Final Written Report

Title

Decide on a title after you have written the text. The title should be brief and specific but accurate and complete enough to stand on its own.

Byline

The byline contains the names of the individuals who have made substantial contributions to the work.

Abstract

The purpose of the abstract is to provide the readers the nature and scope of the information contained in the report. The readers will use the abstract to decide if the report is important to them. In the abstract you should briefly state the purpose of the project, indicate the theoretical and experimental plan used, accurately summarize the principle findings, and point out major conclusions. The abstract should be concise and self contained and should be written last to be sure that it reflects accurately the content of the report. Your abstract should be about 5 sentences and appear on the same page as the title and byline.

Introduction

A good introduction starts with a clear statement of the project and describes its importance. Give properly referenced, appropriate background material and outline the significance, scope and limits of your work.

Experimental

Give enough detail about your experimental methods and materials that other experienced workers could repeat your work and obtain comparable results.

Results (Observations)

In a scientific paper, the "Result" section focuses on your observations (things you directly observe or measure), along with associated graphs, etc. Some scientific publications combine the "results" and "discussion" sections, but your papers will be more objective and more clearly written if you learn how to separate them. Your results section should summarize the data collected and how it was analyzed. Use equations, figures and tables for clarity. You must provide sufficient detail to justify the conclusions you make later. The "results" section usually does not relate the observations to molecular-level phenomena, but focuses on what you can see and measure directly.

Discussion (includes molecular-level interpretation)

The "Discussion" section of a paper focuses on the interpretation of your result, especially what your observations (from the results section) imply at a molecular level. While experiments are typically based upon some hypothesis, it is important to discuss the results objectively – your observations may or may not support your original hypothesis, or may simply by inconclusive. The discussion section should also point out the features and any limitations of your work. If you can make specific conclusions, or if your results are supported/refuted by other experimental work, this is the place to bring it up. Suggest further study or applications if appropriate.

Conclusions

A short concise summary of the most important conclusions you can draw from your experiments.

References

Cite sources used in writing your report. Use appropriate reference format.¹⁸

Length of Report

The Introduction, Experimental section, and Results and Discussion should together be about 5 double-spaced pages. The abstract, figures, tables and references do not count toward this 5 page total.