Effective Report Writing Guidelines in Scientific Research

1. Report Format and Scientific Writing

2. What is Scientific Writing? • Clear, simple, well ordered • No embellishments, not an English paper • Written for appropriate audience • Communicates scientific findings • Use third person

3. Format for Reports of Empirical Studies • Title Page • Abstract • Introduction • Materials and Methods • Results • Discussion • References • Appendices • Acknowledgments

4. Title Page • Title – concise statement of main topic & identifies variables involved, no waste words • Avoid assertive sentence titles, do not use abbreviations, formulas (mathematical or chemical), proprietary names or jargon • Author’s name • Institutional affiliation • Running head and page 1

5. Abstract – General Info • Dense with info, but readable, brief, well organized, and self-contained, 1 paragraph • Provide a brief summary of each of the main sections • Should not exceed 120 – 250 words • Written in past tense • Wait until body of paper to introduce unique terms, abbreviations & acronyms • Paraphrase rather than quote, cite any references

6. Abstract - Format • Describe problem • Describe materials and methods: participants/subjects, include number, type, age, sex, genus & species, experimental method, including apparatus, data gathering procedures, complete test names • Summarize results, including statistical significance levels if appropriate • Describe the conclusions and the implications or applications

7. Introduction • Purpose: presents the problem & describes the research strategy, provides reader with sufficient background • No heading, written in present tense • Consider the following when writing: • Why is this problem important? • How do the hypothesis and the experimental design relate to the problem? • What are the theoretical implications, and how does the study relate to previous work?

8. Introduction • Begin with a clear presentation of the problem • Develop the background through literature review • Do not go overboard on history • Cite the work of others, but only if pertinent • Focus on the relevant findings, methods, major conclusions • Demonstrate continuity

9. Introduction • Explain your approach in the closing paragraph(s) • Define variables being manipulated • Formal statement of hypothesis What results did you expect? Why did you expect the results? • State principle results and conclusions.

10. Materials and Methods • Describes in full detail how study was conducted • Identify subsections – usually include: participants or subjects, the apparatus (or materials), & the procedure. Depending on research, additional subsections may be necessary. • Participants or subjects – should be adequately described & representative

11. Materials and Methods • Humans – procedures for selection, assignments, agreements, demographics • Animals – genus & species, strain number, or other specific ID, such as name & location of supplier, number of animals, sex, age, weight, physiological condition, all essential details of their treatment and handling. • Microbes – genus species, source, strain number if available

12. Materials and Methods • Apparatus– standard lab equipment can be mentioned without detail • Specialized equipment – model number, supplier’s name & location • Complex or custom made equipment – may be illustrated with a drawing or photo, detailed description can be in appendix

13. Materials and Methods • Procedure – what you did and how you did it so that procedure may be replicated • Summarizes each step • Include exact technical specifications & quantities and source or method of preparation • Any instructions given to participants, include questionnaire or test in appendix • Formation of groups • Specific experimental manipulations

14. Results • Most important section, but usually the shortest • Give some kind of overall description of experiments without repeating the experimental details from the Materials and Methods Section • Summarizes data collected and the statistical treatment used. • Written in past tense • Report with sufficient detail to justify conclusions. • Mention all relevant results, including those that run counter to the hypothesis. • Do not include individual scores or raw data. These can be put in an appendix.

15. Results • Tables and figures – must refer reader to them in text • Tables may enhance readability of complex sets of analysis of variance. • Do not repeat the same info in several places. • Do not use tables for data that can be easily presented in a few sentences in the test • Stats usually presented in an appropriate table • Figures are graphs, pictures & drawings

16. Discussion • Try to present the principles, relationships and generalizations shown by the results, explain significance • Point out any exceptions or lack of correlation and define unsettled points • Show how your results and interpretations agree or contrast with previously published work • Discuss theoretical implications and/or practical applications • State your conclusions as clearly as possible • Summarize evidence for each conclusion