how to write a professional lab report

how to write a professional lab report

Guidelines for Writing a Professional Lab Report

1. Introduction to Lab Reports

A lab report is a professional document which describes and analyzes a laboratory experiment. Lab reports are written by scientists in either industry or academia after having conducted an experiment. Often times, significant lab results are also published in scientific journals. The purpose of a lab report is to provide a record of an experiment, and to communicate the results of the experiment to the scientific community. Lab reports also enable researchers to reproduce an experiment in order to verify its results. Lab reports are often required in college level chemistry and biology courses.

The structure of a lab report is consistent with the scientific method, which is the process of collecting data to test and then refine or revise a hypothesis. As a result, lab reports follow a specific format, with the first part being an introduction or background section, followed by a methods and materials section, a results section, a discussion section, and a conclusion. Lab reports are written in the passive voice, in particular the past passive voice, from an objective point of view, and in the third person. In order to convey an objective tone, lab reports lack personal pronouns, contractions, and parentheses. Each sentence has a single subject and verb, and all procedures are written in the past tense. Science writing is precise, clear, and statements can often be quantified. For this reason, every claim made should be supported by a data point or referenced source.

2. Structure and Components of a Lab Report

A professional lab report serves as a blank canvas where scientists paint their thought process about conducting the experiment, its results, and how the experiment fits into the larger scientific discourse. The lab report serves as an outline for conducting the experiment, recording the necessary data, discussing the results, and drawing a conclusion. However, lab reports have an individualized scientific field’s standard, research hypothesis, and legal considerations. A good scientific report is one that is given time to develop. Review the guidelines for writing a scientific manuscript, form a writing team, and construct an initial development hypothesis of research study which can eventually be recorded in a scientific laboratory report.

Title: The title should address the main hypothesis of the investigation, echo the key finding, or be presented as an open-ended question. The title should address an active voice, concise and clear statement of the main finding.

Abstract: The abstract begins with the scientific research project’s main goal and again restates the hypothesis. It states the research question and explains the background of the problems. It provides the readers with a general understanding of the study’s significance, the experimental design of the study, the variables involved in the study, and methodological strategies. The abstract should clarify how the research contributes to the scientific arena.

Structure and Components of a Lab Report: A lab report is written in a structured form, with suitable headings and an orderly flow of information. A lab report usually consists of the following headings: • Title • Abstract: A brief overview of the study • Introduction: Background to the study and hypothesis • Methods: How the study was conducted, outlining the context, design, participants, and measures • Results: What the study found, reported in words, tables, and/or graphs • Discussion: What the findings mean as well as their implications, limitations, and future research ideas • Conclusion: A brief summary

The title should attract attention, outline one main point, be concise, and avoid using complex words. The following are examples of titles: 1. Result of a study to address one aim: “Is there any difference in the eating and exercise habits of isolated adolescents from urban girls.”

3. Writing Techniques and Style

Writing tips & techniques. Precision is paramount in scientific writing. Be clear, concise, and objective. Use specific actions type of information, expressed with the most precise, specific language possible. For example, do not write, “The samples were poorly quantified because the UV-Vis spectrometer was not accurate.” Instead, write “My lab partner used the UV-Vis spectrometer to obtain an incorrect value, 0 µg/mL, for the unknown concentration of protein in solution. Problems with the operation of the spectrometer, as well as human error, resulted in this value, rather than an absorption maximum from which accurate measurements can be determined.” When writing your procedure, treat it like an action list, and specify what methods you used. Use good judgment in choosing an appropriate level of detail; your readers should be able to physically replicate your methods and results from your manuscript. Order steps chronologically. It is often helpful to provide your readers with some sense of the relative costs and benefits should they hypothetically try to replicate your work. Put statistics and math results in a separate section or appendices. Including calculated statistical values is a very good idea.

Note: If you used a paired t-test, you would include the average changes in addition to your raw data. For the test statistic, you would present the t value and degrees of freedom (df). For the p value, you would present the p value and round to two decimal places. For a test statistic or p value exceeding three-digit precision, round to three-digit precision. For example, t (8) = 4.56, p = .0013. Avoid using contractions – that is, use proper language. Write out your statistics. For example, “There is a significant difference in the amounts of the mushroom X. A single-factor ANOVA was performed to look for differences between a variable X and treatment Y.” Do not use below or above; use greater than or less than. Also, be careful when using over; the particle ages are over 65. Finally, do not use could or didn’t; your results do not the condition that could have led to your results but rather that did lead to your results.

4. Common Mistakes to Avoid

One of the most common mistakes in reporting data in this way is to present values that are the results of earlier calculations or that have been accumulated by just one person. The example data have been obtained by pooling the results of many individuals involved in this project. You may want to do this if someone has made an egregious error, but this sequence of assessment and conclusion would not count as a ‘finding’. And your teacher will not be impressed if you draw spurious conclusions from inaccurate data on the grounds that you have ‘peer reviewed’ your friend’s data (and what on earth does that mean anyway?).

The discussion section of the lab report should be an interpretation of the findings, explain what method was used to handle data and make inferences from the experiment, and indicate whether the written hypothesis should be rejected. The tendency to speculate on the possible causes of these results will get you into trouble as it is based on so many assumptions. Do not speculate with your data. Do not attempt to explain your experimental results by resorting to historical or contemporary references. These should be used to make a point that is too complex to describe in a picogram or to substantiate a point made earlier in the literature section of the report, but they should not be used to prove a point. It is the data and other findings from reports that constitute the persuasive elements in the main body of the report.

5. Tips for Improving Clarity and Precision

Visual clarity and precision really make your report stand out. Here’s how to get it.

1. Draw clear, informative figures and tables. Omit the clutter. Use white space to draw attention to important information. Label your figures and tables so the reader can interpret the data without reading the text. Provide a sentence-long “thumbnail” description of the figure at or near its beginning. Explain abbreviations in legends. If you use too much color, i.e., everything is colorized, the effectiveness of color to identify things is lost.

2. Minimize ambiguity, maintain clarity. Precision matters. A scientist’s use of language is how he/she demonstrates mastery of facts and principles. Use conventional, agreed-upon abbreviations and acronyms. Spelling errors can destroy your credibility. Stick to active voice. It forces you to identify what the subject of the sentence is doing. It is usually shorter, more direct, and clearer than passive (the manuscript reveals…) construction.

3. Get the structure right. The readability of your Lab Report will be enhanced if the text is organized in the following order: Introduction (gently reveal the importance of and give background to your particular investigation); Methods (but only if you are giving enough information that others could repeat your experimental protocol); Results (present your data, voiceless, colorless, and passion-free); Discussion (make explicit connections between your results and broader implications, without sounding too bombastic); Conclusion (what did you discover?); and References.