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Lab reports

Explore the basics of writing lab reports.

What is a lab report?

Lab reports are a key aspect of professional life in the sciences, they are created to record the details of an experiment or intervention so that it can be reproduced and replicated later. Lab reports also help you reflect on the complexity of experimental research and improve your methods and organisation for future attempts.

Many schools have a clear view of how they would like you to write-up and present your practical work so ensuring that you follow their guidance is important. 

 

Structure of a Lab report

Lab reports often contain all, or at least some, of the following sections:

  1. Title and Cover Page
  2. Abstract
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Abbreviations
  5. Introduction (includes the background or literature review)
  6. Methodology / Materials and Methods
  7. Results
  8. Discussion
  9. Conclusion
  10. Bibliography/References
  11. Appendices 

Below are the key elements of a business report explained in further detail:

Abstract

 

Introduction

 

Methodology or Materials and Methods

 

Results

 

Discussion

 

Conclusion

 

Appendices

 

Writing up or reporting your practical work is an important part of the learning process, and even if you worked collaboratively, you may be expected to write your own report individually.

If you are asked to write an individual report about experiments that you did in a group, it is better that you do not work together when you are writing your reports. This sometimes causes confusion and can lead to students being accused of copying from each other and plagiarism.

 

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