Written Reports Checklistfor Content

□My report uses SI units in all calculations and results

1. My title page…
□ has a short, concrete and descriptive title.
□ has my name on it.
□ has the date(s) of the experiment and the submission date.
□ has my group number, my lab partners’ names, the course number and instructors’ names.
□ is on a separate page.
□ has the required signature verifying that my report satisfies everything on this checklist.

2. My abstract…
□ is between 125 and 200 words in length.
□ contains 4 numbers or less (3.5±0.2 counts as one number).
□ is self-contained:has no numbered citations, and does not refer to figures, numbered equations, or tables.
□ refers to no undefined variables.
□ is on a separate page, immediately after the title page.
□ explains clearly what I did,
□explains clearly what I found,
□and explains clearly what it means.

3. My table of contents(if provided, but not necessary) …
□ provides the page location of each major section and appendix.
□ is neatly laid out, with consistent indentations and all page numbers aligned horizontally.
□ is on a separate page, immediately after the abstract page.

4. My introduction…
□is limited to 1 page.
□ includes one paragraph that summarizes the problem investigated, describing why the system being studied is important without verbatim quotes from the literature.
□ includes at least one paragraph describing relevant previously published work without verbatim quotes from the literature.
□ includes at least one paragraphat the end of the introduction summarizing what is going to be reported in the report, relating my goals to the previously published work and specifying briefly the main ‘take-home message’ about my results.
□ contains at least 4 different citations to published work and does not cite the lab handout.

5. My theory section…
□is limited to 1 ½ pages.
□ includes a schematic of the ‘idealized’ problem, which is described in the text.
□ includes precise statements of my assumptions,
□includes governing equations,
□and includes appropriate initial/boundary conditions.
□ describes the resulting ‘working equations’ that are used in my data analyses.
□ defines variables the first time they are mentioned in the text.
□ has all equations numbered in sequence, with the number itself aligned on the right margin.
□ has all of the equations written using Equation Editor (i.e., not normal text and not imported graphics).
□ has all variables written consistently (e.g., italicized in both the equations and the text).
□ refers to all equations in the text as eq. (1), eq. (2), etc.
□ does not include detailed algebraic or calculus manipulations, which are in an appendix.

6. My experimental methods section…
□is limited to 1 ½ pages.
□ includes a schematic drawing or photograph of the experimental setup, which is described in the text.
□ provides sufficient information to allow somebody else to reproduce the experiments while referring to the lab handout for detailed procedures.
□ is not written as a ‘recipe;’ verbs are generally in past tense, not present or future tense.
□ specifies clearly what raw data were collected, and any details necessary to understand the experiment.

7. The text of my results section (not including captions)…
□ is organized around figures (i.e. graphs) and/or tables that are sequenced to present my key findings in a logical order.
□ describes the contents of each table and figure,
□and describes any trends or salient features of each figure and table.
□ has several sentences of text for each individual figure or table.
□ discusses each figure and/or table sequentially.
□ indicates the equation(s) used to analyze the data by referring to the theory section.

□ judiciously uses numbers in the text and always includes error bounds using the ± symbol and units. The correct number of significant figures (not too many) has been included.
□does not interpret the data

8. My figures and tables…
□ are not redundant.The same data is not presented in both a figure and table.
□ convey errors and/or uncertainties by including error bars on each plotted experimental or calculated data point and error bounds using the ± symbol for each experimental or calculated value in a table. In tables and figures, the correct number of significant figures has been included.
□ have clear labels or headings. Each figure has a clear label on each axis, with the correct units specified and each table