Lab Report Guidelines – BIOL 404
You will create lab reports which follow the general conventions for scientific
manuscripts. The following guide is a composite of real
instructions to authors submitting to EcoScience and Oecologia (peer-reviewed
ecology journals based respectively in Canada and Europe). I have indicated
in blue the few places where Biol 404 requirements will
differ, or where I feel you need more guidance.
How long? Most lab reports are under 10 pages including figures, and typically have 1-6 references.
Instruction to Authors
General
Presentation of the manuscript must conform to the "Guide to Authors".
The text must be type written, double-spaced [in
the interests of paper conservation, single-spacing and/or double-sided
is also permitted for Biol 404], on one side of white paper, 21.5
cm x 28 cm (letter) with margins at least 2.5 cm wide. All pages should
be numbered, including the title page. Manuscripts not following these
guidelines will not be sent out for review.
Authors are responsible for consistency and accuracy in spelling of Latin
words and specialized terms. Abbreviations, symbols, units and nomenclature
must conform to the international codes for various disciplines. All measurements
must be metric; use SI symbols in most instances. Abbreviations and symbols
should be defined the first time they occur in the abstract and in the
text. Genus and species names should be in italics.
Manuscript should be presented as follows: title page, abstract and keywords, text, acknowledgements, literature cited, tables and figures.
The title must be concise and representative of the content. Expressions such as "Contribution to..." or "Study of..." should be avoided. Authors should appear in the definitive order of publication, with the address of each at the time of the study. Good, clear titles are important and can draw the reader to your paper. The problem/hypothesis to be tested should be clear from the title. Be aware that a short title (< 15 words) that clearly guides readers to the core of your work will enhance the likelihood that your paper will be read and cited. Please do not begin the title with "Effects of …".
Authors must submit an abstract in the language of the text.The abstract should have about 200 words and should be as concise as possible [can be much shorter for Biol 404, say 100 words]. Present it in one paragraph and do not use abbreviations. Start with your hypothesis. Refrain from first listing measurement techniques and then reporting the results obtained with these techniques. In most cases the technique becomes obvious by the type of results and the way they are reported. Refrain from statements such as "… is discussed". Instead report the overall outcome/conclusion of the discussion. Abstracts should end with a conclusive statement and/or of how the work has contributed to furthered our ecological understanding.
Immediately following the abstract, up to five key words should be supplied, indicating the scope of the paper and not repeating terms already used in the title. Search engines will find your paper as long as important terms show up ONCE, either in the title OR in key words. A "key word" should not contain more than two compound words, preferably only one. Key words should be ordered alphabetically.
Limit the introduction to the scope, purpose and rationale of the study, the definition of the problems and the reasons for or perspective of the work. A brief literature review should give only the guideposts to guide the reader and place the study within a more general context. Biol 404: An introduction should start general ("One of the most common sampling techniques in ecology is quadrat sampling"), then explain why the field needs a particular research question to be answered in order to progress ("However, the tradeoff between quadrat number and size is likely to be very dependent on the system studied. No information on this tradeoff has yet been published for B.C. coniferous forest."), and then end with the specific hypotheses you are testing (We hypothesized that older forest would require many small quadrats compared to younger forest..."). ALWAYS justify your hypothesis ("...because of the higher spatial heterogeneity of trees, both in terms of age and position (Brown 1987) in older forests."). Failure to justify your hypotheses is the most common mistake of undergraduate and graduate students.
The "Methods" section describes the framework needed to answer the questions raised in the purpose of the work. Limit the information to what is necessary for judging whether the findings are valid. Methods should include items such as: a) brief description of the study area, geographical location, habitat, etc. [only appropriate for certain Biol 404 labs], b) nature of biological material (but the exact location of rare and endangered species should not be given), c) relevant field procedures, equipment and techniques (but refer to literature for techniques already published, giving only the adaptations), d) when appropriate, a complete list of abbreviations used in the text, e) hypotheses underlying the choice of statistical analyses with references to literature cited, and f) the brand name of commercially available equipment or chemical products (with company and town in parentheses). Biol 404 students: do not duplicate the lab manual! Simply summarize the methods, and reference Krebs or other sources for specific details (e.g. equations). Methods should be presented in enough detail that someone could replicate in general terms what you did, but should not include extremely specific details like the weather, name of trail, etc.
The results should be presented as comprehensively as possible while keeping in mind to answer only the questions raised in the purpose of the work. Whenever possible, findings should be exposed following the logical sequence of the study and methods, so as to avoid repeating information that should be clearly presented in tables and figures. Do not include any interpretation of your results in this section: all interpretation should be in the Discussion.
The discussion should focus on the main contributions of the study, interpreting the findings, and comparing them to other studies. The discussion is a synthesis, an interpretation, exposed in broadly applicable generalizations and principles. In addition, the way in which the findings agree or contrast with other published work should be expressed. The scope, significance and general conclusions of the study should end the discussion. One way to think of the Discussion is that it answers the question raised by the Introduction.
Authors should acknowledge only people (or organizations) who have substantially contributed to the scientific and technical aspects ofthe research, granted financial support, or helped improve the quality of the manuscript. [Biol 404: if you have no one to acknowledge (likely), this section can be omitted]
Literature cited
Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all elements appearing in
the "Literature cited" section. References should be cited in
the text by the name of the author and the year of publication. For instance,
a text by D. M. Pete and D. H. Mann published in 1994 would be cited as:
Pete & Mann (1994) or (Pete & Mann,1994) depending on sentence
construction. Consecutive citations must be separated by a semicolon.
The phrase "et al." should be used only when there are more
than three (3) authors. An article not yet accepted for publication will
be followed by the mention "unpubl." in parenthesis and will
not be listed in the "Literature cited"section.
In the bibliography, all references should be listed alphabetically according
to the first author's name. Those in a given year with the same author(s)
must be chronologically indentified by a, b, c, etc. Indent after the
first line of each reference. Authors must ensure that references cited
"in press" have been accepted for publication. All the names
of journals or publishing organizations must be written in full.
Journal articles
Stuart-Smith, A. K. & S. Boutin, 1995. Behavioural differences between
surviving and depredated juvenile red squirrels. Écoscience, 2:
34-40.
Lawton, J. H., 1990. Species richness and population dynamics of animal
assemblages. Patterns in body size: Abundance space. Philosophical Transactions
of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 30: 283-291.
Book
Pimentel, D. (ed.), 1993. World Soil Erosion and Conservation. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge.
Chapter in book
Walsberg, G. E., 1990. Problems inhibiting energetic analyses ofmigration.
Pages 413-421 in E. Gwinner (ed.). Bird Migration: Physiology
and Ecophysiology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Thesis
Lavoie, L., 1994. Évaluation régionale de la stabilité
des forêts au Québec nordique. Thèse M. Sc., Université
Laval, Québec, Québec.
Reports
Achuff, P. L., 1991. Non-native plant management in Western Region National
and Historic Parks: Issue analysis and recommendations, phase II. Report
to the Canadian Parks Service, Western Region Office, Calgary, Alberta.
Parsons, G. L., G. Cassis & A. R. Moldenke, 1991. An annoted list
of insects and other arthropods at the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest,
western Cascade Mountains, Oregon. U.S.Department of Agriculture, Forest
Service General Technical Report PNW-GTR-290, Eugene, Oregon.
Institutional publications
Malcolm, S. B. & M. P. Zalucki (ed.), 1993. Biology and conservation
of the Monarch butterfly. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County,
no. 38, Sciences Series, Los Angeles, California.
FAO, 1991. Food Balance Sheets. Food & Agricultural Organization of
the United Nations, Rome.
Papers in conference proceedings
Davidson, N. C. & P. R. Evans, 1988. Prebreeding accumulation of fat
and muscle protein by arctic-breeding shore birds. Pages 342-352 in
H. Ouellet (ed.). Acta XIX Congressus Internationalis Ornithologici. Volume
I. University of Ottawa Press, Ottawa, Ontario.
De Smet, K. D. & M. P. Conrad, 1991. Management and research needs
for Baird's sparrow and other grassland species. Pages 83-86 in
G. Holroyd, G. Burns & H. C. Smith (ed.). Proceedings of the Second
Endangered Species and Prairie Conservation Workshop. Provincial Museum
of Alberta Natural History, Occasional Paper, no.15, Alberta.
All tables should be numbered with Roman numerals, following the order they are cited in the text. The title must be concise and clear. Vertical lines should not be used. Authors will be charged $50 for each table exceeding three (3) per article [Biol 404: obviously we won't charge you! But we could deduct marks for excessive tables!. Also note that figures are often more useful than tables]. Commonly tables have a header but not as lengthy a legend as figures. Present explanatory details as footnotes immediately below the closing line of your table. Dimensions or units must be provided for all numbers.
Figures should be numbered. An illustration is only justified if it clarifies or reduces the text. The same data should not be presented in both graph and table form. Information given in captions should not be repeated in the text. It is essential to provide the best quality copy of all illustrative material to ensure proper reproduction since many figures will be scanned. Figure captions must be typed with double spacing on a separate sheet [Biol 404: you can put figure legends under the figures if you wish: easier for us to read! Most journals do not permit more than 6 tables+figures: choose carefully]. Computer drawings are acceptable provided they are of minimum resolution of 300 dpi. Computer-drawn curves and lines must be smooth. Lettering must be of high quality; Helvetica [or Arial] is the preferred font. Lettering fonts must be consistent within and among all figures.
Biol 404: The comments on figures that follow are useful guidelines for making professional standard figures. We encourage you to read over these guidelines and incorporate some of the suggestions! However, we also don't want you to spend hours sweating over tiny details, so you will not be penalized for figures that do not conform to every single one of these points. As long as your figures are clearly laid out and useful to your story, we'll be happy.
A general comment on figures. Too many papers ending
up coming back to the authors for changes in the figures before we can
accept the paper for publication. Reviewers might not always catch inconsistencies
between figures or slopiness in the preparation of figures. Below are
some comments to help you in preparing your figures.
• Layouts for figures: Graphical work will be printed by
the publisher as you have submitted it. Therefore, please consider the
limited printing space and the column structure of a printed page when
creating your figures. We often return figures that do not achieve an
economical layout. Symbol explanations should be integrated into the rectangular
frame within the figure or placed in the legend, and should NOT be appended
to the right or left of the diagram in such a way that the legend occupies
additional space. It often assists visualization to label lines or bars
directly rather than to guide the reader via a separate legend. Do
not surround your entire figure with an enclosing box, as is
common to some of the currently available statistical and graphic programs.
• Multiple (compound) figures: In cases where a figure
is composed of several diagrams, at least one of the axes labels must
be common. In such cases, combine to produce a single axis label and remove
unnecessary gaps/spaces between the figure components.
• Text above and within the figures: Figures require
no heading, so please don’t add one (as is typical in many
powerpoint figures). Most diagrams will be reduced in size to a single
printing column width. At final printing size, letters should not appear
smaller than the running text. It is Oecologia style that all axis labels
start with an upper case initial (only the first word in a sequence).
Also, any other stand-alone words should start with an upper case letter.
All axis labels (with the dimension in brackets) need to be parallel to
the axis. The gap between the axis label and the axis should not exceed
the font size width. Tick marks should be provided to assist the reader
and should point towards data (inwards). The preferred fonts for figures
are either Arial or Helvetica.
• Line quality within a figure: We cannot accept figures
in which lines of similar rank have different width (we often receive
printouts where the thickness varies with line direction). We also cannot
accept lines that are composed of visible "pixel-steps". The
publisher typically rejects lines consisting of strips of gray shade,
since these lines can disappear in the final publication. Usually, you
need to export your artwork from the statistical package to a graphics
program in order to obtain a professional quality figure.
• Symbols and error bars within figures: Circles (open
or closed) should be your first choice for use in a figure, followed by
the use of triangles, squares, and diamonds in more complex figures. Symbols
such as "+", "x" or "* " lead to a messy
and confusing appearance and should therefore be avoided. Error bars (1)
need to be clearly explained as either standard error or standard deviation,
and (2) if there are many standard errors in line diagrams, straight lines
(without a horizontal top/bottom line) commonly make figures less messy.
Bar diagrams require an error bar and preferably should contain visual
information on the significance of differences (P=..., asterisks, or letters
indicating statistically significant differences).
• Shades within figures: Shading often help visualizing
differences and are welcome. However, shade dot size needs to permit size
reduction of the diagram, and if different shades are used these must
be clearly different. The primary challenge is to produce shading that
will be apparent when the figure is published in a reduced size.
• Figure submission: Each figure must be on a separate
sheet with the figure number on the front. Writing the figure number on
the back is a nuisance to both referees and the editorial process. No
page numbers on tables and figures, please. [Biol
404: In the interest of paper conservation, you can stick multiple figures
on a page]