Getting Started

The purpose of writing a lab report is to demonstrate scientific thinking and communication by formulating hypotheses, designing, and conducting experiments as well as generating and interpreting data. A well-written lab report will convey an understanding of the objectives, process, and significance of the experiment. The writing style should be straightforward and objective. This is not the place to write creatively; scientific writing style is about unambiguous details and should avoid filler statements, flowery language, and personal opinions. Personal pronouns have no place in scientific writing. Do not use: I, me, mine, we, our, or they. Instead use indefinite pronouns such as: each, either, neither, one, both, few, several, many, none, all, and most. Do not use contractions such as can’t, don’t, won’t. A lab report is a concise gathering of information—state the point and move on. It is acceptable to use commonly accepted scientific abbreviations, such as mm (for millimeters), g (for grams), atm (for atmospheres), in scientific writing. Science is always reported in metric units.