A Basic Guide to Writing a Successful Laboratory Report

Written: 20 January 2004

Jason Wells

Updated: 20 January 2005

Marco Amrhein
1 Introduction
Being a successful engineer requires more than simply being able to run an experiment successfully or
crunch numbers. It is equally important to be able to convey information and knowledge obtained to others
in a meaningful fashion. This document provides a guideline to writing meaningful reports that convey
data obtained in an experimental context. Specifically, it presents several ideas for maintaining coherence,
formatting suggestions, and good laboratory practices. Ultimately, the guidelines presented in this
document should help students write laboratory reports for ECE 431.

2 Discussion

2.1 Coherence of a Report

The discussion in a laboratory report should flow smoothly such that the reader does not have to stop
and question what the intent of the author is or what a particular set of data means. There are several ways
to ensure that the report will concisely lead the reader through a discussion. First, the report should have a
structure that makes pertinent information easy to find. Every report should be accompanied by abstract
and/or introduction. This section clearly and concisely describes the primary objectives that were explored
in the experiment. The introduction/abstract allows a reader to quickly determine whether the report is
pertinent to whatever problem they are researching. Additionally, it should set the reader up for the general
flow of discussion that will occur in the report. Next, the body of the report should follow directly from the
introduction. This section should be broken into logical sub-sections where relevant data is grouped
together. The body of the report presents all of the data that is obtained from experimental results as well
as relevant theory that explains these results. Section headings will likely change based on the material that
is covered in the experimental work. Section headings appropriate for Experiment 1 [1] might be chosen as
the section headings from the experiment (see example report). Finally, a conclusion section, which
summarizes the findings discussed in the discussion, should be included. The conclusion section could also
be used to discuss difficulties encountered in the experiment or suggest possible improvements.
It is also essential to use correct grammar and spelling in the report. Incomplete sentences or
misspelled words force the reader to pause to determine what the author intended. Additionally, most
professional reports are written in a third person point of view. A consistent writing point of view makes a
discussion much easier to follow. Tables and figures should not appear before, nor significantly after, their
first mention in the text. This allows the reader to quickly jump between the discussion and the relevant
table or figure.

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2.2 Formatting Suggestions

2.2.1 Data

Any data discussed or used in calculations should be included clearly in the report. In the report, data
should be presented in a concise fashion close to the discussion or calculations which utilize the data.
Often it is convenient to place large amounts of data in a table which can then be referred to throughout the
discussion by number. All data and calculations should include the relevant units. It is not sufficient to
assert, “The voltage was 100”, since the reader must then discern it is 100 V, mV, or kV. Generally the
reader could infer the unit based on the context of the data; however, this opens results to interpretation and
disrupts the reader. Also note that during experiments data might be taken which is not used in the report.
This data should be included in an appendix, but there is no need to present this data in the report, as it will
only serve to clutter the discussion.

2.2.2 Equations and Calculations

Evaluating experimental work often requires the use of equations and subsequent calculations. Any
equation or calculation should be a part of the discussion in the report. It should be extremely obvious to
the reader how a particular result was obtained and the reader should be able to quickly reproduce these
results with the data presented. A sample equation should be provided with discussion or example
calculations clearly establishing what data was used to produce a particular result. It may be appropriate to
tabulate the results of repetitive calculations in the same table as the data that is used in the calculation.
Each equation should be set on its own line with each variable clearly identified in the discussion. As
an example, consider Ohm’s law which can be described by
(1)
where V is the applied voltage, I is the resulting current flow, and R is the resistance of the load. This
removes any ambiguity regarding how a calculation was performed. For labs in ECE 431, descriptions of
obvious and commonly used variables, such as line-line voltage or line-neutral voltage, can be omitted
provided that the variables used are clear (i.e. Vll or Vln). Notice Ohm’s law shown in (1) is also numbered
on the right which allows concise referencing of the equation in the discussion. To make equations neat
and organized, use an equation editor such as MS Equation 3.0 that is built into MS Word. To obtain the
centering of the equation on the page and the right numbering, use the Tabs option under the Format menu
to set a center tab in the center of the page and a right tab at the right margin. If you plan to do a significant
amount of scientific writing you might want to consider a program like Mathtype which provides several
advanced formatting and referencing functions. A fully functional 30 day demo is available for this
program at www.mathtype.com.
Calculations are often presented in the discussion to compare experimental results to theory.
Whenever such comparisons are made, a quantitative measure of the comparison should be presented. It is
not sufficient to simply state qualitatively that the results are “very close” or “extremely poor”. As an

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 example, consider the relationship between line-line and line-neutral quantities in a wye connection
examined in the first lab as given by

(2).

When asked to verify the relationship in (2), a percent error calculation such as

(3)

is an appropriate quantitative measure. Whenever possible, such quantitative measures should be applied
as this provides the reader with a very clear picture of how well the results are agreeing with theory.

2.2.3 Tables and Figures

Tables and figures are often included in the report to convey data trends or depict a concept
graphically. These should appear as soon as possible following the first mention of them in the discussion.
It is generally appropriate to include them in logical breaks in the text such as the end of a paragraph or
section. Also, it might be appropriate to keep them at the top or bottom of a page such that the text is
blocked together and easy to follow. A figure or table should never appear in a report if it is not explicitly
referenced in the discussion. Every figure or table should be clearly labeled with a number and a
descriptive caption. For example, Table 1 below presents a typical set of data that might be obtained in the
Part A of Experiment 1 [1]. When referring to figure in the discussion, it should be called by number as in
the previous sentence and capitalized. It is acceptable to abbreviate as Fig. provided that it is not the first
word in a sentence. Tables and figures should be clearly legible with all quantities appropriately labeled
with any units that are appropriate. Throughout the class, several oscilloscope plots will be taken and be
inserted into the report as figures. Figure 1 shows and example oscilloscope plot displaying the currents in
a motor drive system. Note that the units and axis should be clearly displayed on any figure. Figure 2
shows a plot of a collection of data points. Whenever appropriate, a legend should be included on the plot
indicating the meaning of each set of data as in Fig. 2.

Table 1. Experimental Data and Results from the Wye-Connected Resistive Load.
Total 3-
Line- Phas Phase Two- Total 3-
Line Phase Line Phase e One- Reactive Wattmete Two- Phase
Curren Curren Voltage Voltage Shift Wattmeter Power r Wattmeter Power
t (A) t (A) (V) (V) (deg) Pobs (W) (Vars) (P1) (W) (P2) (W) (W)
Phase A (A-B) 1.38 1.38 240.6 138.4 0 0 0 289 290 579
Phase B (B-C) 1.38 1.38 241.4 138.9 0 - - - - -
Phase C (C-A) 1.36 1.36 240.2 139.2 0 - - - - -
Averages 1.37 1.37 240.7 138.8 0 - - - - -

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2.2.4 References

Appropriate referencing makes a report both easier to read as well as more useful to the reader. In the
context of the ECE 431 labs, referencing the lab manual is often appropriate when discussing the procedure
and circuit diagrams that were used in an experiment. Occasionally it will be appropriate to cite theory
from a text such as the ECE 431 textbook [2]. This saves the effort of regurgitating material that can be
easily found elsewhere. In work outside of ECE 431, referencing typically provides a historical and
theoretical context of the work in the report that allows the interested reader to research the concepts upon
which the experiment is based.
There are numerous styles that are used for referencing sources and the report should be based upon
whatever style is appropriate for the intended audience. For this class, the IEEE style is the recommended
citation style. The complete information for IEEE authors can be found in [3] including standard
abbreviations; however, for this class it is recommended to use the reference guide put together by the ECE
publication office [4] and included in Appendix A. Again, students who will be extensively writing
technical reports should consider software such as Endnote which offers several advanced capabilities for
managing and citing references. A limited demo is available from www.endnote.com; however, is not
recommended for ECE 431 purposes.

2.3 Laboratory Practices

A successful laboratory report begins with successful laboratory practices. Writing reports is infinitely
easier when meaningful data is present. This begins by understanding the equipment that is used in the
experiment. Be certain that meters are set to the appropriate range for measurement being taken. Also, be
aware of what the expected results are for whatever experiment is being performed. This helps catch
mistakes as they are being made rather than when trying to write the report.

180
Co s t fo r po s itive s tarting s o lutio n
Co s t fo r ne g ative s tarting s o lutio n
160

140
Co s t (W)

120

100

80

60
0 50 100 150 200
Maxim um Harm o nic Eliminate d

Figure 1. Three-phase currents in a 500 W rated Figure 2. Cost function evaluation for various
motor drive system with harmonic elimination up harmonic elimination solutions.
to the 31st harmonic.

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 As an engineer, it is important to maintain adequate records of experimental work. Typically, this will
be a formal laboratory notebook which can be used as a legal document if properly maintained. In this
class, a notebook will not be required; however, the datasheets taken should be maintained with the same
level of detail. The purpose of the notebook is to maintain sufficient documentation such that a given set of
results can be reproduced. Typical information includes:
1. Serial numbers for any specialized equipment used (In ECE 431 it is sufficient to record the
bench serial number and the machine nameplate data).
2. Any circuit diagrams that differ from the manual.
3. Any important procedural changes that deviate from the manual.
4. Experimental Data.
5. Dated signatures of those involved in the research (and typically a witness signature if being
maintained as a legal document).
These data sheets must be included in the reports for this class but are often just kept available for reference
in a professional setting.

3 Conclusions
This document has presented several simple suggestions for writing a successful laboratory report. It
is not intended to supplant more complete writing texts which cover subtleties well beyond the scope of this
discussion. Rather, it is intended to make students aware of some of the more basic concepts in technical
writing and expose students to a few of the tools that are helpful for this type of writing. Appendix B
includes a quick reference of the key points that were made in the report to aid in writing reports for
ECE 431. Appendix C includes an example laboratory report for Experiment 1 in [1] written based on the
suggestions provided here. If you have any additional questions or suggestions for improving this guide,
feel free to discuss with any of the T.A.s or with your professor.

References
[1] P.W. Sauer, P.T. Krein, P.L. Chapman, ECE 431 Electric Machinery Course Guide and Laboratory
Information, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005.
[2] A.E. Fitzgerald, C. Kingley, Jr., S.D. Umans, Electric Machinery 6th Edition. New York: McGraw-
Hill 2003.
[3] IEEE Periodicals, “IEEE Transactions, Journals, and Letters Information for Authors,” January 2004,
http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs/pubs/transactions/auinfo03.pdf.
[4] ECE Publications Office, “Reference Guide: IEEE Style,” January 2004,
http://www.ece.uiuc.edu/pubs/ref_guides/ieee.html.

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 Appendix A: Reference Guide: IEEE Style
References in the text must match the reference list both in number and style. All sources must be
mentioned in the text.

1 REFERENCES IN THE TEXT

 References must be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text.
 Once you label the source, use the same number in all subsequent references.
 Each reference number should be enclosed by square brackets on the text line, with a space before the
bracket, and before the punctuation: “.... end of the line for my research [12].”
 It is not necessary to mention the author(s) of the reference unless it is relevant to your text. Do not
mention the date of the reference in the text.
 It is not necessary to say “in reference [27]. . . .” “In [27] . . .” is sufficient.
 To cite more than one source at a time:
Vastly Preferred Acceptable
[1], [3], [5] [1, 5, 7]
[1] - [5] [1-5]
You may have to adjust your computer program format to get the preferred form.
 The names of all authors should be given in the references unless the number of authors is greater than
six. If there are more then six authors, you may use et al. (no comma before et) after the name of the
first author.

2 THE REFERENCE LIST

 References must be listed in the order they were cited (numerical order). The references must not be in
alphabetical order.
 The bracketed number should be on the line, and the lines of each entry indented.
 List only one reference per bracketed number.
 Footnotes and other words and phrases not part of the reference format should not be included in the
reference list. Phrases such as “for example” should only be given in the text.

2.1 Capitalization
 Every (important) word in the title of a book must be capitalized.
 Every (important) word in the title of a journal or conference must be capitalized.
 Capitalize only the first word of an article title (except for proper nouns, acronyms, etc.)
 Capitalize only the first word of a paper, thesis, or book chapter.
 Capitalize the “v” in volume for a book title, but not for a periodical.

2.2 Punctuation
Punctuation goes inside the quotation marks. An example with a question mark is provided under
periodicals.

2.3 Abbreviations
 You must either spell out the entire name of each periodical you reference or use accepted
abbreviations. You must consistently do one or the other.
 You may spell words such as volume, December, etc., but you must either spell out all such
occurrences or abbreviate all.
 You do not need to abbreviate March, May, June, July.
 To indicate a page range: pp. 111-222.
But to reference one page only, use only one p: p. 111.
2.4 Spacing
Please note the correct spacing and punctuation for author names:
D. L. Tao, C. Siva Ram Murthy, and S. Al Kuran
but
T.-C. Hsu and L. A. Stein-Rosenberg

3 EXAMPLES
3.1 Books
[1] S. M. Hemmingsen, Soft Science. Saskatoon: University of Saskatchewan Press, 1997.
[2] A. Rezi and M. Allam, “Techniques in array processing by means of transformations,” in Control
and Dynamic Systems, Vol. 69, Multidimensional Systems, C. T. Leondes, Ed. San Diego: Academic
Press, 1995, pp. 133-180.
[3] D. Sarunyagate, Ed., Lasers. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996.

3.2 Periodicals
[3] G. Liu, K. Y. Lee, and H. F. Jordan, “TDM and TWDM de Bruijn networks and shufflenets for
optical communications,” IEEE Transactions on Computers, vol. 46, pp. 695-701, June 1997.
[4] J. R. Beveridge and E. M. Riseman, “How easy is matching 2D line models using local search?”
IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, vol. 19, pp. 564-579, June 1997.

3.3 Articles from published conference proceedings

The word in before the conference title is not italicized.
[5] N. Osifchin and G. Vau, “Power considerations for the modernization of telecommunications in
Central and Eastern European and former Soviet Union (CEE/FSU) countries,” in Second
International Telecommunications Energy Special Conference, 1997, pp. 9-16.
[6] S. Al Kuran, “The prospects for GaAs MESFET technology in dc–ac voltage conversion,” in
Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Portable Design Conference, 1997, pp. 137-142.

3.4 Papers presented at conferences, but unpublished

[7] H. A. Nimr, “Defuzzification of the outputs of fuzzy controllers,” presented at 5th International
Conference on Fuzzy Systems, Cairo, Egypt, 1996.

3.5 Reports (technical reports, internal reports, memoranda)

Provide number and month if available
[8] K. E. Elliott and C. M. Greene, “A local adaptive protocol,” Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne,
France, Tech. Rep. 916-1010-BB, 1997.

3.6 Thesis or Dissertations

“Ph.D. dissertation,” but “M.S. thesis”
[9] H. Zhang, “Delay-insensitive networks,” M.S. thesis, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON,
Canada, 1997.

3.7 Manual
[10] Bell Telephone Laboratories Technical Staff, Transmission System for Communications, Bell
Telephone Laboratories, 1995.

3.8 Class Notes

[10] “Signal integrity and interconnects for high-speed applications,” class notes for ECE 497-JS,
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
Winter 1997.

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3.9 Private Communications
[11] T. I. Wein (private communication), 1997.
3.10 From the Internet
[12] Computational, Optical, and Discharge Physics Group, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
“Hybrid plasma equipment model: Inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching reactors,”
December 1995, http://uigelz.ece.uiuc.edu/Projects/HPEM-ICP/index.html.
[13] D. Poelman (dirk_poelman@rug.ac.be), “Re: Question on transformerless power supply,” Usenet
post to sci.electronics.design, July 4, 1997.

3.11 Catalog
[14] Catalog No. MWM-1, Microwave Components, M. W. Microwave Corp., Brooklyn, NY.

3.12 Application Notes

[15] Hewlett-Packard, Appl. Note 935, pp. 25-29.

3.13 Patents
[16] K. Kimura and A. Lipeles, “Fuzzy Controller Component,” U. S. Patent 14,860,040, December 14,
1996.

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 Appendix B: Quick Reference of Important Suggestions
1. Coherence of a Report
a. Break the report into appropriate sections including an introduction, body, and conclusions.
b. Discussion should have smooth transitions and be easy to read.
c. Correct grammar and spelling is essential.
d. Write in a 3rd person point of view.
e. Tables and figures should appear immediately following their first introduction in the
discussion.

2. Data
a. Present large amounts of data in a concise way such as a table when necessary.
b. Correct units are required on all data.
c. Only include data in the report which is actually used.

3. Equations and Calculations

a. Equations should be on their own line and be numbered.
b. Every variable used in an equation should be clearly defined. For this class, obvious
quantities such as line-line voltage or line current need not be explicitly defined provided that
the variable is appropriately descriptive (i.e. Vll).
c. When discussing equations, refer to them by number.
d. Equations must be properly formatted using an equation editor such as MS Equation or
Mathtype.
e. Results of repetitive calculations can be summarized in a table.
f. Whenever appropriate, use quantitative measures such as percent error calculations to
evaluate experimental results.

4. Tables and Figures

a. Similar to data, tables and figures should appear immediately following their first mention in
the discussion.
b. Every table or figure requires a number and descriptive caption.
c. Every table or figure should be clearly legible and include a legend and axis units when
appropriate.

5. References
a. Do not regurgitate the laboratory procedures. If necessary, cite them in the discussion using
an appropriate reference. Deviations from procedure should be discussed in the report.
b. IEEE referencing style should be used for this class
c. IEEE style indicates that references are numbered in the order that they appear in the
discussion.
d. IEEE style indicates that references cited in the discussion can be referred to directly by
number.

6. Laboratory Practices
a. Take sufficient data in the lab to be able to recreate results.
b. Have a general understanding of what is expected for results in a particular experiment.
c. Data sheets must be submitted with the report as an appendix.

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