Scientific reports

This resource will help you:

• Understand the purpose of the results section. 
• Identify key components of the results section. 
• Learn different ways of presenting results. 
• Differentiate between information presented in a results and discussion section.

The results section should answer the question: what did you find? Here we want to communicate our findings to the reader in a way that clearly shows any trends or patterns and is easy to follow. To do this, we can present our results graphically (figures), tabularly (tables), or textually (written text) depending on the type of results we have. Often, a combination of all three formats is used (Nair & Nair, 2014; Teodosiu, 2019). Remember – do not explain, discuss, or interpret what these results mean (that happens in the discussion).

Usually, any result that is not presented as a table or written text is considered a figure, including:

• Graphs (for example, box plots, scatter plots, or line graphs).
• Photos or images (for example, aerial site map photos or microscope images).
• Phylogenetic trees.
• Annotated cell diagrams.
• Mind maps.
• Flow charts.

Examples of figures you may use in your scientific reports are shown below in Figure 1 (Meloncelli, 2019).

Figure 1. Examples of data visualisation, including (a) scatter plot with regression line, (b) microscope slide photograph, (c) line graph, and (d) classification tree (Meloncelli, 2019).
 

Tabular results can range from simple two column tables to larger more complex tables. The information presented in a table should help the reader to easily compare data across rows (horizontally) or columns (vertically). Table 1 below from Meloncelli (2019, p. 116) is a good example of a table.

While tables and graphs are a great way to concisely present your data, there are a few key points to keep in mind: 

• Any table or figure presented in your results section needs to be referred to in the text before you present it.
• Tables and figures are numbered in the order they are first mentioned in the text and contain a table title or figure legend, respectively.   
• Table titles should be formatted above the table, whilst figure legends should sit below the figure. 
• Tables and figures/graphs should be stand-alone, with readers able to understand what you are trying to present without having to read your whole report. 
• Only present essential tables and graphs, with related data often collated into one table or figure rather than shown in multiple tables/figures.
• Not all data is suitable for tables/figures - sometimes it is easier and clearer to present the result using text instead. 
• Do not repeat data – for example, do not show the same data in both a table and a graph. (Nair & Nair, 2014; Teodosiu, 2019) 

Textual results are results that can either be a “stand-alone” description of the results, often from statistical tests, or linked to a graph or table. For instance: 

• “Mild iodine insufficiency (defined as urinary iodine concentration <150 μg/L) was apparent in 44% of study participants but a χ² test revealed no significant differences in this proportion between MMN users and nonusers (p = 0.281)” (Gallo et al., 2024, p. 10). 
• “Participants who used any supplement in pregnancy were more likely to be aged ≥30 years, be receiving private obstetric care, have a higher weekly income and have private health insurance (Table 1)” (Gallo et al., 2024, p. 9).

Once you have a good understanding of your results and have prepared any relevant figures and tables, start writing your results section. 

Things to consider when writing your results section (Nair & Nair, 2014; Teodosiu, 2019): 

• Present your results in a logical order – often this is the same order in which you presented the corresponding methods. 
• Be factual and concise. 
• Ensure the results you present are relevant in the context of your aim/purpose/research.
• Use past tense and avoid starting a sentence with a number. 
• Include results of any statistical tests you have performed (see above example from Gallo et al., 2024). 
• Ensure you do not repeat information (i.e. write about your most important/key results rather than repeat everything you have presented in the respective graph or table). 
• Do not discuss any of your results! This includes interpreting what the results mean and how they fit into the literature – save this for the discussion section.

This video (23:50 min) from the Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU Science Writing; 2021) provides an overview of the IMRaD results (1:32 min to 9:03 min), information about figures and tables and common mistakes.