OVERVIEW: Content and Structure 1

A laboratory report has a clear structure, and this is very helpful when you come to write your report. The stages in the report and their sequence have developed in this way to accurately re-tell or recount a scientific activity and to interpret the results of this activity. In this way scientific knowledge is developed out of scientific experimentation. In a short report, some of the stages are omitted, shortened or combined so that the most important parts of the report can be written and displayed in a smaller space, usually one side of an A4 page in length.

STRUCTURE OF TRADITIONAL REPORT	STRUCTURE OF SHORT REPORT
Title	Title
Abstract	-
Introduction	Introduction (aim and justification for experiment)
Methods	Study design (optional)
Results	Results (tables and/or figures only)
-	Legend
Discussion	Discussion and Conclusion
Conclusion	-
References	-
Appendix (-ces)	-