. For some experiments where computer simulations are the source of data, you should include the name of the
program and the parameters set for the investigation. This section should be the shortest section in your paper.
(3 spaces)
RESULTS (include this section heading)
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This section begins with a paragraph summarizing the results that are presented in tables and figures by referring specifically to those tables and figures. Describe trends in data or observations and refer the reader to specific tables or figures for more precise data. For example, "Tb varied substantially throughout the course of the illness (Table 1). This variation can be more readily appreciated through inspection of Figure 1." Only include results in this section that are discussed in the discussion section. Your observations/data are presented in this section in as clear and concise a format as possible.
It is useful to display raw data in the form of tables and then graph the results from the tables. To help you organize your thoughts there are certain conventions that are wise to follow. In tables the independent variable is listed first and represents the factors that you or the experimental designer set. It may be temperature, time, pH, or wavelength. List these in the left-hand column. The dependent variable is listed second and represents the experimental entity that was actually measured. It may be absorbance, length, weight, etc. It is the result of the experiment.
Each table and figure should be titled: table titles are placed at the top of tables and figure titles are placed below the figure. Each title is a complete sentence that provides enough explanatory information so that a reader can understand all the information presented in the table or figure (e.g., Table 1. Relationship between enzyme activity and pH.). Follow the examples presented on this page, or consult the CBE Manual
(CBE, 1994), Ambrose and Ambrose (1995), or a scientific journal article for an example of exactly how titles should be prepared.
Label table columns and graph axes completely to prevent any ambiguity in interpretation. Each graph should occupy no more than one-half of a sheet of paper. Use the entire width of the page. By convention, the independent variable is plotted on the x-axis and the dependent variable is plotted along the y-axis. Graphs should be produced using a computer graphing program. Be certain to use the appropriate graph for the data, e.g., a bar graph is used to show a comparison of tree heights, and an xy scatter plot with a regression analysis to produce a straight line is used to show a standard curve.
Because it is often difficult to place tables and figures into the body of the text (especially if the page orientation is in the landscape mode), please place each table and each figure on a separate page and attach to the end of the lab report.
(3 spaces)
DISCUSSION (include this section heading)
(3 spaces)
This section presents the conclusions and the evidence for each conclusion. The original hypothesis stated in the introduction should be evaluated in this section using the data obtained in the study. Support, modify, or reject your original hypothesis. The reasoning from the observations/data to conclusions should be sound and logical: the conclusions should be derived specifically from the data. If there are problems with the fit between observations and conclusions, attempt to deal with these. Relate your observations to observations, concepts, and principles reported by other groups who have conducted similar experiments. Do not discuss any results in this section that were not presented in the results section. Sometimes comments are made about the direction for further research.
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LITERATURE CITED (include this section heading)
(3 spaces)
Literature that was actually cited in the text of the paper is listed alphabetically in this section. You are required to cite a minimum of three (3) references other than the textbook and the laboratory manual. Do not include works that you may have read but did not cite in the text of your report. Literature citations in the text should follow one of the formats found in scientific papers. You may use any acceptable format (that found in a peer-reviewed scientific journal). A sample format follows:
Journal article citation:
Author(s). Date of publication. Title of article. Journal title, volume number: pages.
Example:
Nei, M. and A. K. Roychoudhury. 1993. Evolutionary relationships of human populations on a global scale. Molecular Biology and Evolution,10:927-943.
Book citations:
Author(s). Date. Title. Edition (if other than first). Publisher, city of publication.
Example:
Ambrose, H. W., III, and K. P. Ambrose. 1995. A handbook of biological investigation. Fifth edition. Hunter Textbooks, Inc., Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Council of Biology Editors. 1994. Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers. Sixth Edition. Councl of Biology Editors, Inc., Bethesda, Maryland.
Electronic Citations:
The popularity of the World Wide Web, and the amount of information available through the Web, has created a difficult situation when it comes to citing information taken from a web page. Here are some general guidelines for citing different types of information sources on the Internet. Remember that it is difficult to verify the accuracy of any information posted on a web page unless you are certain of the integrity of the individual responsible for posting the information.
The following information was taken from the book "The Research Paper and the World Wide Web" by Dawn Rodrigues (1997. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ; pp162-3). They are based on the Modern Language Association guidelines.
General format:
Author Title Date of Publication Date of Access
Example:
Rodrigues, Dawn. The Research paper and The World Wide Web Site. 9 Oct. 1996. 25 Feb. 1998
http://www.prenhall.com/rodrigues
Examples:
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wall-Paper". The American Reader Survey Site. Ed. Daniel Anderson. 3 Sept. 1996. U. of Texas. 23 Mar. 1998
ttp://www.utexas.edu/~danderson.html
Rodrigues, Dawn. Home Page. 3 Mar. 1998
http://www.utb.edu/~drodrigu
Guidelines for Committees. 2 Feb. 1998. National Council of Teachers of English. 23 Mar. 1998
http://www.ncte.org
Recchio, Thomas E. "Some Versions of Critical Pedagogy", College English (7) 58 (1996): 845+. Proquest. 2 Feb. 1998
http://www.proquest.umi.com
NOTE: This citation includes the name of the electronic database containing the citation (PROQUEST)
Droskinis, James. "Research Question". 12 Dec. 1997. 20 March, 1998.
http://www.prenhall.com/rodrigues
NOTE: The name of the newsgroup is not included
Rodrigues, Dawn. "Meeting at CCCCs". Online posting. 20 Feb. 1998. Alliance for Computers and Writing. 28 Mar. 1998
http://english.ttu.edu/acw/acw-1/archive.htm
NOTE: If the listserv stores messages in an archive, give the URL of the archive, otherwise give the URL of the listserv
Longoria, Juan. "Response to the Lottery". Online Posting. 25 Feb. 1998. Comp II Forum. 25 Mar. 1998
http://www.utb.edu/~drodrigu/netforum
Seiple, Carl. "Kutztown". E-mail to author. 20 Feb. 1998.
Crump, Eric and Dawn Rodrigues. MOO conversation. 20 Feb. 1998
http://mud.ncte.org:8888/
All laboratory reports will be graded using the following guidelines: