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Scientific reports

A guide to writing scientific reports

Learning objectives

This resource will help you to:

  • Recognise the importance, purpose, and general structure of scientific report writing. 
  • Describe the main points to be covered in each part of the IMRaD structure (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion). 
  • Identify the IMRaD structure in research papers.  
  • Plan a scientific report by adapting this structure to your assignment or discipline.

Science and the scientific method

Science is the investigation of physical and natural phenomena through observation, experimentation, and theoretical explanation. The knowledge produced by such investigation forms our scientific understanding of these phenomena – from how our immune system defends us to how the Earth stays in orbit! Although science covers a wide range of topics, all ‘good’ science starts with developing a systematic plan called the scientific method (Gauch, 2003), as shown in Figure 1.

The following 8 steps are used in the scientific method: (1) ask a question, (2) perform background research, (3) construct hypo

Figure 1. The scientific method. Adapted from Wu, J. (2011). Improving the writing of research papers: IMRAD and beyond. Landscape Ecology, 26(10), 1345-1349. https://10.1007/s10980-011-9674-3.

In general, the scientific method involves identifying a problem, performing some research or experimentation to help explain that problem, and then reporting your findings to contribute to the collective understanding of that problem. This final step – reporting your results – is how we communicate our findings to other scientists and to the rest of the world, and is arguably the most important part of the scientific method. One way we communicate these results is through scientific report writing.

Scientific writing at university

“A scientific experiment, no matter how spectacular the results, is not completed until the results are published” (Day & Gastel, as cited in Wu, 2011).

In your training as scientists at university, it is important that you become effective communicators of science to a range of audiences and for a range of purposes. Perhaps you are developing your own research project or experiment, turning your thesis into a research paper, or maybe you are writing up a report from an undergraduate laboratory class. Regardless, scientific writing at university will generally follow the same structure, with slight differences depending on your discipline. For example, it is common to combine results and discussion for chemistry, but not for biology. 

Please follow the guidance provided by your tutor or course coordinator and adhere to the task instructions regarding the overall structure required for your course specific assessment task. 

General structure of a scientific report

Scientific reports generally follow the IMRaD structure: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. The focus of the report should be shaped like an hourglass, as shown in Figure 2 (Wu, 2011):

  • Start broad in the introduction (give background information beyond your study),
  • Then narrow your focus through the methods and results (focusing only on your study),
  • Then become broad again towards the end of your discussion (linking back to implications and literature beyond your study). 

The structure of a scientific report can be broken down into title, abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusions, references.  Th

Figure 2. The IMRaD structure. Adapted from Wu, J. (2011). Improving the writing of research papers: IMRAD and beyond. Landscape Ecology, 26(10), 1345-1349. https://10.1007/s10980-011-9674-3.

 

Each of these sections aims to answer one to two main questions, as summarised in Table 1.

Table 1. Questions to answer and main points to cover in each section of a scientific report. Adapted from Wu, J. (2011). Improving the writing of research papers: IMRAD and beyond. Landscape Ecology, 26(10), 1345-1349. https://10.1007/s10980-011-9674-3.

Section

Question to answer

Main points/tips

Title

What is this report about?

Be brief yet specific.

Abstract

What is this report in a nutshell?

Follow the IMRaD logic: a bit of background, your basic research question, summary of main methods, and basic conclusion of results/findings.

Introduction

Why did you do this study?

Give a brief rationale on the problem and its importance, what is known and unknown, and what the research question/purpose of the report is.

Methods

How did you do this study?

Detail what methods you have used and why you used them (justification). This may include (for example): some detail on the study site or participants, fieldwork or laboratory analysis, sampling techniques, and statistical analysis/data processing.

Results

What did you find?

Summarise findings with headings and informative figures. Do not discuss the meaning yet!

Discussion

What do these findings mean, and why do we care? How do these relate to other studies?

Explain the results in context of the literature: detail any trends/patterns in the data, any inconsistencies, or unexpected values, and whether there were any errors or limitations.  Are your results similar or different to the results of previous studies?

Conclusion

What are your major findings and main take-aways?

Summarise the main findings and importance of the work you have done – do not simply repeat what has been said in the discussion. Note: this is often the last paragraph of the discussion.

 

This video (10:18 min) from Steve Kirk (2020) provides a great walk-through of scientific report structure with annotated examples from real research papers. 

Additional resources

This video (10:00 min) from the Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU Science Writing, 2020) provides an overview of IMRaD, advice on writing order and details what each section contains. 

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References

Gauch, H. G. (2003). Scientific method in practice. Cambridge University Press. 

Kirk, S. (2020, May 4). The structure of scientific research papers [Video]. YouTube.

Monash University. (2024). Developing research questions.

SciDevNet. (2013, July 2). How do I write a scientific paper?.

SVSU Science Writing. (2020, September 26). The IMRaD format: an overview [Video]. YouTube.

Wu, J. (2011). Improving the writing of research papers: IMRAD and beyond. Landscape Ecology, 26(10), 1345-1349. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-011-9674-3

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