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Title of Your Report
Be a little creative
“Bio366L Lab Report”
gets boring
Name
Bio366L-Section # Group #
Date
TA: Name of TA
1 of 5
Introduction – 5 points
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Introduction – 5 points
This document shows you exactly how I want the lab reports formatted. You should try to follow
this layout as best as you can. I have included mock figures, tables and formulas to show you what I
am looking for when grading your data. Sticking to specific formats and page lengths are an
important part of publishing scientific data. In fact, most journals will not accept your work if it is
too long or formatted incorrectly. For this reason, sticking to the format and page length is worth 2
point on your total lab report grade. Grammar and spelling are also important for effective
communication. Since modern word processing software checks for both, please use these to make
sure your report is not full of errors. I will subtract up to 5 points off your total report grade for
bad grammar and spelling.
The format should be double spaced text in 12-point font with 1-inch margin all around. I
recommend using a serif font (like Cambria or Times), but I know you may have a limited selection
of fonts so any 12-point font that is legible is acceptable. You should have a section title that is bold
and in 18-point font before each section, just like the one that says ‘Introduction’ here. You should
have a title page (which doesn’t count against your page limit), where you also list the names of
your collaborators (the other people in your lab group if any). Your title page with collaborator list
(including yourself) is worth 1 point.
The page requirement for the Lab Report is 5 to 7 pages. Remember, the title page and your list of
references DO NOT count against your page limit. You may also have additional appendices at the
end of your report which do not count toward your page limit as well.
Your introduction should probably be around 1-1.5 pages in length. Here, you are demonstrating
you having a firm grasp on the background information of your topic of choice. Without showing
that you have command over sufficient knowledge first, the rest of your report would not elicit
trust in your reader. You could summarize IN YOUR OWN WORDS, the results of your literature
research. This is one of the best places to get in your references to primary literature too.
Wikipedia might be a good place to start your initial search, but actually comb through the
references listed in the Wikipedia article. Some of the reference listed could be primary sources
that you can use. Do not list the Wikipedia article itself as a reference. Within your introduction,
you should also state the purpose of your paper, such as 1) elucidating the properties of
something, 2) detailing the process of a procedure, 3) demonstrating a concept, etc.
You should clearly describe how the experiments you are about to discuss in detail will
demonstrate the concepts you just wrote about. This does not need to be in-depth, but you should
have two or three sentences devoted to this.
The introduction is worth 5 points in total for your first report:
• 3 points for background info about the experiments (some from primary
literature). History of cloning, the various techniques
• 1 point for referencing your research adequately (your lab manual should be the
bare minimum reference here).
• 1 point for stating the purpose of this whole experiment.
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1
Materials and Methods – 3 points
This section is only worth 3 points because you can state that you followed the lab manual, which
pages you used, and reference it as a source (just like you did before). If you made modifications to
any step in the procedure, list those as well. In addition, this section should be written with the
mindset that if another person were to repeat your experiment, he/she should get the same
results as you did.
Results – 5 points
In your materials and methods, you should have listed the various experiments and test methods
you have performed. Here is where you provide the findings of each experiment. Present the data
as they are without bias and undue interpretation. Be conservative in your data presentation, and
only show what you need to in order to get your point across. Overwhelming amounts of poorly
formatted data are not only confusing; they will increase your page length and ultimately cost you
points.
Please pay attention to how I want your data formatted. You must label AND caption every figure,
table and/or formula. This is worth 1 point. If you need to, you may combine the Figure title and
caption together, but you must have a narrative accompany each figure and also reference your
figure in your text; instead of having a figure just floating in your report without a purpose.
Figure 1. Title this figure something descriptive that relates to your data. The title
should be bold, and 14 point font.
3.5-
3
2.5-
Caption. This is where you
should write a descriptive
caption for your figure. You do
not need to discuss the
conclusions of this data, but do
list what the data is, what the
2
1.5-
◆ Y-Value 1
1
-Linear(Y-Value 1) legend means, and what any
0.5-
arrows or other symbols are
referring to. Also, for graphs
with trendlines, include the
0 +
0
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
3
Axis Title
formula and the R-squared
value.
2
Axis Title
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Conclusions – 10 points
Here is where you get the majority of your points for the lab report. First, introduce each
experiment (part A, B, C…etc.) by discussing the objective of performing it (what are you trying to
show), and talk briefly about how you obtained the data (DO NOT reiterate the methods, just
describe the basic concept). This is worth 2 points. You do not need to include every piece of data
you obtained. What’s most important here is to show that you performed an experiment and
obtained data that either do or do not support the objective of said experiment.
If you used data that your lab group did not generate, you must reference your data source, and
explain why you did not use your own data. This is a good opportunity to demonstrate your
understanding of the experiment by describing what went wrong with your procedure. Your
discussion of the data is worth 3 points.
You stated your data as they are without bias in your results section, now is the time for you to
present your interpretation/analysis. What do all the data suggest? Synthesize a conclusion using
all the available data (including data from your background research). It is Ok if you have
conflicting data. State where you think the source of conflict might be and offer solutions. If your
data are unclear, then propose other experiments you might do to obtain clarity in your next
approach. Are there anything you can do differently next time to save your data from being
useless? All of this, plus relating the discussion back to your experimental objective is worth 4
points.
You should specifically state the questions asked in the lab manual at the end of each experiment,
and answer those questions by referencing your data and conclusions for that experiment. This is
worth 1 point. I expect to have a concise discussion of objectives, data, conclusions, and answers
to the lab manual questions (if any) for each experiment BEFORE you move on to discussing the
next one. This will make it much easier for me to grade each part of the exercise independently, so
if you missed a day or something went wrong with the next part, I can take that into account
separately from the ‘good’ data.
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Table 1. Tables should be numbered
separate from figures. The title
should be bold, and 14 point font.
Data title 1
56.7
67.8
78.9
Table caption. This is where you should write
a descriptive caption for your table.
Data title 2
12.3
34.5
67.8
3
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5 of 5
References – 2 points
This should be some easy points. You get 1 point for having AT LEAST 3 references, and 1 point
for having AT LEAST one primary literature reference. Primary literature means original, not
previously published research (reviews of lots of other people’s research don’t count). You can find
these by going to PubMed, Google Scho or using the library research tools. You may use any
reference style, but keep in mind the page limits. I recommend the APA citation style or the
number-in-line style, where you cite using a superscript number. ¹ You will have to list your
references in numerical order though. Also, DO NOT cut and paste a link to a webpage as a
reference. MS Word has a reference manager that will allow you to input webpages as references.
If you are not using Word, look up how to appropriately reference webpages on the internet.
Points breakdown
Introduction
5
Materials & Methods.
3
Results
Conclusions
10
References.
2
Total
25
Other deductions
Format deviation (2)
Missing title page (1)
Missing label/caption on figures and tables (1 pt per occurrence)
Incorrect grammar (5)
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Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
