Guide on How to Write a Lab Report
Guide on How to Write a Lab Report
If the outline above is overwhelming at first, don’t worry! As a professional service, we’ve had our share of experience in writing lab reports. Today, we’d like to share this experience with you in this lab report guide.
So, below you’ll find everything you need to know on how to write a good lab report, along with handy lab report guidelines!
Lab Report Title Page
The lab report title page should include your name, student code, and any lab partners you may have had. It should also contain the date of the experiment and the title of your report.
The title length should be less than ten words. You’ll also need to include the name of the academic supervisor in your lab report title page if you have one.
Abstract
This paragraph describes your experiment, its main point, and its findings in a nutshell. Here are several guidelines on how to write an abstract for a lab report:
Keep it under 200 words;
Start with the purpose of your experiment;
Describe the experimental procedure;
State the results;
Include 2-3 keywords (optional).
Lab Report Introduction
The first paragraph is where you explain your hypothesis and the purpose of your experiment. You can also add any previous research on the matter and any background information worth including. Here’s a short lab report introduction example with a hypothesis:
This experiment examined the correlation between the levels of CO2 and the rate of photosynthesis in Chlorella algae. The latter was quantified by measuring the levels of RuBisCO.
Equipment (Methods and Materials)
Next in the lab report structure is the equipment section (also known as methods and materials). This is where you mention your lab manual, methods used during the experimental procedure, and the materials list.
In this part of the report, ensure to include all the details of the experimental procedure. It should provide readers with everything they need to know to replicate your study.
Procedure (with Graphs & Figures)
This part is, perhaps, the easiest (unlike how to write a hypothesis for a lab report). You should simply document the course of the lab experiment step-by-step, in chronological order.
This is usually a significant part of the report, taking up most of it. So make sure to provide detailed information on your hands-on experience!
Results Section
This is the overview of your experiment’s findings (also known as the discussion section). Here’s how to write a results section for a lab report:
Discuss the outcome of the experiment;
Explain how it pertains to your hypothesis (whether it proves or disproves it);
Keep it brief and concise.
Note. You might notice that describing future work or further studies is absent from the tips on how to write the discussion section of a lab report. That’s because it’s a part of the conclusion, not the discussion.
Conclusion
This is where you sum up the results of your experiment and draw any major conclusions. You may also suggest future laboratory experiments or further research.
Here’s how to write a conclusion for a lab report in three steps:
Explain the results of your experiment;
Determine their significance – and any limitations to the experimental design;
Suggest future studies (if applicable).
The conclusion part of lab reports is typically short. So, don’t worry if you can’t write a lengthy one – you don’t have to!
References
This is the part of your lab report outline where you list all of the sources you relied on in your lab experiments. It should include your lab manual, along with any relevant recommended reading from your course. You may also include any extra sources you used.
Remember to format your references list according to the formatting style you have to follow. Apart from every entry’s formatting, you’ll also have to present your references in alphabetical order based on the author’s last name (for APA lab reports).
Appendices
Finally, any lab report format includes appendices – your figures and graphs, in other words. This is where you add your raw data in tables, complete calculations, charts, etc.
Keep in mind: just like with sources, you need to cite each of the appendices in the main body of the report. Remember to format the appendix and its citation according to the chosen formatting style.
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