Overview
Research Reports can describe the results of a single term’s research progress, or, for those planning to submit an undergraduate thesis, can incorporate the term’s results into the report prepared for previous work on the same project. In the latter case, each section of the report should be updated to reflect new information which became available during the term (e.g. references to related work, etc.). Reports should be prepared in the following format.
The following describes, in general terms, the format for all scientific reports. However, the details of the “Materials and Methods” (or experimental) and references sections vary according to practices within certain fields. Look at research publications in your research area to see how information is typically presented. The “Instructions to Authors” guide in the first issue of the year for any journal provides detailed instructions for preparing papers. Also, consult books such as “The ACS Style Guide” by Janet S. Dodd for details on all aspects of scientific reports.
Abstract
The abstract is a brief (<250 words) summary of the research including any hypotheses which were tested, methods used, results, and conclusions. Continuing students should incorporate all their research accomplishments on this project, including those of previous terms and summers, into a comprehensive abstract.
Introduction
The introduction should include a description of the research area, pertinent background information and testable hypotheses, and the long and short term goals of the project. It should provide sufficient background information (with literature citations) so that a scientifically literate reader can understand and appreciate the experiments to be described. The specific aims of the project should be identified along with a rationale for the experiments performed.
Materials and Methods
The material and methods section should describe the materials and/or subjects and the procedures used to test the hypothesis(es) investigated in the research project. The methods employed should be described in sufficient detail so that the experiments could be repeated by a competent researcher.
Results
The results should describe the rationale for each experiment, the results obtained, statistical tests used to analyze the data, and the conclusions derived from these results. Results should be organized into figures and tables with descriptive captions where appropriate.
Discussion/Conclusion
The discussion/conclusion should discuss the relevance of the experimental results to the specific aims articulated in the Introduction and relate the conclusions derived from the results to current understanding of the problem being investigated. Do the results support the hypothesis(es) being tested? New questions which arise from the data should be identified, and possible future experiments to answer these questions should be described.
Literature Cited
A properly formatted (acceptable formats depend on the journal) list of cited literature. Examples of acceptable reference styles include:
Citations: single author (Liu, 1995); two authors (Liu and Smith, 1995); or multiple authors (Liu et al., 1995) or numbered, e.g. (1), in which case references are numbered.
References: Liu, Y., van Heeswijck, R., Høj, P., and Hoogenraad, N. (1995) Purification and characterization of ornithine acetyltransferase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Eur. J. Biochem. 228, 291-296.