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Home Up Ethical Behavior Lab Report Overview General Guidelines Researching the topic Report Format Grading Criteria Specifics Add. Resources MED-PC Output Cumulative Record

General Guidelines

Rules and Information:
There are computer facilities in the laboratory at 2 Cummington Street which are available for your use when working on your laboratory reports. All three computers have been loaded with both SPSS (for statistical analysis) and Excel (for figures and tables).
Use plain white paper – 8 ½ x 11 inch.
Reports are to be typed and double spaced.
Do not use fancy fonts.
Lab Reports are to be stapled in the top left hand corner. Be sure to use a stapler that can cope with the number of pages in the report. Do not use paper clips as they are low in reliability.
Do not use fancy covers.
Pages must be numbered – centered at the bottom. Do not number the title page (page 1).
Do not rely on textbooks as references. Use these only to aid you in finding original sources.

 

Appropriate use of language

The style of good scientific writing differs from that of, for example, a good short story. It is not supposed to convey moods, to be funny, or entertaining. Good scientific writing it is supposed to communicate ideas in a precise and concise manner.

The following are hints to assist you:

    1. The active voice is preferable to the passive voice" e.g. "The bird ate the grain" is better than "Grain was consumed by the bird".
    2. Do not use the first person singular. Unfortunately, this rule often makes the passive voice necessary e.g. "the bird was placed in the box at 2PM" is better than "I placed the bird in the box at 2PM".
    3. Avoid the indefinite "this" e.g. "this indicates". It is better to say: "this result indicates".
    4. Remember that "data" is plural and "datum" is singular. Write "the data were..." not "the data was...".

 

Citing References in the Body of a Paper.

When referring to a specific article or book, use the author's surname and the publication date. The following examples cover most of the forms of citation needed in papers.

    1. "In a recent study by Able (1963), it was found that..."
    2. "A recent study (Able, 1963) demonstrated that..."
    3. "A recent study (Able and Baker, 1963) demonstrated that..."
    4. "A recent study (Able, Baker and Charlie, 1963) demonstrated that..."
    5. After having cited it once, this would now become "...in the paper previously mentioned (Able et al., 1963) it was demonstrated that..."
    6. Separate several papers with semicolon: "Several studies (Able, 1963; Baker, 1959; and Charlie, 1919) have shown that..."
    7. A specific piece of information is conveyed by referring to a specific page or pages, thus: "In the tables published by Able (1961, pp. 89-101) it is clear that..."