Biology 2601A

Organismal Physiology
2020

Writing a lab report

This manual was originally developed by Dr. Louise Milligan and has been modified by
Course Instructors and teaching teams from Bio.2672/Bio.2601.

Citation Information:
Guglielmo C.G. and Way, D. (2020). Organismal Physiology Lab Manual, London, ON: Western
University.
 Biology 2601A. 1

General Guidelines & Helpful hints

The next few pages contain a lot of information about how to write a
laboratory report. Some highlights are:
• 12 pt, Times New Roman
• Double spacing
• Be concise (avoid repetition and redundancy)
• Ensure proper referencing format
• Report your statistics correctly (including number of significant digits)
• Don’t include raw data or rough work
• Check that your figures have meaningful axis labels and captions
• Check the marking rubric – it has valuable hints about what is expected

Writing a Laboratory Report

Why are you doing this?
Doing any kind of science is all about asking questions, developing hypotheses and
experiments to test those hypotheses, collecting data, effectively presenting those data,
evaluating the data, interpreting the data in light of the hypothesis (i.e. does the data collected
support or refute the hypothesis?), and – most importantly – communicating your findings to
others. The skills developed from carrying out experiments, collecting, presenting and
interpreting the data will serve you well, whether or not you pursue a career in science. The
preparation of a scientific report that communicates ideas and information obtained from
experimental work requires the ability to organize ideas logically, to think clearly and to
express your thoughts accurately and concisely.
 Biology 2601A. 2

What is required in a laboratory report for Biology 2601?

The lab reports are modeled after scientific journal articles. Each scientific journal requires that
reports be submitted in a particular style. The basic format (abstract, introduction, methods,
results, discussion and references) of scientific articles is almost universal. Style guidelines for
a journal define features such as the structure of various sections of the report, the way to
present tables and figures, grammatical conventions and referencing. We will follow the
conventions of the Journal of Experimental Biology, one of the key journals in comparative
(animal) physiology, but note that it also occasionally publishes papers on plants. Laboratory
reports should be prepared as separate documents (i.e. not in lab notebooks) according to the
style guidelines described below. Marks will be lost if you do not follow the style guidelines. If
you do not understand what is required, please consult your TA.

A typical scientific report is divided into seven sections: Title, Abstract, Introduction, Materials
and Methods, Results, Discussion and References. The general guidelines given below are
modeled after the Journal of Experimental Biology.
To see any issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology for an example:
[Link]

Title: A title may indicate:

• The question (e.g. Do trout hearts respond to temperature?)
• The intent of the investigation (e.g. Effect of temperature on the heart rate of rainbow
trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss)
• The methods or results (e.g. The heart rate of rainbow trout is insensitive to temperature).

Since your laboratory manual and your lab report deal with the same experiment, the title in the
manual is suitable for your report (although you may alter it if you wish).
 Biology 2601A. 3

Abstract:
An abstract is a brief, comprehensive summary of the most significant aspects of your work.
This is not the place to refer to the work of others. Since the abstract summarizes the entire
paper it is usually written last. An abstract should address the following questions (and marks
are assigned to these!):
• What is the hypothesis? (Give background information in a sentence or less).
• What methods were used? Name any significant features of the experimental subject,
apparatus or experimental procedures.
• What variables were measured?
• What results did you obtain? Report principal findings (including statistical significance,
but not the actual probability values, test statistic or degrees of freedom) without
comment.
• What conclusions do you draw from the results?

In Bio 2601, the abstract must be no longer than 10 lines.

Marks will be lost if you exceed this length.

Introduction:
The introduction frames the hypothesis under investigation. This is one of the more difficult
sections to write since you must select those pieces of information that are truly appropriate
from a great volume of potential background information. Effective introductions address
questions such as:

• What background information would the reader (i.e. one of your peers) need to
understand the rationale behind your experiment and the significance of the results?
• What area of biology is involved?
• Why is it important to investigate this particular problem?
• What is already known?
• What was the specific intent of this research? What is the hypothesis?
 Biology 2601A. 4

The introduction should flow from the general to the specific, ending with a clear statement of
the hypothesis (think of an inverted triangle: broad → specific). You should attempt to focus
the reader's attention from an overview, down through the relevant concepts and then to the
specific purpose of the experiment. For example, if you were writing a report on a lab in which
you investigated changes in nitrogen utilization by plants, you might start the introduction with

Keep the introduction brief, 200-250 words should suffice, and in Bio 2601, you
will lose marks if the introduction exceeds two double-spaced 12 pt pages.

the general characteristics of nitrogen metabolism. This would be followed with a brief
overview of the various forms of nitrogen availability and the factors that are important
determinants of nitrogen-use efficiency. Finally, the introduction would conclude by
addressing/stating the hypothesis (e.g. that temperature will influence nitrogen-use efficiency in
plants when nitrogen is not limiting).

Materials and Methods:

(**NOT NEEDED FOR BIOL2601 LABS**): Here you describe exactly what you did and
how you did it. An accurate account of the organisms, materials, equipment and procedures
used in your attempt to answer the research question posed in the Introduction is required. The
methods should be given in chronological order and should be detailed enough to allow your
peers to evaluate the suitability of the methods or to repeat the experiment. This section should
address such questions as:
• What organism (or strain) was used? The scientific name should be underlined or in
italics. Check that you have spelled the scientific name correctly. You may assume that
the name used in the lab manual is correct. After the first usage, you can abbreviate the
genus name (e.g. H. sapiens), but write it in full at the beginning of a sentence.
• What equipment was used? Include details such as brand and model of major equipment
(e.g. “Spectronic 20 (Milton Roy Co.)”) but omit details of common lab equipment
unless they are critically important (e.g. “the penguin was placed in a 20L plastic
container” includes the size, but not the brand of container, and you don’t need to
 Biology 2601A. 5

mention the type of thermometer, pipettor etc.).

• What were the experimental procedures?
• What were the experimental conditions (temperature, light, time of the year, etc.)?
• What were the replicates, controls and sample sizes?
• What statistical or mathematical analyses were used?

The Materials and Methods section should provide sufficient information for one of your peers to:
1. Work out how the results were obtained
2. Decide whether the methods were appropriate to the question
3. Repeat the experiment themselves.

In Biology 2601, the lab manual provides detailed Materials and Methods. So,
rather than writing out the lab manual, a reference to the appropriate section of the
lab manual is all that is required. If the method was modified from the protocol laid
out in the lab manual, explain what changes were made and why.

See the cover of each section of the lab manual for citation information.
 Biology 2601A. 6

Results:
This section is the keystone of a scientific paper and your lab report. The results accurately
report and describe the data collected and includes the statistical analysis of these data.
Significant observations and trends should be brought to the reader's attention without further
interpretation or explanation (that is meant for the discussion). These results should be in
summary/analyzed form… you are not required to provide your raw data. For example,
reporting the mean mass of all organisms in each experimental group is appropriate, reporting
each individual’s mass is inappropriate. Figures and tables illustrate the text rather than
substitute it. Integrate these illustrations into the text by referring to their content rather than to
them directly. For example, “Figure 1 shows the effect of different temperatures on the heart
rate of the frog” is vague and unnecessary since this information can be found in a figure
caption. Compare this to a better results sentence: “The heart rate of the frog increased with
increasing temperature to a maximum of 60 beats/min (Figure 1).” *Note that data are plural
(the singular is datum). Thus, you should write “data were analysed using …” not “data was
analysed…”, and can lose marks for doing this incorrectly.
Present each data set only once, in a figure or a table, but not both; choose the most
effective means of display. Tables should be logically organized and visually appealing. Orient
the information such that columns read top to bottom but are not separated by vertical lines.
Tables should have a table number and a concise descriptive title at the top. See the following
example:
Table 1. The effect of temperature on the heart rate of the frog, Rana pipiens.
Temperature, °C Heart Rate (beats/min ± SEM.)

5 10 ± 3
10 20 ± 5
15 35 ± 5
20 60 ± 4
25 60 ± 7

Graphs have much more immediate visual impact than tables and should be used whenever
possible (there should be no tables in your lab reports, all results should be represented
graphically). Trends and relationships that may be difficult to discern from tables often become
apparent when data are displayed graphically. Graphs may be incorporated into the text (relatively
 Biology 2601A. 7

easy using Word) or can be presented on separate pages. They should all include a figure caption
and should be referenced in the text (as in above results sentence).

A figure caption should appear below each figure or graph. A figure caption
consists of: a figure number, concise descriptive title (include scientific name of
your organism), and a brief description to make the figure understandable
without reference to the text. Symbols should be identified in the caption (such as
those that identify statistical significance). Also, indicate the data presented
(mean? percentage?), what the standard error of those values are (SEM or SD
depending on the data set you have), and the number of observations (N) that
value is derived from. See below for examples.

Remember: plot the independent variable on the x-axis, dependent variable on the y- axis.

When to use line graphs versus bar graphs? If the data are continuous (e.g. time, temperature,
height), as is the case in Figure 1, then a line graph is appropriate. If the data are intervals or
groups (e.g. different treatments, species or locations), then a bar graph is appropriate (Figure 2).
 Biology 2601A. 8

70

60

50

Heart Rate (beats/min)

40

30

20

10

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Temperature (°C)

Figure 1. The effect of temperature on the heart rate of the frog, Rana
pipiens. Data presented are mean values, with N = 6 for each temperature
treatment.

200

150
[Glycerol] (mg/g)

100

50

0
Control Cold Acclimation Warm Acclimation Heat Shock

Treatment

Figure 2. The effect of temperature treatment on haemolymph glycerol concentrations of the

springtail Gomphiocephalus hodgsoni. Data presented are mean ± 1 SEM, N= 5 for each treatment.
 Biology 2601A. 9

Reporting Statistics: When you report your results, you must support your statements with the
results of the appropriate statistical analysis. To do this, you need to provide enough information
for someone else to check that you did the analysis correctly. Thus, when you report any
statistics, you need to include 1) The value of the statistic (e.g. mean ± SEM); 2) the value of
the test statistic (e.g. the t or F statistic); 3) the degrees of freedom; 4) the p-value; 5) the
type of statistical test used. When reporting the results of a statistical analysis, in the results,
always keep in mind that the statistics are there to support a statement about the results, and do
not have an existence in their own right – statistics must always be tied to a statement about a
result. You can report the statistics in the text of the results, as part of the caption (or main body)
of a table, or in a figure caption. Keep in mind that the generally accepted cutoff for the p-value
is 0.05, meaning that p-values below this value indicate a statistically significant difference
between the groups being tested, while p-values above 0.05 indicate no statistically significant
difference. In addition, just because a p-value is above 0.05 does not mean your data are not
important—just that there is no difference between the mean values of your experimental groups.

Let’s say you have been weighing male and female penguins, and you tested whether the sexes
differ in their body mass. If the data are reported in a figure, you might simply refer to the figure
and give the statistics, thus:
Male penguins were significantly heavier than female penguins (Figure 1; t=5.39,
df=77, P<0.001).

(Note that for Journal of Experimental Biology, ‘p’ is capitalized, and ‘p’, ‘df’ and ‘t’ are
italicized. Not all articles in J. Exp. Biol. will present the degrees of freedom, but you are
expected to do so in Biol 2601. Degrees of freedom are sometimes presented as a subscript, so
t77=5.39 in the example above).

You can also give the measured values (e.g. if you didn’t include a graph or table of these
particular data, or to emphasize a result):
Male penguins (11.36 kg ± 0.36) were significantly heavier than females (8.7 kg ± 0.33;
t=5.39, df=77, P<0.001).

Note that if P is less than 0.001, you simply say P<0.001 (The same goes for P values less than
 Biology 2601A. 10

0.01 and 0.05). If it is higher than these values, you can give P accurately (see next example).
Non-significant P-values will simply be reported as P=xxx – this can be useful if you are
reporting the results of several tests.

Now imagine you’ve measured some of their flipper lengths, and find that males and
females do not differ in flipper length:
Flipper length did not differ between male and female penguins (t=0.77, df=11, P=0.457).

**If you have not mentioned it in the methods, you should also include information about the
statistical test used.** Let’s say you measured body mass at the beginning and end of an
exercise experiment in a few of these long-suffering birds: Exercise did not cause a
significant loss of body mass over the course of the experiment (Figure 2; paired, two-
tailed t-test: t=0.97, df=16, P>0.356.

Discussion:
This section explains or interprets your data, particularly those features emphasized in the
Results section. Remember that statistically non-significant p-values do not determine the
biological significance of your data. The results are interpreted in the context of what is
already known about the system under study and in the context of the hypothesis, as outlined in
the Introduction. You should consider the following questions when writing your Discussion.
• What are the significant observations?
• If there are no significant observations, are there any trends?
• Do the data support or refute the hypothesis? (***Note that a statistical hypothesis can
only be formally rejected, not proven***)
• What is the physiological explanation of the results?
• What are the implications of these results to the life of the organism?
• How do these findings compare to results that others have reported in the literature?
 Biology 2601A. 11

Make your deductions logically and clearly, referring to tables and figures in the Results section
by number:

Increasing temperature resulted in an increase in heart rate of the frog up to 20 °C

(Figure 1); heart rate did not increase further at 25°C. The effect of temperature on
heart rate was greater in Rana pipiens than Rana catesbeiana (Smith and Mays,
1985).

Previously published research is cited as above, or alternatively:

Smith and Mays (1985) showed that - - - - - -
Note that three or more authors are abbreviated to the first author plus the Latin abbreviation “et
al.” (for et alia: and colleagues), thus, if you wanted to refer work by West, Brown and Enquist
published in 2001, you might write:
In most cases, the scaling exponent is 0.75 (West et al., 2001).

Reference to the work of others is necessary when you are making an argument and need
evidence in support of that argument. For example, if you make the statement “Swimming
trout typically show a 2-3 –fold increase in heart rate”, you need to provide the evidence for
this statement by citing the appropriate reference source (i.e. who did the work to show that
heart rate increased with swimming in trout?). References should not be used simply for the
sake of putting in references (i.e. more is not necessarily better), rather they should be used
when they are required to support a statement of fact. In Bio 2601, we require each lab report
to include reference to at least one article from the primary scientific literature.
If your results do not agree with published results, do not automatically assume that
you are wrong. The interpretation of the data reflects the current state of knowledge and, as
such, may change as more information becomes available. As long as the experiment is
conducted carefully, under the conditions you have set up and for the organism with which you
are working, the data obtained are “correct” and valid. The interpretation, however, may
change with time. The results of any study are real, interpretations change. So, beneath your
apparently incorrect results, there may be a new principle or phenomenon not noticed by
previous researchers. If your results are consistent with published data, do not write that "the
results turned out as planned". Although we may predict an outcome based upon reading and
 Biology 2601A. 12

prior experience, we certainly do not plan it. Your lab report is marked based on the
quality of your writing and interpretation, not on the results themselves. “Bad” data are
not an excuse for writing a bad lab report. In the Discussion section, you should interpret (not
reiterate) the results and draw conclusions. Conclusions are deductions that follow clearly
from evaluation of the data.

All questions asked in the lab outline should be addressed in the Discussion by
incorporating them into the text. The Discussion should not exceed (3) double-spaced
12-pt pages in length. If the Discussion exceeds this limit, you are likely being too
wordy and/or have included irrelevant material – this will result in a loss of marks.
 Biology 2601A. 13

References:
In this section, you list the references cited in the text. The reference list should be in
alphabetical order by the last name of the first author, then in alphabetical order by subsequent
authors, then in chronological order by year of publication. If you have more than one paper by
the same authors, published in the same year (e.g. 2007), list them as “2007a” or “2007b”,
according to the order in which they are cited in the text. You are not required to include the
DOI or URL for papers, nor do you need to include the issue number of the journal (often
written in parentheses after the volume). Do not include page numbers for textbooks. See
Western Libraries website: [Link] for many
places to get the correct journal title abbreviation. Use the following examples as models, but
also feel free to look up any recent article in the Journal of Experimental Biology
([Link]) for examples:
1. Single author journal article.
Last name, initials. (Year). Title of article. Journal (Abbreviated) Volume, page
numbers.
Abbott, J. R. (1985). Molecular weight of RNA from meteorites. J. Mol. Biol. 5, 54-
62.

2. Two or more authors, journal article.

Last name, initials, and last name of second author, initials. (Year). Title of
article.
Journal (Abbreviated) Volume, page numbers.
Magoon, M. L., Hougas, R. W. and Cooper, D. C. (1988). Influence of thyroid
hormone on oxygen consumption in stage X tadpoles. J. Herp. 49, 285-293.

3. Part of a book. (usually a symposium volume where many individual articles by different
authors are brought together into a single volume)
Last name, initials. (Year). Title of article or chapter. In Title of book (ed. Editor’s initials
and last name), pp Page numbers. City: Publisher.
Randall, D. J. (1970). The Circulatory System, In Fish Physiology. Vol. IV. (Edited
by W. S. Hoar and D. J. Randall), pp 1-39. New York: Academic Press. 4. Book. (e.g. a text
book written by a single author or set of authors)
Last name, initials. (Year). Title of Book. City: Publisher.
Eckert, R. and Randall, D. J. (1993). Animal Physiology: Mechanisms and
Adaptations. 2nd edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Co.
 Biology 2601A. 14

4. Website. (BEWARE THE WEB!! Most of it is not peer-reviewed, and may not be
presenting valid information!)
Last name, initials. (Year). Title of website or page. URL: [insert URL here], Accessed
[insert date of access here].

Some Final Hints

Although your lab report is primarily a report of an experiment performed in the past, it
also includes present discussion or commentary. Writers are often unsure of the appropriate
tense to use in various situations. As a rule of thumb, it is safest to use present tense only when
discussing or evaluating (e.g. "The data shown in Figure 1 are not consistent with those
reported previously.") or stating general knowledge (e.g. "DNA is a double helix."). Use past
tense when reporting your results and drawing your conclusions. To conclude that "Tomato
juice is the best medium for yeast growth" suggests that your results are final and more general
than is justified. Concluding that "Tomato juice was the best medium for yeast growth"
suggests a research result rather than a statement of generally accepted knowledge. When in
doubt, trust your own judgment as to what sounds right.
It usually helps to make your figures and tables first, making sure you have all of your
statistic finished. Then write the methods (not needed in Bio 2601) and results sections (you
know what you did, why you did it and what happened), and work on the Introduction and
Discussion from there. For the Abstract, look over the whole package and compress the
important information into a single paragraph.

Carefully read over the marking rubric for the lab before and as you write your
report. Have you addressed all of the aspects necessary to receive marks? Proof read it carefully
(there are marks for style, spelling and grammar) and check that you have attached the
appropriate cover sheets and that you have submitted it to 2601 OWL turnitin. After all this
work, you don’t want to receive zero because you didn’t follow the instructions!
 Biology 2601A. 15

Plagiarism
Copying or stealing another’s words, ideas, graphs or tables, without attributing your
source, is plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious scholastic offense and will result in severe
penalties, which may range from a severe mark reduction (usually zero for the assignment) to
failure of the course or expulsion from the University. This applies with equal force to all
assignments, including laboratory reports, diagrams, and computer projects. See the 2601
OWL site for links to resources about plagiarism, including the Academic Calendar. In cases
where a student has allowed his/ her work to be copied, both the copier and the student
who allowed the copying may be penalized, so you are advised to guard your work carefully.
Please be aware that the similarity-detection algorithms used by [Link] are extremely
sophisticated. Merely changing a few words here and there will not disguise cheating. Please
also be aware that previous years’ lab reports, the entire internet, lab manual and many other
electronic and written sources are also checked by [Link]. In addition, your TAs will
bring to attention any suspected plagiarism that is not picked up by turnitin.
 Biology 2601A. 16

Helpful hints: Dos and Don’ts when writing a lab report.

Abstract
Do...
✓ Give an intro sentence that explains why this research is important
✓ Make some conclusions (this does not mean rephrase your results)
Don’t...
 Give any stats
 Mention things that are not directly related to your hypotheses
 Give too much detail on methods

Introduction
Do...
✓ Set up clear and mutually exclusive hypotheses so your results are easier to interpret
✓ Build your hypotheses logically, with reference to the literature. Give some background
on why you chose them.
✓ Write your intro so that by the end, I can guess what your hypotheses will be
✓ Go to the primary literature (i.e. results of experiments) to back up your hypotheses
✓ Learn the difference between objectives and hypotheses
Don’t...
 Start with the birth of the universe (or some other extremely general topic)

Results
Do...
✓ Be concise – avoid repetition and redundancy
✓ Refer to EVERY figure and table in the text
✓ Be specific – which direction was the difference in?
✓ Put figure captions BELOW the figure (not ON)
✓ State very small p-values as p<0.001 (not just p<0.05). If two groups are not
significantly different, state the p value exactly (i.e. p=0.12)

Don’t...
 Present the same data twice (e.g. in a table and a figure, or in a figure and in the text)
 Include material that belongs in introduction, methods or discussion
 Present any raw data (NO t-test tables)
 Begin figure captions with “Figure showing...”
 Talk about the null hypothesis
 Make statements about trends without backing them up with statistics

Discussion
Do...
✓ Start the discussion with your strongest or most interesting finding
✓ Think deeply
✓ Be clear on what we measured in the lab – don’t over-generalise our findings
✓ Spell out all the steps that you took to get to your conclusions
✓ Think in terms of the whole animal – ecology, life history, behaviour etc.
 Biology 2601A. 17

Don’t...
 Give stats again in your discussion
 Refer to a trend if your results were nowhere near significant. As a rule of thumb,
only refer to a trend if the p-value is between 0.05 and 0.08
 Finish with really general statements that don’t mean anything (e.g. “The super cooling
points of insects showed a high degree of variation which was due to a number of
physiological factors. Further studies will need to be conducted to untangle these
factors.”)

References
Do...
✓ Use a hanging indent
✓ Use italics for et al. and note the period
✓ Read more than the bare minimum. Bare minimum effort = bare minimum
Don’t...
 Don’t cite the lab manual (except in methods). Instead, use a textbook or review
paper
 Don’t cite reviews when you are talking about the results of an experiment – go and
get the original paper

Some general points:

➢ If there’s a page limit, take it as an indication of how much writing is necessary to
fulfill the requirements
➢ “species” is plural (and singular!)
➢ Anything in Latin must be italicized (ANY species names, latin words such as et al.,
vice versa, in vitro, in vivo…)
➢ You can assume people know what “positive correlation” means. Avoid repetition.
➢ Proofread! Get someone else to proofread your work. Proofread someone else’s
work. Tons of marks can be lost on easily avoidable mistakes.
➢ Use “widow/orphan control” function in Word to avoid lines being split.
➢ If you are given suggested readings, READ THEM!
➢ Use paragraphs
➢ Avoid rhetorical questions
➢ Don’t use direct quotes