How to Write a Scientific Lab Report: An Ultimate Guide

When studying, the student performs different assignments: oral and written, individual and group ones. But what is scientific laboratory work? This is a practical experiment. The student confirms the level of knowledge on a specific topic when doing such assignments. In the course of completing the assignment, students connect logical thinking and use their analytical skills.

But whatever the topic of the laboratory work is, it always ends the same way — writing a report. If you don’t comply with the requirements, you will have to redo it. And this takes your time, the study of the topic, and the search for the information again. So, don’t do the same thing twice. It is better to initially prevent mistakes.

Main Points of the Scientific Lab Report

Any laboratory report has a specific structure. It must be followed if you want to get high grades. So, how to write my lab report like academic experts do for students?

Introduction

An introduction of a scientific lab report follows immediately after the title page. This part of the report is no different from the introduction of other types of work. Here the student has to indicate the relevance of the research, identify the problem, object and subject, set the goal to be achieved, and the tasks that will be applied to the achievement.

The introduction of the scientific lab report is short and one of the simplest parts of the project. It is necessary to explain and prove why the topic is important. The easiest way to do this is using standard phrases, for example:

• The topic is socially significant since…
• The problem is of great importance because…
• The issue is interesting because…

Main Part

The theoretical part is the main point of the work. It consists of a description of the experimental technique, its results, and a detailed description of the stages. You need to indicate on the research what scientists you rely on and what you expect from your experiment.

Describe the procedure done in detail. Explain all stages of the experiment in a consistent and detailed manner. Write how you conducted the experiment step by step. Include a description of all measurements taken, how and when they were taken. If you have taken steps to increase the accuracy and reliability of the experiment, then describe them. For example, there could be some additional control methods, restrictions, or precautions.

The steps involved in conducting your experiments should include preparing for them, the equipment you used, and a description of the manipulations you performed. Next, you need to talk about the results obtained regardless of the information in the introduction.

Results

The practical part of the work should include laboratory research and a detailed description of all steps. The necessary lab work must also be carried out to achieve the goals and objectives. The volume and content of the section will depend on how deep your research is.

Since laboratory work is a description of practice, it is difficult to tell about it in words only. You will use pictures, tables, or diagrams to make it easier for a reader to understand your report. But don’t overdo it with graphic elements as they can complicate the perception of information.

Include a section discussing the results. This section is intended for an in-depth analysis of the results obtained. Explain if your expectations were met. Present data from other works and compare the results of your research with them. And then suggest directions for further research on the problem under consideration.

In this section, you can consider different questions, for example: “Why didn’t we get expected results?” or: “What would happen if we changed this or that parameter of the experimental procedure?” If the results obtained don’t support the hypothesis, explain the reason for this.

Conclusions

In the conclusions, you compare the results that you received during the experiment with the goal and objectives that you set for yourself. Ideally, they should converge. But a negative result is also a result. Many reflect in the conclusion a short retelling of the procedure done.

In every scientific lab report, there is the main goal that must be achieved by solving experimental problems, measuring, and processing the results. At the end of the work, its results are described. The meaning of the conclusion of the work corresponds to a given goal (achieved or not achieved). Be sure to link your conclusion to the introduction and indicate if your goals have been met.

List of Sources Used

At the end of your work, place a complete bibliographic list, in which you indicate all the sources used. This is an optional part of the lab. But it helps you show the reviewer that you were guided by reliable literature during the experiment. If you have linked to any research and work by other people, please make sure the links are correct. The link can be inserted into the text. Indicate the authors of the work in brackets.

Additional Guidelines

Even if writing a scientific lab report seems to be something extremely difficult, don’t despair. Follow these guidelines:

• Correctly formulate idea
• Clearly describe the entire result obtained
• Don’t write about unnecessary things
• Use the scientific style of writing

Just remember that the report contains information about the study carried out, the theoretical facts, the data obtained, and the conclusions.