Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources  Tags: agriculture natural_resources agricultural_economics resource_economics environmental_science  

A scientific report, such as a laboratory or research report, is usually divided into 6 major sections:

Abstract (not always required)
The abstract is a single paragraph summary of your report outlining the problem you addressed and the major findings and conclusion of the study.

Introduction
This section is generally 1 or two paragraphs telling the reader why the study was undertaken and includes a brief summary of relevant background facts. You then outline the specific problem being investigated and if appropriate, include the test hypothesis.

Materials and Methods
This sets out the materials used, and the steps taken to undertake the study. It should be able to be used as a guide by others to replicate your study.

Results
The centrepiece of your report. The data or summaries of your observations are included in this section, usually as tables or graphs. Here you will also identify any trends or significant results although you should avoid putting any interpretations down at this point (that comes under the discussion)

Discussion/Conclusion
Here you interpret and discuss your results, relating them back to the aims of the study. In this section think about whether your results where what was expected based on the background literature and your hypothesis. Talk about what could be done differently, any biases or errors in your study, and areas for future research.

Bibliography
Here you list all the material cited in your report. The referencing style that you use is very important so you should check with your lecturer or tutor as to the preferred one.

Where to start?

You may find the easiest place to start writing your report is at the Materials and Methods or Results section. As you will already have most of this information at hand you should find this section writes itself. Try to avoid putting in too much detail. You can refer to the lab manual but should mention the major steps and significant actions.
When writing the results, simply present the results, drawing the reader's attention to the major observations and key trends in data without. There is no single right way of presenting data summaries but you choose a system (graph, table, list, etc.) that is clearest.

When writing the discussion section, you might find it useful to ask yourself a few questions about your research to help you formulate your interpretation and arguments.

• What did you expect to find and why?
• Does your data support your hypothesis or expectations?
• Did you get any unexpected results? Why do you think this happened?
• Based on your results, what questions might you logically ask next? What more research could be done to further our understanding this subject area?

Source: A short guide to writing about biology 5th ed. / Jan A. Pechenik (2004)

Try these titles from the catalogue for more information on scientific writing: