The main reason for writing a lab report or scientific paper is to clearly communicate the results of a scientific study to others, such as the public or your teacher. You should remember some essential things when writing your lab report.
Use concise language that clearly communicates what you are trying to say. Scientists like to get straight to the facts without any distractions, so there is no need for the kind of “flowery” language you might use in a short story, poem, or personal essay. Your sentences should provide enough detail so the reader knows what happened, but not so much detail that the information becomes overwhelming.
Answer the quiz question below to see if you can spot good scientific language.
Select the example that best demonstrates concise, scientific language for a lab report:
Another critical point about lab reports is that they should usually be written in the third person, in the past tense. This means you should not use personal pronouns like "I" or "we." And all the procedures you used in your study should be written about as if they happened in the past.
It can be a bit awkward writing in the "passive voice" like this because most English classes teach that this style of writing is incorrect. But in science, we try to use impersonal and objective language. Some scientists are not as concerned about this rule as they used to be, but your instructor may require your lab reports to be written this way.
Test yourself to see if you can spot the best use of third person, past tense.
You did an experiment in which you added 20 mL of water to a test tube. How would you describe this in your lab report?