Guide To Writing Scientific Lab Report

The scientific world is one that is rich in information and even richer in technology. For the longest time now, man has strived to understand all that is around him and find out more about nature through experimentation either for recreation, learning, or when his survival entirely depends on it. In the modern-day and age, things have really changed and the strides that have been made are quite huge and this means that things are also done differently. Lab analysis and experiments especially in the academic field are always followed by a lab report. This is of course in preparation for the career world as this is embedded into each and every one. So, as you begin writing scientific lab report, what do you really have to have in mind and what exactly are you expected to articulate for maximum effectiveness.

After sourcing from the best sources on a worldwide scale on what it takes to write the best scientific lab report, I have made a compilation of everything that you need to know so as to be at the top of your game. So, without further ado let’s dive right into it.

Title

The title is a very essential part of your lab reports as it gives it the identity and it gives the reader a clear line of where you are heading. The title should be brief and precise. It should only include the very essentials of the report and should tell the reader what you will be writing about. Remember that you should position your title in liaison with your hypothesis as this kind of flow will synchronize your whole paper. Always make the title descriptive, informative, and direct.

The first page of your lab report should be dedicated to the title, which is why it is called the ‘title page’. On top of the actual title of your paper, you should also include the name of the author(s) and the date it was published.

Table of content

The table of content is basically a guide of what shall be included in the paper and it only highlights the subtitles in the paper and the number page. It makes work easier and organizes your paper in a professional manner. It also comes in handy when you need to reference or scheme for certain information. Having in mind that you have already conducted the whole experiment beforehand then this should be very easy as it is basically a review of what you did. According to research done late last year showed that you should always start off by filling the table of content, it gives you the format that you will use in your paper. The reason behind this is because it follows the APA format of writing that is globally recommended and accepted for these kinds of papers. The APA format of writing encompasses a variety of details among which are font used, the procedure to be followed, and most importantly the dos and don’ts.

When following this style of writing you can be sure not to miss any detail as it is basically similar to implementing an already established system. If you are familiar with the APA format of writing you will realize that it is well articulated in the following steps.

Abstract

The abstract of your paper is supposed to give the general feeling of your paper and give a pre-summary of what you will covering. Of course, you cannot go into details as that will be well handled in the conclusion. This helps set up the rhythm of the paper. Ensure that you give the main ideas in the paper but do not pick-up phrases from the article unless it is a direct quotation.

Introduction

Everyone knows that in everything that you do, there must be an introduction, may it be a meeting, interview, or even formal documents this is no different here. You have to start it off with a strong introduction. This creates a firm basis for your lab report. In this section, you can state the hypothesis. The hypothesis is the guiding statement that tells what experiment you shall be tackling and on top of that the expected results at the end of the experiment. This should be in liaison with the title.

When creating your introduction, you can also review an existing theory of the research that you will be undertaking. Mostly the experiments that you will be conducting will not be a new thing in the field and there might be a paper done on the same and it is vital that you compare your results for the purpose of accuracy. However, depending on a couple of variables such as your sample and other surrounding factors, it is possible to get different results. This does not mean that you are wrong. Select the most suitable theory that fits your circumstances and that is most likely to give similar results to yours.

Next, you need to give basic information on the theory and how it is related to what you will be handling. This elevates your reader’s position and eliminates any dangling questions.

Lab safety and precautions

The word experiment according to the English dictionary means ‘perform a scientific procedure, especially in a laboratory, to determine something.’ This means that the reaction is still unknown until the experiment is done. A simple wrong miscalculation and wrong mixing of solutions could lead to an unprecedented reaction that could be catastrophic. Hereby, you are urged to get through all lab safety and precautions depending on the kind of experiment you will be conducting. Ensure that everything is clearly labeled and that safety measures are in place.

Your scientific lab report could potentially be used in the future by another scholar as a point of review and this could have an immense impact. It is the small things such as these that matter.

The experimental procedure, types of equipment, methods, and collection

Now going a notch deeper into this, you now define your experiment. What do I mean by defining your experiment?

Identify your equipment

Different experiments require different types of equipment and components to test different reactions. You need to first identify all your equipment and solutions and samples as well that you will be engaging. The more details that you offer here, the better. You should describe everything in all its aspects possible, by color, texture, shape, form, smell, and all other characteristics. This will give a clear picture of what you are working with.

State your experimental procedures

Experimental procedures are an accurate representation of how you conduct your experiment to achieve certain results. They include definite facts and should be followed to the letter. Depending on the type of method you have chosen then it has its own procedure and if it is messed up could render the whole project void. This is because a change in procedure leads to different results and using the wrong measure of solutions makes the project ineffective.

Data collection

write my lab report — *Data collection in a lab*

As a scientist, the very heart of your work is in keeping records. Records are basically a written representation of your findings from your experiment as a result of the seen reactions. Data collection is mostly done in a tabular form and maybe a combination of statements and figures. This representation of data is essential in data analysis and making conclusions.

While collecting data you can do it in a guided manner, or in an unguided manner. Some procedures also define how data should be collected while others leave it up to the researcher depending on what they are looking for. In every stage, make sure to note even the slightest change. Remember that a state of no reaction is still a result that should be considered and documented. However, you should already have in mind what you were expecting to find. This basis is already created from the data you had collected from previous similar experiments done. It can also be guided by your hypothesis.

Calculations

Raw data is not useful to anyone other than the researcher, and this is only to a certain degree. This means that you have to synthesize the data into more meaningful information by doing the necessary calculation on your data depending on the results that you got and also depending on what you want to prove. These calculations should be inclined towards proving your hypothesis and MUST be shown.

The main reason for showing your calculations is to remove any doubts from your evaluator or reader’s mind on the clarity of your results. It could also save you the hustle of having to retrace where you might have messed step. It works as a win-win for everyone.

Results

Now that you already have the calculations in check it time to make meaning from all that you have done. First things first, Are the results found the same as what you expected? If so what does it mean for your paper? If not, where did you go wrong/ was it on your hypothesis? experiment? your data collection or in your analysis? If you are able to answer all these questions then you are set up for a good finish.

Conclusion and summary

A strong conclusion is ideal for these sorts of papers. They give you an open ground to basically review your paper and experiment process as well. You are allowed to give an acute but brief overview of your experiment, data collection, and analysis. You can state the challenges you might have faced and also give recommendations. A well-placed conclusion will often take your paper from a 7 to a 10.

While writing the summary it is vital that you give credit where it is due and acknowledge the sources from which you base your work on so as not to be flagged for plagiarism. On top of giving the collaboration of your hypothesis, (thesis, if available) and your results you can also state your references as well. Credibility is key.

The whole representation of the lab report should be in a formal tone, in the past tense as it is assumed that you only compile this paper after you have conducted the experiment and you use the third person reference.

If this all seems complex for you, you can always pay someone to write my lab report and compile it for you and you can be sure to get the best quality there is. The simple reason is that an expert lab report writer has handled a lot of such projects and are up to date with the different writing style as recommended. They also know when and how to include the presented information. Lab report writing have never gotten this easier.

With all the above information you can be sure that you are set up for the perfect lab report.

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How To Write Systematic Literature Review

HOW TO WRITE SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

The process of research is quite cumbersome but even more delicate is the presentation of your findings. More often than not, researchers are forced to do some further research on how to present their findings. Given that there are many channels of research, one of the most pursued avenues is of literature review. This is done by keenly putting a singular or a group of research findings under the scope and weighing its accuracy in relation to your hypothesis. This avenue has been pursued mostly to tell of the progressive steps that have been taken in certain fields. Now that I have gotten your attention, lets jump right into it and break this down.

Hypothesis

A hypothesis basically refers to having the end in mind even before starting your research. A hypothesis is a statement that poses the question that you will be seeking to answer. In formulating this question, you will be looking to be not only relevant but also lead your writers to the end goal.

Despite having a leading question, you also need to have a guiding statement which is what we will call the thesis. The thesis is a summary of the hypothesis and it is a statement that states your stand through the literature review. This means that you should have it in mind at all times and often give reference to it so as not to lose relevance and miss the aim of the paper. It is also important to quote the preferred method of research and what you will use to sieve and grade your information.

Research

From the lay-man understanding of literature review, this is basically the reviewing of already published literature as a source of information. With this in mind, you will have to first research for relevant research articles, books and literary material. Once you are equipped with this material it’s now time for the treasure hunt. It is quite imperative that you keep an open mind while researching as this will avoid bias altogether. The data you are looking for will be quite vast and will be categorized by both an alignment of ideas to your thesis as well as those that are of a variant opinion.

Data Analysis

After going through a variety of sources in search of information that answers your hypothesis you then have to filter and restrain yourself to sources that you feel will be quite consequential in your paper. This will be dependent on the strategy you had decided on to help you sieve and grade the information. Pick preferred literature that you will hereby put under the scope for scrutiny. This officially now brings us to the literature review. The research part of this project is as vital as the presentation and submission as well, after all, we wouldn’t want to present half-hearted done work.

Away from the research now, we have to represent the data in a more reasonable, meaningful and most importantly acceptable way that is up to standard. According to the international standards of writing, the APA format[style] of writing has come highly recommended on a global scale. The APA style is an all-round format that takes consideration of all principles of writing and most certainly ensures that you do not miss out any details.

Format of Systematic Literature Review

This is the American Psychological Association that has come in as the go-to format when it comes to psychological and social science-related projects. It has over time proved its worth as it covers all the necessary scope allowing no room for any omission. So how is the layout in APA format?

Title

Every work of literature has to have a title, after all, even you have a name. The title has to be in line with whatever it is that you will be talking about in your paper. However, there are a couple of reservations when it comes to creating this heading.

The title should be in capital letters all through.
The font used in the title should be the same font that you use all through your writing
The title should not be italics nor should it be underlined.
Finally, it is imperative that you limit your title to as few words as possible that pass the general feel of your writing. Avoid using unnecessary words and phrases in your title. However, it should be relevant. On the same note, refrain yourself from using abbreviations in the title.

Contrary to the titles in other forms of writing such as a report, this will require to be on its own page and with it, it is accompanied by a couple of details such as who are authors, institution affiliation ( for professional papers) but in the case of an academic paper you can add the lecturer’s name, unit name and due date.

Running headers

Given that this might be quite lengthy, it is important that you add page headers and with them comes page numbering as well. This is a feature that is easily accessible in writing applications. The page header is simply a replication of the title phrase at the very top of the page.

Abstract

An abstract is a summary of the literature(s) that you’ll be reviewing. This allows the reader to familiarize themselves as well as brace themselves for the review. Having a good abstract is of utmost importance as it tells the reader if it is worth reading and sets their attitude towards your review.

Body

Enough of teasing your readers with summaries and titles, you now give them the real deal which is covered in the body. Now when generating the body you will need to start with a reminder of the concept you will be bringing on the table which will be contained in the thesis statement.

Now you have an open ground to work from as you can take either side depending on your point of view or findings you got you can either support or go against the findings. How do you do this? What do you follow?

Chronology

Take a journey from the point that your research started and to there your findings took you. This will tell you on the changes that have taken place and as you join the dots along the way you will be able to tell where your hypothesis fits in.

Methodology

For each of the works of literature that you put under the scope, they all used a certain method to arrive at their findings. So how does the method of choice affect the findings? What methodological preferences are available? And how different are the results from different approaches? All these are vital questions that both you and your reader will be looking to unravel by the end of the review.

Ideology.

All these researchers that you have in mind are quite unique in their ideology depending on different factors that surrounded their research. Subsequently, you too have your won ideology which is why you are undertaking the review. While introducing the different theories presented you will find their similarities and differences as well as their contributions to the field

Result

Result based research is ideal in these situations. It is from presented results that projects are evaluated and depending on the idea in mind and the method used then we are in a position to state the results.

Headings and subheadings

The ability to deliver a point across is also dependent on the presentation. This would suggest that so as to keep the reader in the flow and to ensure maximum simplification it is good that you use headings and subheadings when delivering points. This can subsequently be used in summarizing your work and easy referencing through scheming. They can be numbered or even underlined to help them stand out.

The body of your review should not be as long as most people are led to believe. Only relevant points are to be included.

Tone

As we had stated earlier systematic literature review can either be used in academic settings or professional settings. In both of these settings, it is advised that you try as much as you can to keep the tone on an official zone. This passes across the notion of professionalism and indicated that you know clearly what you are doing. On the same note, you should use active voice.

Given that the basis of your paper is primarily on other peoples reports on their research then

Punctuation and numerical

A literature review is not limited to only qualitative review which means that quantity as a measure of value will be used and this can only be represented in numerical form. However, when representing this information, it is important that you remember that only numbers above 10 are numerically written while numbers below ten are spelt out.

The basic rules of punctuation are also followed to the letter with a couple of tweaks here and there. These changes, however, are still new into the new 7th edition APA format guidebook. A good example of this is that when refereeing to a period in plural from you should not add an apostrophe. in the 1990s, not in the 1990s!. these are just a couple of things that require you to be conscious about to maintain the high-level standards that we have set ourselves to since the start.

Conclusion and summary

The end of your paper is one of the most important parts as it is the ultimate climax as far as the body is concerned. In this section, you are supposed to conclude your paper and prove your thesis. This is what basically tells you if you have maintained relevance and if all that you have compiled is relevant yo your thesis statement.

You need to revisit both the thesis and hypothesis and now give your verdict on whether or not you are for or against it. All your argument is now focused on this moment and you can lead your reader to halt. A strong conclusion is always highly recommended.

Referencing and citations

By now it is quite clear that literature review is basically taking another author’s, or a group of authors literature and reviewing it on the scale of a given hypothesis. This means that through your paper you will need to acknowledge your sources and at the end, you will be required to give credit where it is due. Under no circumstances should you avoid this section. This will be the only thing that protects you from plagiarism and spinning. So how do your citations and your referencing of sources?

Well, despite the fact that these word at times used interchangeably they hold a different meaning.

Citation

A citation may come randomly within the paper and it most commonly is seen whenever there is a quotation of phrase from one of your sources. When quoting this you cite only the name of the publisher and the date that the document was published. This adds clarity to your work and does not mislead the reader to work on an assumption on whether the phrases are yours or they are borrowed. Some of the sources you might use are well known on a global scale and this is hard to not acknowledge them after all you don’t want to run the risk of plagiarism

Referencing

When it comes to referencing you have to include the name of the document, name of the publisher, title of the section and even the URL used in research. In this, there is no leaving anything for imagination. When referencing, you will have to take a different approach to book texts, newspapers and even in journals. They are all individual pieces. This part of the literature review is always the lats and this sets the climax of your paper

Well! Literature reviews have just gotten easier with all this info at your disposal. Remember that if you are to follow APA style of formatting then you should take heed of details and this might be the thing that talks you from a 7 to a 10. As I always say, you should get the best out of everything and this should not be an exception.

Also you can talk to our literature review writing services for assistance and guidance on how to write systematic review.