Currently, this is a brief summary of the format for Zoology lab reports (largely copied verbatum from Smith & Duncan 2000). Most of this information is suitable for any of the courses taught in Nebraska Wesleyan's Department of Biology; however, talk to your instructor regarding any additional information that is necessary.

Scientists communicate their findings to one another in a variety of ways: lectures at meetings of scientific societies, in books, scientific journals, or personal communication. Examples of zoology-related journals include, Journal of Zoology, Ecology, Evolution, Journal of Mammalogy, and American Naturalist.

Scientific writing is a learned skill. If your instructor offers to look over papers prior to the due date, take him/her up on it! During the semester, you will write two papers describing experiments performed in the lab. These papers will be about 5 pages long, 1" margins, 10 or 12 font, and double-spaced. Be sure to proofread and spellcheck your paper! Grammar and other aspects that affect the quality of the paper contribute to your grade. Each major section of your paper is described below. In your paper, these sections should be started with a heading (such as INTRODUCTION).

Title: The title needs to be concise, accurate, and as specific as possible.

1. Bad title: The antipredator behavior of ground squirrels.
    Better title: The antipredator vigilance of adult thirteen-lined ground squirrels in response to increased predation.

2. Bad title: The cause of enzyme action.
    Better title: The effects of pH (5.0-12.0) upon the reaction rate of the enzyme diastase.

Abstract: A summary of the most important points from your paper. For zoology laboratories, you do not need to do this.

Introduction: Describe background information that helps to explain why the experiment was performed. "I was forced to do this experiment as a requirement for Zoology Lab" is not an explanation. The kinds of information that are appropriate are definitions, clarification of processes and concepts, and descriptions of the study organism. What is known about the topic? Be sure and CITE your sources of information. What exactly are you trying to investigate? The introduction is where you inform the reader of your hypotheses and the reasoning behind your predictions.

Methods & Materials: The reader should be able to reproduce your experiment merely by following your methods. Therefore, any and all pertinent methods and conditions of the experiment should be included in this section. You are NOT writing instructions (e.g., First pick up the beaker of starch solution, but be careful not to...), you are specifically describing YOUR methods. These very well may differ from your labmates, may differ from the lab manual, and may actually be inappropriate, but you MUST accurately describe your actions.

In some instances, it will be appropriate to cite your lab manual. In a few instances, you may be allowed to merely cite your lab manual for complicated figures, etc (talk to your lab instructor before doing so).

Examples of information contained in Methods sections:
     - temperature of the room
     - number of study animals
     - location of study site
     - methods of statistical analysis
     - description of animal handling procedure
     - description of assaying procedure
     - and so on.

Examples of information usually NOT contained in Methods sections:
     - the kinds of clothes you were wearing
     - number of people working on the experiment (usually)
     - you listened to the radio while counting the # of seeds per plant
     - your dog barked when you operated the spectrophotometer
     - Basically, you leave out information that could have no conceivable effect upon the outcome of the experiment.

Results: Provide summary statements of your results along with the results of your statistical analysis. Therefore, you report whether or not the results are statistically significant, but you do NOT say whether or not your hypotheses were supported (that comes in the Discussion). Do not interpret the data. In other words, you are explaining WHAT you found, but you are not explaining WHY it occurred.

Results must be supported by text, but most papers include figures (such as graphs) and tables. In the text, you should direct the reader to the figure or table, but there should be no reason to describe it in detail...that is why you put the figure or table there in the first place. There is usually no need to verbally report the outcome of every trial. If for some reason, that appears necessary, a table would usually be the most appropriate. A figure must be self-explanatory, i.e., if the figure is a graph, your reader should be able to look at it and reasonably understand what it is illustrating (e.g., the type of experiment performed, the study organism, the dependent and independent variables, crucial methods, etc.). Beneath a figure, you must include a legend which describes the figure. Graphs must be computer generated or drawn on graph paper. Your instructor may explicitly require one or the other format.

Discussion: Here, you briefly remind the reader of the experimental outcome. Describe and explain whether or not your hypotheses were supported or rejected. Interpret and explain the meaning of your results. What are the ramifications of these findings? Are further experiments necessary? How is your work related to a broader context of ecology, genetics, microbiology, or zoology? Also, most instructors want you to describe in the Discussion how the methods of the experiment could be improved.

Literature Cited: Outside of the sciences, this section is usually called the bibliography. Using a specific format suggested by your lab instructor (usually CBE or APA guidelines), you must cite all published or unpublished sources of information that is not common knowledge from which you quote, paraphrase, or otherwise use in your paper. To not do so is plagiarism! Correct formats for listing your citations vary somewhat depending upon the specific scientific discipline and even among publishers. The examples below; however, are very common in the biological sciences:

Books:

Smith, R. & Duncan, G. 2000. Biology of Animals Laboratory Manual. Nebraska Wesleyan University, Unpublished.

Hickman, C.P., Roberts, L.S., & Larson, A. 1998. Biology of Animals. 7th ed. WCB/McGraw-Hill, Dubuque, Iowa.

Journal article:

Arenz, C.L. & Leger, D.W. 1999. Thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Sciuridae: Spermophilus tridecemlineatus)
          antipredator vigilance: monitoring the sky for aerial predators. Ethology, 105:807-816.

Web Site:

          Benham, D. 2001. Biology of Plants Laboratory Help Pages. <http://biology.nebrwesleyan.edu/courses/Labs/Biology_of_Plants                     /Botany_Help_Main.html. Nebraska Wesleyan University. Accessed on October 21, 2002.

Using citations in the main body of the text:

Again, there is some variation depending upon the scientific discipline, but citations within text are commonly used as shown below:

(1) Osmosis occurs across biological membranes that are impenetrable to large molecules (Hickman et al. 1998).

(2) Arenz & Leger (1999) found that thirteen-lined ground squirrels increase their antipredator vigilance when their aerial field of
        view is obstructed.

(3) Mammalian teeth are considered to be both conservative and diverse (C.L. Arenz, personal communication, 2000). Personal
      communication is regarding unpublished information and is NOT listed in the Literature Cited.

 

Literature Cited in this Page

Smith, R. & Duncan, G. 2000. Biology of Animals Laboratory Manual. Nebraska Wesleyan University, Unpublished.

 

 

 

© Cody Arenz, Garry Duncan, & Nebraska Wesleyan University