You can go to this website and check it out as well as carefully reading the information below:

EVB102 – report writing aids; WRISE – report writing; http://learningcentre.usyd.edu.au/wrise/

 

Tips for Writing A Field Report

All scientific reports generally follow the same structure and layout. For your Field Reports, use the following headings and include information

 

Aims

• What is the aim of this report or the hypothesis that is being tested?

 

Introduction

• State the nature of the problem, including any background information that provides context and purpose to the study
• Provide detail on the rationale & approach used
• Be succinct – a couple of paragraphs should provide enough information
• Do not copy information from the lab/field handout

 

Materials & Methods

• Briefly describe the procedure/s you used (enough detail to enable a reader to replicate the study but not in as much detail as in the lab/field handout)
• Include:
  • data collection techniques and location of study,
  • equipment used,
  • experimental design,
  • methods used for recording, summarizing & analyzing the data

 

Results

• Present a short summary of your key findings (relative to your aims) using sentences and referring to correctly labeled graphs, tables and figures (don’t just provide a list or table of results)
• Present your results in a logical sequence
• Do not include any interpretation of the data

 

Tables, graphs & figures:

• Should be placed immediately after where they are first referred to in the text
• Label them sequentially, eg. Table 1.1; Figure 1.2, etc.
• See QUT CiteWrite for information about referencing tables, graphs & figures in your report (citewrite.qut.edu.au)

 

Discussion

• Evaluate whether you have fulfilled the aims of your experiment
• Provide an interpretation and evaluation of the results, including any unexpected results
• Identify sources of error and any inadequacies of the techniques
• Comment on what is significant or important about your results and the implications of your results
• Comment on any areas for possible further research
• Draw conclusions about your findings, referring back to your original hypothesis or aim

 

References

• Provide an accurate list of all resources cited in the body of your report
• References are listed in alphabetical order. For each reference give the author’s name, the year of publication, the full title of the book or article and the publication details.
• Be consistent in your referencing style (ie. use the same system throughout eg. Harvard)
• Avoid plagiarism – plagiarism involves representing another person’s words, ideas or work as your own without acknowledging them with the appropriate reference. See QUT CiteWrite for more information about plagiarism (www.citewrite.qut.edu.au) and academic integrity (http://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/academic_integrity/avoidplagiarism.jsp)

 

General Tips and Tricks

1. Do not use dot points; write in paragraph format. If you have a list, enumerate the list (1., 2., 3., etc) with each member of the list on a different line and separated by semicolons;
2. Your titles should be above tables and below figures. For figures, do NOT include the title from Excel or drawing program. The only title for a figure should be in the full, stand-alone caption below the figure;
3. BIG TIP: Turn on the grammar and spelling checker in MS Word; consult a written English book or software, For example, The Little, Brown Handbook (Pearson) is very good (copies are in the library). Grammar Monster is also useful – download the free app on your phone and you can consult rules to correct your grammar wherever you are! These aids will help you write in conversant and accurate English. Additionally, consult well-written journal articles carefully and emulate the scientific writing style. Most of all, practice, practice, practice.