Westfield State College Writer's Guide

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.

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.

WRITE THIS SECTION IN PAST TENSE AND IN PARAGRAPH FORMAT!! DO NOT COPY WORD FOR WORD THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE LAB HANDOUT. DO NOT LIST MATERIALS AND METHODS. 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.

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, "T_b 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 wave length. 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.

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.

Literature that was actually cited in the text of the paper is listed alphabetically in this section. 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.

Table 1. Tb recorded in oF during a recent bout with bronchitis (25 June - 28 June 1998). ( please note that this is a truncated version of the actual data Table.)
Medication*	Time	25 June	26 June	27 June	28 June
E1, H2, A2: 6/27 - 6/28	5:00			101.4	100.2
	5:30		101.6		100.2
	5:45				100.2
	6:00			101.0	100.2
	6:15			101.0	100.0
	6:30				100.2
	6:45		101.5		99.3
	7:00			100.5	99.1
	7:15				98.6
	7:30			99.8	99.4
	7:45				99.3
	8:00			99.4	99.1
	8:15			99.4	99.1
	8:30			99.3	99.0
	8:45			99.3	98.9
	9:00			99.6	99.1
E1: Erythromycin - one 250 mg tablet H2: Halotussin cough suppressant - two teaspoonfuls A2: Acetaminophen - two 500 mg tablets

Figure 1. Tb variation during a recent bout with sever bronchitis. Erythromycin, Halotussin cough suppressant, and Acetaminophen were taken at regular intervals as recorded in Table 1.

A sample Grading Rubric for biology lab reports is available.

A sample biology lab report is available.

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