Iwe-UniversityofWarwick.ppt

The “Astronomy” view on report writing All scientific reports should be arranged in sections. It is helpful to number sections and divide each section into subsections with meaningful subheadings where required. Grammar and spelling are very important Redrafting extremely important for readability Start with rough notes i.e. a skeleton outline Redraft several times – reading afresh each time. 2nd Year Laboratory Experimental Report The sections in your report Abstract 1. Introduction (including any theory) 2. Experimental details 3. Results 3.1 Overview 3.2 First set of results 3.3 Second set of results 4. Discussion 5. Summary or Conclusions References Grammar and Spelling In many branches of physics the convention is to write in the third person and the passive tense, i.e. the voltage was measured at ten second intervals rather than I/we measured the voltage.... Note, however, that in astronomy journals many authors write in the first person. (we). Check with your marker if you are unsure. It doesn’t matter to us (astro) which one you chose, but be consistent! Grammar and Spelling In many branches of physics the convention is to write in the third person and the passive tense, i.e. the voltage was measured at ten second intervals rather than I/we measured the voltage.... Note, however, that in astronomy journals many authors write in the first person (we). Check with your marker if you are unsure. Use the present tense for statements which are still true rather than actions pursued in the past, i.e. the work function was calculated from the Fowler-Nordheim equation to be 4.0 eV which is in agreement with the published value. Theoretical statements are also written in the present tense, e.g. The condition for maxima in the intensity is given by the equation.... Grammar and Spelling Spell check your report. Carefully proof read your work. Read what is there, not what you thought you wrote (you’ll need a gap between writing and re-reading if this is to wo