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Writing lab reports is different from writing research papers in the humanities, but it is not difficult. There are some main differences to keep in mind when writing a paper in the sciences:

• Science writing is meant to be factual and straightforward, and every claim needs to be fully supported. 
• Graphs and figures are an important means of expressing information, and are almost as important as the text itself.

FORMAT OF A TYPICAL LAB REPORT

In a lab report, these are the required sections, in order: Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion, followed by a References page.  

Title Page

• Title should be on its own page 
• Title should be informative
• Page should include full name and affiliation (e.g., your name on one line, then ������ at Stark on the next)
• Page should follow APA format, unless otherwise instructed

Abstract

• Summary of your entire paper
• Should not be longer than 250 words
• Should contain a few sentences regarding the purpose of the experiment, methods, results, and discussion
• Should be on a separate page of its own

Introduction

• Contains 3 vital components:
  1. Background information – Provides information that demonstrates why you are conducting the experiment and what has been previously found. This is where your citations will occur.
  2. Statement of purpose – What is the purpose of the experiment? (Should be clear/concise and stand out.)
  3. Hypothesis – Prediction about the results of the experiment. Should have clear justification; why did you make this prediction? You never “prove” a hypothesis in science; you only falsify or support it.
• Approximately 1.5 pages

Materials and Methods

• Should be written in a precise way so that the reader could potentially replicate your experiment 
• Written in a step-by-step fashion, but in paragraph form (do not list)
• Approximately ¾ of a page 

Results

• Report your results rather than interpreting them
• Simply write your data in paragraph form
• Often contains at least one table and one figure
  1. Table – Summarize your raw data. Title of the table should be above the table (ex. “Table 1. Title…”)
  2. Figure – Data should be plotted on a graph. The figure should have a figure caption, which goes below the figure (ex. “Figure 1. Title…”). X and y axis should be labeled

Discussion

• Interpret your data. Discuss any patterns you see and provide explanation for those patterns. If you provide a possible explanation for a pattern, you then have to provide a citation that supports it. If you have an idea of how a pattern might be explained, you must remain speculative, and be clear that it requires further research and investigation. State if your hypothesis was supported or not, provide a statement regarding how/what future investigation will add to this field of research
• Approximately 1 page

References 

• APA format

WRITING STYLE

• The writing needs to be concise and well supported. It should be technical and straightforward.
• One experiment cannot “prove” anything. Therefore, you must use phrases like “the data suggest…” to discuss your findings.
• Every claim needs to be heavily supported with valid references. These references should be cited in APA style (unless instructed otherwise).
• It may sometimes sound redundant when trying to speak clearly and completely. This is normal, but avoid excessive repetition and wordiness.

TABLES & GRAPHS

Tables

Tables should be used to present findings. These can be created in many programs, including Microsoft Word and Excel. For your table, you will need a specific title and at least two (2) clearly labeled columns, as shown below:

Graphs

You may also want to utilize graphs within your report. For example, the above table contains data that were collected over time. Therefore, a line graph (which can be created in Microsoft Excel) is appropriate to show the relationship between the time and the growing number of bacteria. Again, you will need a detailed title and clearly labeled x and y axes. An example of such a graph is below: