HOW TO WRITE YOUR BIOLOGY LAB REPORT

The most frequent mistake made in writing the biology lab report is failure to follow these directions. Your
instructor will use a summarized version of this handout as their grading guide. Do not use APA, MLA, or any
other writing guide. Use this handout as your writing guide. Use the boxes provided to check your work.
IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER
You are required to complete the Moodle Quiz covering this handout before you can submit a lab report.
Write this lab report so another biology student could understand and appreciate your work. Do not write
this report to your instructor. Your peers are the audience to keep in mind while writing this paper.
However, do not write as if you are having a conversation with your friends.
Use formal language. Do not use contractions (dont must be do not). Do not use slang.
You must write using complete sentences. Choose your words wisely. Say what you mean clearly and avoid
using unnecessary words. The goal is to communicate your findings clearly and concisely.
Ex. YES: The goldfish breathed faster when subjected to higher temperatures.
NO: The goldfishs breathing was faster when it was subjected to higher temperatures.
Each paragraph must begin with a topic sentence and the body of the paragraph should support that topic.
You must participate in the experiment in order to receive credit for the lab report.
Lab reports must be written independently (i.e. no copying), or you will receive a zero.
You must write your report using a computer including your graphs.
Lab reports must be double spaced using 12 pt font Times New Roman.
Each section must have a heading (Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and
Literature Cited)
Use PAST TENSE. Your report reflects work that has been completed; therefore use the past tense to write
about it throughout your paper (including the Introduction).
Use Third Person past tense.
Ex. YES: Each goldfish was captured, weighed, and released into a holding tank.
NO: We captured our goldfish, then we weighed them and released them.
Grammar and spelling will be graded. Use spell check and have someone proofread your report.
Do not use direct quotations! However, you must acknowledge the work of others used in writing your report.
Summarize the original authors work in your own words and cite the source within the text of your report
and the Literature Cited section of your paper (See Literature Cited section at the end of this handout).
Substituting a few words, like the for an is NOT paraphrasing, its plagiarism.
*Plagiarism is the use of another persons work represented as your own.
Plagiarism is considered cheating, a violation of the honors code of the University, and grounds for
disciplinary action.

LAB REPORT FORMAT

Title Do not include a title page. Save paper.
Write an original, descriptive title for the experiment that makes sense. Directly under your title include:
Your name, followed by the names of all of your lab partners
Class number and section: For example BIOL 152-01
Instructors name:
The date (the due date)

Introduction (States the problem to be solved or the question to be answered)

Begin this section with a strong sentence that identifies the subject area of interest. Use keywords from your
title in the first few sentences to focus the reader on your topic.
Provide a brief review of background information of your subject to give the reader an idea of what was
known about this subject before you conducted your experiment. This review should include all the concepts
involved in your experiment. Put this information in your own words and CITE your references (see below).
Your background information should start broad (big picture) and lead into the specific topic/question you
are investigating.
State the purpose of your experiment clearly and concisely. State your null and alternative hypotheses
explicitly and in proper form. Remember, properly written hypotheses include both the independent and
dependent variable. Include your hypotheses in a sentence within the paragraph not in bullet form.
REMEMBER TO CITE YOUR REFERENCES within the Introduction. You must have at least three
references (See Literature Cited section). You may use the lab manual or the textbook as one of these. The
other two references should be from scientific journal articles that you may find by searching with Google
scholar or one of the librarys searchable databases. Use references that specifically support your subject.
DO NOT USE Wikipedia, online dictionaries, or encyclopedias as a reference. The internet is a good place
to narrow your search for journal articles, but websites in general are not appropriate references.
Materials and methods
Clearly and concisely explain how the experiment was conducted. Remember it should be written in third
person past tense (you have already completed this work that you are reporting).
Describe the Materials (including equipment) and any Methods used to complete your experiment.
Describe your experimental design including the variables and control. Use specific names to identify your
variables (e.g. temperature-stressed fish) not vague names like (fish 1).
This section is not a step- by- step recipe.
Ex. YES: Two 600ml beakers filled with 250ml of aged water were used as containment vessels.
NO: First obtain two 600ml beakers then fill these with 250ml of aged water. These beakers
will be your containment vessels.
Do not list the materials you used. Always write in paragraph form.
Another biology student should be able to replicate your experiment after reading this section.
Results
Report your results in a sequence that will support the answer to the question or problem stated in the
Introduction. For example, report the data for your controls first then report the data for your experimental
groups.
Summarize your data by reporting the key results. Use averages or percents to summarize your data.
Do not describe every data point, but you can refer to some of the more interesting data points you collected.
Describe initial measurements, final measurements, and trends within each group of data.
DO NOT explain or interpret your data in this section, simply describe your results.
Refer to your graph within the text of your results (See example below).
The graph should be included below (after) your written results.
Ex. The breathing rates of goldfish subjected to temperatures less than 28C decreased from a starting
rate of 100 breaths/minute to 7 breaths/minute (Figure 1).
Note: It will be easier to write your results after you have created your graph.
The axes must be labeled, including the units of measurement (See below)

 Write a figure legend (brief description of the graph) and place it below the graph (see example).
Please, make your graphs large and easy to read (not small like the example).

Figure 1. The effect of decreasing water temperature on the breathing rates of goldfish
(C = control groups, E = Experimental groups). *NOTE: This is your figure legend.
Discussion
Interpret (explain) your results. Be specific, do not generalize.
Include how your results relate to the background information you presented in your introduction. For
instance, how does your data compare with previous findings? How has your study added to our
understanding of this subject compared to what was already known? NOTE: Cite your sources.
You must connect your conclusions to your question/hypothesis that you stated earlier in the introduction.
For instance, do you reject your null hypothesis? Address the question/problem you posed in the introduction
given your new data.
Specifically, point out how your data supports the conclusions you just stated.
Explain any possible sources of error and how that may have affected your results.
What extension(s) of this study would you suggest to further clarify your hypothesis?
Ex. The decline in breathing rates of goldfish exposed to decreasing water temperature suggests that
oxygen requirements in goldfish are reduced at low temperatures. These findings are in agreement with
previous research (Smith et al. 1998). Therefore, we reject our null hypothesis and conclude .
Literature Cited (Works Cited) (This section does not have to be on a separate page.)
You must have at least three references (At least two scientific journal articles and the lab manual or
textbook). The references you list in this section should be mentioned where it is necessary in the text of your
report (see example below). Any reference in Literature Cited should also be cited in the text. Likewise, any
reference in the text should appear in Literature Cited.
Example of cite within text:
The body temperature of aquatic ectotherms depends upon the temperature of the environment (White and
Campo 2013).
[Notice it contains the author(s) and date only. The reader can refer to the Literature Cited section for
the full citation. In some cases there are more than two authors (Dean et al. 1973). The abbreviation
et al. (for et alia) means and the rest.]
Example of cite in Literature cited section:

White, M. E. and F. M. Campo. 2013. Investigations in Biology, 6th ed. Hayden McNeil Publishing,
Plymouth, Michigan
Dean, B. E., A. Mason, and J. L. Thomas. 1973. Wildflowers of Alabama and Adjoining States. The University
of Alabama Press. University, Alabama.