Lab reports typically document the process followed in a laboratory for an experiment. They are often written as class assignments. In a professional setting, lab reports may be used to provide a progress report to a research team or supervisor or to document research being conducted. When writing a lab report, consider audience and purpose so that you can decide how much detail to include and what to emphasize.
Lab reports usually follow a standardized format known as IMRaD (Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion). This format allows others to easily identify your methods and findings, to precisely replicate your experiment, and to accurately place your individual work within a larger body of research. However, some lab reports have specific requirements not covered by this format, so be sure to check your assignment or sample lab reports. These will demonstrate the appropriate citation style, verb tense, and other conventions you should follow.
A lab report requires a short, descriptive title. Use key words that will help an interested reader decide if the report meets their research needs.
An abstract consolidates a lab report into a readable format that describes the experiment. If your report requires an abstract, consider writing it after you write the main report. A good strategy is to include sentences, possibly simplified, from each of the IMRaD sections. Depending on the purpose of your lab, you may emphasize certain sections more than others. For example, if your lab is meant to teach about methods, you may devote more space to Materials and Methods in your abstract. If the lab focuses on the outcome of an experiment and what steps to take next, you’ll probably focus more on Results and Discussion. The abstract typically runs 100 to 250 words, but, again, check your assignment or refer to a sample report for specifics.
Materials and Methods (sometimes called Procedures) describes what was done in the lab including the materials used and step-by-step procedure(s) followed (Hofmann 247-8). This section should be precise, specific, and straightforward, so that others can replicate your experiment exactly. The level of detail you include depends on audience and purpose. If you are reporting to a team that is fully familiar with a particular procedure, you probably don’t have to describe it step-by-step. However, if you are introducing a new step, you need to be specific enough for others to replicate the procedure. Materials and Methods should include a description of the materials that were used and a description of the manner in which they were used.
An appendix (or plural, appendices) is where you include information that’s important but too unwieldy or detailed for the main report. An appendix may, for example, include the instruction manual for an apparatus or a description of an industry standard you used in making a measurement. If it is relevant or interesting, but not essential for the main report’s reader, it might go in an appendix. If you include an appendix, label each item carefully so the reader knows what it is and how to find it.
Strive for a direct, simple, and professional style that puts focus on the work, not on you as the person performing the work. Use full sentences and use paragraph breaks within sections to organize information logically and make it readable. Long chunks of text can be difficult to read.
Goldbort, Robert. Writing for Science. Yale University Press, 2006. Print.
Hofmann, Angelika H. Scientific Writing and Communication: Papers, Proposals, and Presentations. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.