BIOL 1411 Lab Checklist for Report on Experiment for Peer Review
This should not replace reading other handouts I give you but it provides a checklist.
Please use this checklist to review the reports from the 2 other groups in your class. Please place a tick mark against everything in the report that is included and an x against everything that is not included.
Names of Authors of Report under Review ___________________________________________
Names of Reviewers ____________________________________________________________
You should have the following in your report:
- Title
- List of authors and an address (affiliation) (SWTJC)
- Introduction
- Materials and Methods
- Results
- Discussion
- References (Literature Cited)[unique_solution]
Acknowledgements if appropriate
Title
- States clearly what you investigated
- Includes common name and scientific name of organism used if appropriate
Introduction
- Purpose of study
- Background information and previous research (introduces key concepts and defines terminology)
- References cited in CSE or APA format (Name Year method)
- Hypothesis/Predictions (preferably related to previous research or knowledge)
- Importance of study
Materials and Methods
- Enough information to allow others to repeat the experiment
- Past tense
- Written in a paragraph form
- Where study carried out
- Information about organism used if need more than in Introduction
- Clearly explains design of experiment
- Equipment
- Clearly explains how data collected
- Clearly explains how data analyzed (calculations, statistics)
Results
- Provides data in figures/tables and text
- Text summarizes data shown in figures and tables
- Text refers to specific figures and tables (e.g. As shown in Fig. 1,… or Fig. 1 shows that …..)
- Figures and tables numbered in the order in which they are referred to
- All figures (e.g. graphs) have a figure legend (caption) below the figure that describes what the graph shows but without describing any trend, e.g. Fig. 1. Mean total radish shoot biomass in relation to seed density.
- All tables have a title above the table
- All figures and tables have correct units
- All figures and tables display results clearly
- Numbers of individuals or replicates are given in the figure legend or table
- Interpretation of data is left to Discussion section
Discussion
- Explanation of results in relation to hypothesis
- Comparisons to other studies (with citations of course)
- Unexpected findings and difficulties may be discussed
- Suggestions for further research or ways that your study could be modified may be discussed
References
- An alphabetical list of authors referred to in your presentation in CSE or APA format ((Name Year method)
- There is an in text citation for every reference in the Reference List
- There is a reference in the Reference List for every in text citation
Plagiarism is an act of academic dishonesty. Be sure to acknowledge all your sources.
Here are some links about writing scientific reports:
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/scientific-reports/
http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/SciRep_Intro.html
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/plagiarism/ Please read this if you are not sure what constitutes plagiarism. They say “When in doubt, give a citation”
Comments from Reviewers (Summary of Strengths and Weaknesses in Report):