HOW TO PUT A LAB

REPORT TOGETHER

A GUIDE TO TECHNICAL
WRITING
NOTES ON TECHNICAL WRITING
Although the paper you are preparing is a scientific paper, I will base my
evaluation (and your grade) on several criteria including:
1.
Technical merit
2.
Logic of arguments
3.
Word usage, composition, and style.

You not only have to do good research on your topic, but you must also relay your results
to your audience (me in this case) in good form. The best researcher in the world will be
doomed if he or she cant communicate his or her findings to the reader in a logical and
understandable.
The following are some tips to guide you in writing your paper:
1.

Prepare an outline first to provide better organization to your report.

2.

Remember that the paragraph should address one primary topic. As a rule, the
topic of a paragraph should be introduced in the first sentence of the
paragraph. When you switch to a new topic, begin a new paragraph.

3.

End the paper with a concluding section that draws conclusions and tells how
the original purpose of the paper was (or wasnt) accomplished.

4.

Jargon slows down most readers. Dont use four-syllable words if you can
use two-syllable words.

5.

Keep sentences simple. Dont clutter them up with an endless maze of

phrases. Two phrases are usually enough for any sentence. Dont worry
about choppy sentences.

6.

Omit needless words. As William Strunk, Jr. put it Vigorous writing is

concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no
unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no
unnecessary lines, and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not, that
the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his
subject only in outline, but that every word tell.
Some examples:
Wordy
As to whether
He is a man who
This is a subject that
In spite of the fact that
The fact that she had not succeeded

7.

Concise
whether
he
this subject
although
her failure

When you make a statement, back it up with data.

e.g., The bacteria increased dramatically in the experimental group (NO)
e.g., The zone of inhibition increased from 0.0 mm in the control group to 0.4
mm in the experimental groups (YES)

8.

Remember data is plural. these data show or their data

demonstrate

9.

Cite all references in the text if the original idea is not your own. Cite
references to back up statements you make in your reports. This allows the
reader to either verify what you report or to refer to the citation for additional
information.
e.g. The sedimentation rate of 0.3 cm/yr, is similar to the that for other
Midwestern reservoirs (Black, 2005).
or
According to Black (2005), the sedimentation rate of 0.3 cm/yr is similar to
other Midwestern reservoirs.

10.

If you include figures and tables with your report, they should be called out in
the text when you refer to them. Figures and tables must be presented in
numerical order e.g. Table 1 precedes Table 2.

11.

Your References Cited section must use the following format:

a. FOR ARTICLES
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article.
Title of Periodical, volume number (issue number), pages.
b. FOR WEBSITES
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication if possible). Title of
document. Retrieved from http://Web address
c. If you have any questions reference this site.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/10/

Things to Avoid:
Using spell checking does not equal proofreading. Prefect is not perfect but it
is a word.
Colloquialisms slang language: get the hang of, kind of, just about. Example: E.
coli are found in just about all animals. Fix: E. Coli are found in the digestive
systems of warm-blooded animals like mammals.
Loaded inaccurate or imprecise terms flourish, thrive, dramatic, tremendous,
impressive. Example: There was a dramatic increase in E. coli bacteria. Fix: E.
coli increased from 0 colonies to 210 colonies.