IB Chemistry

Lab Report Format Guidelines

All or some of the following headings and sub-headings should generally be used where appropriate in
aiding the flow and organisation of your lab report. Page numbers should be given in the footer of the
report.

Research Design
Introduction – introduce the chemistry and/or appropriate and relevant background
information behind your investigation in a few paragraphs. For a self-designed
investigation, show how the investigation demonstrates personal significance, interest or
curiosity, and there should be clear evidence of significant independent thinking, initiative
or creativity.

Problem Statement/Research Question – must be relevant and fully focused and not
ambiguous in any way.

Hypothesis (may or may not be necessary depending on the nature of the investigation) –
state first and then give a logical rationale – your conclusion should address the hypothesis
you are giving here.

Variables (may or may not be necessary depending on the nature of the investigation) –
chart or list the independent, dependent, and controlled variables.

Protocol Diagram – draw and label a diagram which best shows the major protocol(s) i.e.
techniques/method you used. Often this will focus on the technique that was used to
measure the dependent variable and/or the technique that was used to ‘setup’ different
increments of the independent variable. Make sure to show how control group(s) differ from
experimental group(s).

Procedure – write in paragraph form in past tense as you are reporting a procedure that you
had already carried out. Avoid writing the procedure as a list of instructions. Either active or
passive voice or a mixture of both is acceptable depending on the flow of your writing.

Safety, Ethical or Environmental Issues – State any significant safety, ethical or

environmental issues that are relevant to the methodology of the investigation. A risk
assessment should be done where necessary (e.g. refer to CLEAPPS HazCards or MSDS
available online).

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Data analysis
Raw Data Table – make sure this is raw data only. Data table design and clarity is
important. A title should be given (Raw Data Table is not a data table title, it is a lab report
section title). Make sure that all columns, etc. are properly headed and units are given.
Forgetting one unit or misidentifying one unit is enough to drop your score in this criteria.

Do not “split” a data table (putting part of a table on one page and finishing it on another). If
you absolutely have to split a table (due to quantity of data), make sure that you re-do the
title and all column headings.

Uncertainties are mandatory and can be given within column headings for equipment precision and
as footnotes beneath data tables for other types of uncertainties. If you have chosen to use an
uncertainty different from the equipment precision, here is a good place to indicate the reason.

Data Processing
Overview – this is a short paragraph section that gives an overview of how and why you
decided to process and present the data in the form that shows up later in this section.

Sample Calculation – neatly lay out and explain one example only of any type of
manipulation that was done to the raw data to help make it more useful for interpretation.

Presentation – this is typically one or more data tables (of your now processed data) and one
or more graphs of this processed data. Once again, the design and clarity of data table(s) is
important and the quality of graphs is also very important. Give careful consideration to the
choice of graph style(s) that you choose to do. Think about doing a scatter plot or perhaps a
line graph or any number of other creative graphing styles rather than just a simple line
graph. Remember that demonstrating errors and uncertainties in your data is also
mandatory for the processed data. Make sure that you follow good standard rules for doing
graphs (valid title, axes labeled including units, etc.)

Note: Weak experimental design can sometimes limit you to pie graphs and/or bar graphs; avoid this
by good experimental design in which you have a quantitative independent variable (with well-chosen
incremental values) as well as a quantitative dependent variable.

Communication
Clear communication means that the method of processing can be understood easily.

Precise communication refers to following conventions correctly, such as those relating to

the annotation of graphs and tables or the use of units, decimal places and significant
figures.

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Conclusion
This is a section in which you get a chance to discuss the results of your investigation. Start
by addressing whether your data seems to support or refute your hypothesis. This should be
discussed and not just stated. Specifically refer to your data or graphs to give support to this
discussion. Avoid the use of the word “proof” or “proves” within your conclusion, as your
data will not prove anything. Refer to the accuracy, precision and consistency of your results
where applicable. For accuracy, how close is your value to the literature value (either given
or found out from reliable sources)? For precision, comment on the final absolute
uncertainty and which is the major contributing factor to it i.e. which measurement was the
least precise. For consistency, consider the range of your results if more than one trial was
done.

Evaluation
Sources of Errors and Limitations of Methodology – this paragraph section discusses how
well your methodology helped answer your research question. What worked well (and
why) and what did not work well (and why). This is also a section in which outlier points
could be discussed (if there were any outlier points) as well as possible reasons for those
outlier points. You should discuss any random or systematic errors present based on a
comparison of the percentage error (if any) and the percentage uncertainty, as well as the
experimental conditions under which the investigations was carried out. The direction of
change caused by the identified systematic errors on the results should be clearly identified
as far as possible.

Confidence in Conclusion – Discuss your confidence levels in the conclusion you have
made. Find and reference published data that supports/refutes your conclusion. Process
your errors and calculate the overall percentage error for each experimental value. Is this
value significant? Are any of the limitations above important enough to affect your
confidence in your conclusion?

Suggestions for Improvement – With reference to the limitations given in the previous
subsection, what realistic and useful improvements could be made if you were to do this
investigation again? Be specific in describing the suggested improvements.

Formal Presentation
Font Size – between 10 and 12 pt. Recommended: 12 pt.
Font Type – must be able to be clearly read e.g. non-cursive fonts. Recommended: Arial.
Line Spacing – single or double spacing. Recommended: double spacing (except for
individual investigation report where single spacing is allowed).