Lab Reports

Your report should have the following sections:

Title
Author
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References

Title:

The title should be descriptive and indicate the problem you investigated.

Author:

Your name
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama 35229

Abstract:

An abstract is a single paragraph summary of your experiment. An abstract should summarize your Introduction in about one sentence, your Materials and Methods and Results in a few sentences (no need to separate MM and Results here), and your conclusions in a couple of sentences.

Introduction (You can leave off the label "Introduction" if you wish):

The "Introduction" of the report should explain why the work was done. What were the objectives of the research? What background information is necessary to understand the experiment? How does the research help to fill a hole in our knowledge? The Introduction should include a clear statement of the problem or question to be addressed in the experiment.

Materials and Methods:

The Materials and Methods section tells how the work was done. What procedures were followed? What research materials were used: the organism, special chemicals, instruments? Do not list materials separately, but rather, describe what you did and in the course of your description tell what you used. In our labs projects, procedures were given in great detail in the handouts. Do not retype these verbatim, but rather summarize them. However, include enough information that someone reading your paper could repeat the experiment. Use past tense (usually passive voice).

Results:

The Results section explains in words what you found, the data that you generated, explained succinctly in the body of the report and presented in detail as tables or graphs. The results section should be written so that any college student could read the text to learn what you have done. Do not make the common mistake of saying, "We performed the experiment, see figures 1-4." That is too brief and does not convey to a novice what you have done. When stating your results in the body of the text, refer to your graphs and tables. You must tell in words what your results were. Do not attempt to discuss the interpretation of your data. This should be done in the Discussion section. Each table and figure should be numbered sequentially for easy reference in the text, and figures and tables should have a number and a description called a legend, which provides the reader enough information to know what you did to produce the data.

Discussion:

The Discussion section typically includes your appraisal of what your research means, including its success in meeting the objectives stated in the introduction and its significance in advancing your knowledge of the subject. This is also the place to explain discrepancies or difficulties with experiments, as well as suggestions for future work. For example, if you had initially known what you know now, how might you have changed your experiments? Most importantly, the Discussion provides an opportunity to compare your results with those of others. What previous information exists that is relevant to your research? Do your results support or supplement that information? Once again, when providing your interpretation of the data, direct the reader to specific tables and graphs to prove your point.

Literature Cited (also "References" is OK):

Finally, it is important to place your work in perspective with the published work of other scientists and to reference any background information cited. If you are stating facts, back them up with references. If you quote, use quotation marks and references.

FORMAT:

There are many formats for writing scientific papers (citing references in the text and the References section). Please follow the style of the journal Genetics.

You do NOT need to follow the detailed format, for example the you don't have to have your text in three columns.