The Anatomy of a Scientific Laboratory Report
Title Page
The title page should be a one-sentence description of the content of the paper. It should be straightforward, informative and less than ten words. Immediately following the title the contributing members of the experimental team should be listed. The author of the report should be listed first and the name in bold.
Example: Comparative Toxicity of Branched and Straight Chain Alkyl Functionality in Ionic Liquids
Catherine McEntee, Jinhee Gwon, Xing Li, James F. Wishart, and Sharon I. Lall-Ramnarine
Point Value: 5 points
The Abstract
The abstract summarizes four essential aspects of the report: the purpose of the experiment (sometimes expressed as the purpose of the report), key findings, significance and major conclusions. The abstract often also includes a brief reference to theory or methodology. The information should clearly enable readers to decide whether they need to read your whole report. The abstract should be one paragraph of 100-200 words. This section is usually written last.
Point value: 5 points
The Introduction
The introduction has two functions:
(a) describe the problem being examined (i.e. state the hypothesis)
(b) to summarize what is currently known in the field. This should include
whatever background theory, previous research, or formulas the reader
needs to know.
Point Value: 10 points
Materials and Methods
The material and methods section explains the design of the experiment with sufficient detail for another researcher to replicate the experiment. Using clear paragraph structure, explain all steps in the order they actually happened, not as they were supposed to happen.
Point Value: 15 points
5 points for an accurate accounting of materials used.
10 points for an accurate and detailed description of methodology.
Results
The Results section is where observed results are summarized.
A narrative with data is presented. Experiments are presented separately. This section includes calculations, tables and figures; however, you still need to state all significant results explicitly in narrative form.
Point value: 20 points
10 points for figures (graphs, tables, charts, etc.). Be sure that the choice of presentation of data is appropriate for what you are concluding. Include statistical analysis if the results lend themselves to it.
10 points for the narrative. It is imperative that the reader understands the results you are reporting. It is prudent to introduce each result with the purpose behind doing that particular experiment In other words, what question were you asking that led you to do the experiment the result of which you are now reporting.
Discussion
The discussion is the most important part of your report, because here, you show that you understand the experiment beyond the simple level of completing it. Explain. Analyze. Interpret. Comparisons between experiments, and comparisons to results of authors mentioned in the Introduction are stated. Some people like to think of this as the “subjective” part of the report. By that, they mean this is what is not readily observable. This part of the lab focuses on a question of understanding “What is the significance or meaning of the results?”
Point Value: 30 points
