Preparing Lab Reports in Bio 306 Genetics

The Title [See Pechenik, 1993, pp. 102-103]

1. Does the title summarize, "as specifically as possible, what lies within the Introduction and Results section"?
2. Is there a separate title page which also includes your name and the submission date?

   The Abstract [See Pechenik, 1993, pp. 104-105]

3. Does the abstract "summarize the essence of your report: why the experiment was undertaken; what problem was addressed; how the problem was approached; what major results were found; what major conclusions were drawn... "?
4. Is this information self-contained and within a single paragraph?

   The Introduction Section [Pechenik, 1993, pp. 94-102]

5. Are the questions investigated in this study clearly stated at the end of the Introduction? (p. 105)
6. Is the background necessary to understand why these questions were asked provided? (p. 105)
7. Are all statements of fact backed with a reference? (p. 106)
8. Are specialized terms defined? (p. 106)
9. Is the Introduction brief and relevant to the study done? (p. 100-101)

   The Materials and Methods Section [Pechenik, 1993, pp. 54-60]

10. Is the methodology described "in detail sufficient to permit your experiment to be repeated exactly as originally performed"?
11. Is this section written at the correct level of detail? (p. 55)
12. Do you briefly note why certain steps of your procedure were done? (p. 57)

    The Results Section [Pechenik, 1993, pp. 60-83]

13. Does the author inappropriately discuss why the experiments were performed (belongs in Introduction), how they were performed (belongs in Materials and Methods), or whether the results were expected or interesting (belongs in Discussion)? (p. 60)
14. Are complex data appropriately presented in properly prepared, self-sufficient graphs or tables? (pp. 61-76)
15. Do figures contain legends (captions) at the bottom? Do tables contain titles at the top? (pp. 61-76)
16. Does the text "draw the reader's attention to the key patterns in your data," but not "redraw the graphs in words"? (pp. 76-81)
17. Are statistical data incorporated as prescribed by Pechenik? (pp. 119-121)

    The Discussion Section [Pechenik, 1993, pp. 85-94]

18. Overall, are your results interpreted in the context of your original questions and any relevant broader issues? (p. 85)
19. More specifically, do you explicitly indicate what you expected to find and why? (pp. 86-87)
20. Do you indicate how your observed results compared with expectations? (p. 87)
21. Do you indicate why your observations may have differed from your expectations? (pp. 87-89)

    The Acknowledgments Section [Pechenik, 1993, p. 105]

22. Do you thank those individuals who assisted you with this study for their specific help?

    The Literature Cited Section and Citing Sources

23. Are sources concisely cited according to Pechenik's prescribed format? (pp. 83-85)
24. Are the complete citations for all sources listed in a Literature Cited section according to Pechenik's prescribed format? (pp. 105-109)

    Overall Writing [Lindeman, 1995, p. 123]

25. Within each section, is there a perceivable order to the presentation? Can we follow that order?
26. Have you omitted any important details or arguments? Have you included any irrelevant details or arguments?
27. Does each paragraph signal clearly to the reader the direction in which your ideas are moving? Does each paragraph develop and complete the idea it introduces?
28. Are the rhythms and patterns of sentences appropriate for a scientific report? If the sentences seem to be "Dick-and-Jane sentences," can you combine them to break up this pattern? If the sentences are so long that we get lost in them, could you break sentences into shorter units? Do you use passive voice excessively? If so, is that usage justified?
29. Is the language appropriate for a scientific report? If you use big words, are you showing off or trying to help us understand better? Is the language fairly free of clichés, jargon, and worn-out words and phrases?
30. Have you observed the conventions of grammar, punctuation, spelling, and capitalization?

Appendices

• Brief Description of a Laboratory Report
• Checklist for Evaluating Lab Reports
• Brief Description of a Research Proposal
• Directions to Software Server
• Olympus Microscope Instructions