Revision Checklist Form For Lab Reports And Scientific Papers printable pdf download

Revision checklist for

lab reports and scientific papers

Lab reports and scientific papers document the results of scientific experimentation and

communicate its significance. Typically, lab reports and scientific papers contain the following

sections: title page, abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, and

references. The title page includes the name of the experiment, the participating lab partners,

and the date; the abstract summarizes the purpose, findings, and conclusions of the

experiment; the introduction contains a statement of objectives and background information;

the materials and methods provide the list of materials and the procedure (in chronological,

narrative format) used for the experiment; the results contain the major findings of the study,

including calculations and data; the discussion includes interpretation and analysis of the

data; and the reference section lists full citations for all references cited. Lab reports and

scientific papers may also contain acknowledgments and appendices.

The major difference between lab reports and scientific papers is that lab reports are shorter

documents whose audience is typically a teacher and classmates. A scientific paper contains

the same sections as a lab report; however, beyond presenting and interpreting the experiment,

it also puts the experiment in conversation with other research in the field and invites further

study. Its audience, therefore, is the scientific community at-large.

Is the title concise, and does it adequately describe the contents? For example, with the

title “Substance Y Alters Blonial Structure of Elephant Bone Marrow,” researchers interest-

ed in substance Y, blonial structures, elephants, or bone marrow will recognize that the

article may be of interest to them.

Are the appropriate headings and subheadings included and in proper order?

Are the tone and style appropriate? Scientific writing, for the most part, is intended to be

more factual than entertaining and is not embellished with descriptive language,

anecdotes, personal opinion, humor, or dialogue.

Does the writer use passive voice, which is the generally accepted convention? The writer

of a lab report, for example, should use the passive past tense: “Solution A was

centrifuged,” not “I centrifuged Solution A.”

Is past tense used for describing the procedures and present tense for describing the

results and conclusions?

Are sentences short and to the point, expressing facts clearly and concisely? Does the

writer answer all basic questions about the topic?

Have conventions related to symbols and abbreviations been observed?

Are figures and tables numbered and accompanied by explanatory captions?

Are they introduced before they appear in the text?

Hacker Handbooks (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s).

Revision Checklist Form For Lab Reports And Scientific Papers