Scientific Lab Reports
Scientific Lab Reports
The purpose of a laboratory report or research report is to communicate to others the data you have
collected in an experiment that you have performed, and what you think this data means. A typical report
contains the following sections:
TITLE
The title of a report should indicate exactly what you have studied.
The Effects of Light and Temperature on the Growth of the Bacterium Escherichia coli.
If a large number of variables or organisms were used, the title could say 'Several
Factors...' or 'Various Chemicals...' However, you should aim to be as specific as
possible. It is unnecessary to include words such as 'Observations on the Effects of…' or
'A Study on the Effects of ...'
ABSTRACT
The abstract is a condensed version of the entire paper. It allows a reader to determine the purpose,
methods, results, and significance of your report quickly without having to read the entire paper. To reflect
the content of the paper accurately, the abstract should be written after the final draft of your paper is
complete, even though it is placed at the beginning of the paper.
INTRODUCTION
Why did you study this problem? The introduction should:
• name the problem or issue and give background information (historical and/or theoretical) about that
problem.
• contain a brief literature review which should describe previous research done on the topic and how
the current experiment will help to clarify or expand the knowledge. All references to previous study
should be properly cited using the appropriate style, e.g. APA, Harvard or Note style. Check with your
tutor if unsure.
• end with a purpose statement. This is sometimes expressed in the form of a hypothesis, i.e. one sentence
which specifically states the question your research is designed to answer. If a statistical hypothesis
test is being conducted for the experiment, a null hypothesis should be stated. In short, the null
hypothesis asserts that the results arose due to chance alone. Check with teaching staff for clarification.
This section must be detailed and clear enough so that readers could duplicate the experiment if they so
wished. It is written in the past tense because you have already done the experiment. Methods adapted
from other sources should be referenced. Photographs, maps and diagrams may be useful to help describe
the experimental set-up.
SCIENTIFIC-LAB-REPORTS_20220413
© Student Learning Support Service, 2022 Page 1 of 4
[email protected] students.flinders.edu.au/slss
SCIENTIFIC LAB REPORTS
RESULTS
What did you find?
In this section, you should simply present your observations and data, with no interpretations or conclusions
about what they mean. Tables and graphs should be used to supplement the text, and to present the data
in a more condensed form. Trends are best illustrated or summarised in graphical form. Use the past tense
to describe your results, e.g. ‘At the highest temperatures tested, bacterial growth was reduced…’.
DISCUSSION
What does your data mean? How does it relate to previous work in the field?
• Describe patterns and relationships that emerged from your data.
• Explain what you think your data mean. Compare your results to trends
described in the literature and to theoretical behaviour.
• Offer alternative explanations as to why your results may have differed or been
similar to related experiments. Explain any changes to, or problems with, the experimental procedure
that may have affected the results.
• Support interpretations, whenever possible, by references to the lab manual, the text, data presented
or other studies from the literature.
• Remind the reader of your own results, when relevant, without repeating large sections from the Results
section. If your lab manual includes questions to be answered in the Discussion, integrate your responses
into a logical discussion rather than answering them one by one (unless you have been instructed to do
so). Do not include only the answers to the questions. Use them as guidelines for supplementing your
own discussion, not limiting it.
LITERATURE CITED
Also called References or References Cited, this is a list of only those papers mentioned (cited) within the
report.
• Each table or figure must be introduced within the text, and the comment
should highlight the main points.
• Tables and figures are numbered independently of each other (i.e. Table 1
and 2, and then Figure 1 and 2 as well). Numbers are assigned according to
the order of first mention in the text.
• Each table and figure must have a self-explanatory title so that the reader can understand its content
without referring to the text.
• Tables are referred to as tables, and all other items (graphs, photographs, drawings, diagrams,
maps, etc.) are referred to as figures.
• Tables and figures may be placed at the end of a paper, or within the text. Check with teaching
staff for their preference. If placing them within the text, do so as soon as possible after they are
mentioned, without interrupting the text, i.e. at the end of a paragraph or section.
SCIENTIFIC-LAB-REPORTS_20220413
© Student Learning Support Service, 2022 Page 2 of 4
[email protected] students.flinders.edu.au/slss
SCIENTIFIC LAB REPORTS
ANALYSE THE BACKGROUND WRITE A EDIT &
TASK RESEARCH DRAFT PROOFREAD
Clearly state your aims, The aim of this investigation is to determine if the Great Wall of China can be seen from
objectives, or hypotheses in the moon. This observed by measuring the smallest angular separation of two objects to
the introduction. determine the size required for an object to be seen from 384,400 km.
Methods
The methods section outlines The image shown in Figure 1 was resized and
the materials and procedures printed to ensure the width of each vertical line,
used to conduct the research and the distance between them was 2mm. The
so they can be replicated.
image was hung on the wall at the eye level of
the observer whose angular resolution was being
measured. Beginning at a distance of 1 m, the
Figure 1: Image used to determine the angular
observer moved away from the image until the resolution of the human eye
individual lines on the left of the image could no
In scientific writing, use clear, longer be distinguished from the grey box on the
concise, and specific
language, typically in the right. The experiment was repeated three times and the average distance was used to
passive voice. calculate the angular resolution of the observer.
SCIENTIFIC-LAB-REPORTS_20220413
© Student Learning Support Service, 2022 Page 3 of 4
[email protected] students.flinders.edu.au/slss
SCIENTIFIC LAB REPORTS
You may need to represent
Results
your results data visually The angular resolution of the human eye was determined to be 0.023°, requiring an
using clearly labelled graphs object to be at least 154, 308 m in size to be visible from a distance of 384, 400 km.
or tables.
400
200
103)
100
0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000
Distance from the Object (m x 105)
Figure 2: The size of an object required to be seen from a given distance by a human eye with an angular
Discuss your results without resolution of 0.023°. Line of best fit represents the linear relationship between size of an object and its
bias, using reasoning and observable distance.
links to evidence to support
your interpretations of the Discussion
data. An observer’s ocular angular resolution determines the maximum distance an object can
be seen and thus if the Great Wall would be visible from the moon. Given the average
maximum distance of 5 m before the blurring of Figure 1, the angular resolution of the
Paraphrase evidence from the observer’s eye was calculated as 0.023° and the minimum size of a visible objects
literature to support your determined for a range of distances (Figure 2). As shown in Figure 2, for an object
points. 384,400 km away to be visible to the observer in this experiment, it would need to be
at least 154,308 m in size. Comparatively, at 16 m wide, the Great Wall would need to
be no further than 40,000 m from the observer. The angular resolution determined
Use logically structured
paragraphs throughout.
experimentally is similar to the theoretical angular resolution of 0.017° (Spencer et al.,
2013) despite this theoretical value assuming a singular wavelength of 500nm, a fixed
pupil diameter of 6mm and ideal atmospheric conditions…
References
Provide all references in-text
and in a reference list Brandner, W., & Hormuth, F. (2016). Lucky Imaging in Astronomy. In H. M. J. Boffin, G. Hussain, J-
according to your topic’s P. Berger, & L. Schmidtobreick (Eds.), Astronomy at High Angular Resolution A Compendium of
preferred style. Techniques in the Visible and Near-Infrared (1st ed. 2016. ed.). Cham: Springer International
Publishing: Imprint: Springer.
Gimsa, A. (2020). Development of the Distance Earth-Moon. International Journal of Scientific
Research and Management, 8(03), 10-13. https://doi.org/10.18535/ijsrm/v8i03.aa01
López-Gil, N. (2008). Is it Really Possible to See the Great Wall of China from Space with a
Naked Eye? Journal of optometry, 1(1), 3-4. https://doi.org/10.3921/joptom.2008.3
People's Republic of China. (2016). Protection and Management of the Great Wall of China. China
Retrieved from https://whc.unesco.org/document/157507
Spencer, L., Jakobsen, M., Shah, S., & Cairns, G. (2013). Minimum required angular resolution of
smartphone displays for the human visual system. Journal Society for Information Display, 21(8),
352-360. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsid.186
This template represents a short and incomplete report and should be used as a general guide only!
Always check your assignment guidelines and rubric.
SCIENTIFIC-LAB-REPORTS_20220413
© Student Learning Support Service, 2022 Page 4 of 4
[email protected] students.flinders.edu.au/slss