The Sections of a Formal Lab Report

The Sections of a Formal Lab Report

Title:

The title of the report should be descriptive but concise. Do not include experimental data or long chemical names. The title should catch the reader’s attention and orient them to the purpose of the study.

Abstract:

An abstract is a brief summary of the most important findings of a scientific experiment. It allows the reader to survey the contents of a paper or lab report quickly, and to decide whether to keep reading. It should clearly identify the purpose and main results of an experiment, and should be clear, concise, and self-contained. An abstract should be between 100 and 200 words in length and, for CHM151Y, should be one single paragraph.

Introduction:

The introduction section of a lab report explains the experiment and provides the reader with relevant background information for the experiment. In some cases, an introduction will include both theoretical and practical background information. For CHM151Y, it should be between 250 and 500 words in length.

Experimental:

The experimental section describes the practical details of the experiment without reporting or interpreting experimental results (save this for the next section). This section should include a description of the experiment that is sufficient in detail such that another scientist could reproduce your results but not so detailed as to provide unnecessary information. Since this is written for people in the field we assume certain knowledge (i.e. we assume the reader knows what a Pasteur pipette is). The experimental section should not be copied from the laboratory manual.

Results and Discussion:

The results of the experiment (i.e. experimental data) should be reported before the discussion in a neat, easy to read format. Tables and figures are an excellent way to report experimental data. The discussion section should follow the results and is where you interpret the results of an experiment. It differs from a results section in the analysis you do. When you present your results, you simply state them as they are, pointing out important ones but not explaining why they are important or what they mean. Sometimes, scientific articles combine their results and discussion into one section. The discussion section of your lab report is where you will demonstrate that you understand the experiment beyond simply being about to follow the instructions to complete it. You will analyze your results and interpret them. This includes both the successful parts of the experiment, and the parts of the experiment that may not have proceeded as expected. If you obtained results that are different from what you expected, you should do your best to explain why this happened. Explain what you know for certain from your interpretation of your results, and state any conclusions that you can draw. For CHM151Y, the results and discussion should be between 500 and 1000 words in length.

Conclusions:

A conclusion provides a clear summary of the main findings of an experiment, their meaning, their relationship to the purpose of the experiment, and their relevance beyond the work presented in the lab report. Together with the introduction, the conclusion frames the lab report. It is often very short in an undergraduate lab report, and for CHM151Y should be between 50 and 100 words in length.

References:

Any idea that is not your own needs to be referenced.