What’s the Difference Between Lab Reports & Research Papers?

What’s the Difference Between Lab Reports & Research Papers?
While lab report format and structure are similar to that of a research paper, they differ. But unfortunately, we often see them confused in our work.

The key differences between lab reports and research papers are:

Lab reports require you to conduct a hands-on experiment, while research papers are focused on the interpretation of existing data;
A lab report’s purpose is to show that you understand the scientific methods central to the experimental procedure – that’s why the lab report template is different, too;
A lab experiment doesn’t require you to have an original hypothesis or argument;
Research papers are usually longer than lab reports.
How to Do a Lab Report: Outline
Like with any other papers, from SWOT analysis to case studies, writing lab reports is easier when you have a clear college lab report outline in front of you. Luckily for you, the lab report structure is the same in most cases.

So, here’s how to do a lab report – follow this outline (unless your instructor’s requirements contradict it!):

Title page: your name, course, instructor, and the report title;
Abstract: a short description of the key findings and their significance;
Introduction: the purpose of the lab experiment and its background information;
Methods and materials: what you used during the experiment (e.g., a lab manual, certain reagents, etc.);
Procedure: the detailed description of the lab experiment;
Results: the outcome of your experiment and its interpretation;
Conclusion: what your findings may mean for the field;
References: the list of your sources;
Appendices: raw data, calculations, graphs, etc.