Remote BIO 101 Lab report guidelines by Drs.

Marcy Kelly and Antonio Herrera, modified for

Summer 2020 by D. Gelman

Scientists report the results from their studies in both written formats. In order for scientists to
communicate their ideas in written format and to promote the freedom of scientific exchange,
specific data reporting guidelines are followed. Scientific articles that do not follow the
appropriate format will not be accepted for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals. The
typical format for scientific articles includes the following seven sections: Title, Abstract,
Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Citations. Each of these sections
is discussed in detail in Reading Primary Literature (Sections 3-7) by Gillen and A Short Guide
to Writing about Biology (Chapters 1 and 9) by Pechenik. As a beginning scientist, it is essential
that you gain practice in reporting your results using the same format that professional scientists
use.

General Instructions:

Laboratory reports must be typed (double spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font, default
Word margins) and be between 15-20 pages. Tables and Figures must be computer-generated
(not handwritten). You are expected to use proper grammar and correct spelling in your report.
Therefore, please be sure to spell and grammar check your document before you submit it.
Each section should begin on a new page and be written up as a clear, concise essay, not a list
of answers to the points provided in this handout. The listed points should be used as a
check-list to guide you through writing the lab report.

You will need to perform web-based research to learn more information than what is presented
to you in this lab manual for your report (especially the for the introduction section). When
performing this research, only use sources from .edu, .org, or .gov websites. DO NOT use
Wikipedia as a source. You will need to cite AT LEAST 5 sources (other than the laboratory
manual) in your report.

Everything you write in your laboratory report should be in your own words. Summarize any
web-based information and then, cite the reference. Do not copy anything verbatim from any
source (website, book, a peer etc…) – using quotations in any form is not acceptable. For your
citations, please follow the Council of Science Editors (CSE) citation style. You can most likely
find information on this citation format in your College or University library. We will strictly
uphold the Pace University Academic Integrity Code for this course. Refer to the course
syllabus for more details.

Laboratory Report Preparation Guidelines and Hints:

Title: Laboratory reports should have a separate title page (include the title and your name). The
title needs to be descriptive and include a summary of your topic in a single sentence (the
information below is not listed in any particular order):
Abstract: 250 words maximum.

Rationale for laboratory

Summary of tutorials completed and techniques learned about.
The genus names of the organism that you discovered as a result of your BLAST search
A discussion of the clustering results
Introduction: 3-5 pages. Web-based literature sources should be used to help you write this
section.

Background information about antibiotics

Background information about the antibiotic resistance crisis
Discussion of the characteristics of the ESKAPE pathogens that you chose and completed your
literature search review on.
Summary of the virtual labs you performed throughout the semester
Summary of your results
Materials and Methods: 1-2 pages. List the names of the virtual labs/tutorials you learned about
during remote learning ) in the order in which you performed them.

Results: Include the tables with legends and associated narrative in the order as listed, below.
Recreate the tables that are in your Research Guide in Word so that they are seamless with
your laboratory report. Please develop original titles for each table. I will fill in sample data
regarding the number of colonies and you can calculate the CFU

Table 2: CFU per ml table as follows:

Dilution Factor Number of Colonies CFU/ml

0 200
10^-1 170
10^-2 100
10^-3 78
10^-4 35

Tables 3D from the laboratory data collection summary spreadsheet (page 33 of Research
Guide)
Copy Table 3D for each sequence you edited, analyzed and used for BLAST searching.
Write up a narrative describing the data in each table. This is different from the legend
associated with each table. A narrative is a series of paragraphs that go through each table,
describe the experiment performed in 1 sentence and then, describe the results.
Discussion: 2-3 pages. You will have to do more web-based research and use more citations for
this section.
The first paragraph of your discussion should restate the results of your study
Research and describe details of the organism you used for your sequencing analyses and if it
is a known antibiotic producer. Provide any information regarding which type of antibiotic your
organism determined by the BLAST analysis and your organism that you studied during the
literature review assignment.
Describe what you would do next (assume that you have successfully completed all
components of this laboratory course to address this point)
Citations: You should have at least 10 citations for this laboratory report (including the Research
Guide and Protocol Book). Use CSE format for your citations.

Pace University has free licenses to use several citation-management programs. You can learn
more here: https://libguides.pace.edu/c.php?g=63932&p=410547. If you opt to use one of these
programs, they are NOT perfect. You will still need to proofread your citations.
Samples of formatted references from NIH:
https://wayback.archive-it.org/org-350/20190414183852/https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_re
quirements.html
For information about how to prepare in-text citations, you may review this website:
https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/documentation/doccse/
All links can be accessed through the links on the Pace University library pages