Grading Rubrics

Formal Lab Reports *Here is an example, and here is another.

Appearance: Physical reports must be printed on a high-resolution laser printer or inkjet printer. Electronic reports must be in PDF format. The report must be double-spaced, on 8-1/2" x 11" paper. Font should be 12-point Times New Roman or similar. Graphs and tables should be inline, by including them in your document. Equations and Greek letters should be entered properly using Microsoft Equation Editor or its equivalent.

Tone: You should address your report to a trained physicist, but one who is not familiar with the experiment. It is important to recall the goal of the paper: to convince the reader that the experiment is interesting, to explain to the reader the experimental method (but not procedural details) used, to outline your data analysis, and finally to convince him or her that your conclusions are correct. A laboratory notebook, which is important in documenting all of your work for yourself and collaborators, does not always accomplish these goals. The formal report has a different audience, and plays a different role, as discussed in class.

Organization: The following gives a brief guide to the organization of your reports. The reports should include the following sections:

ABSTRACT: A one-paragraph summary of your experiments and the results you obtained. The goal is to catch the reader's attention and convey your conclusion.

INTRODUCTION: A one-to-three paragraph section that states the purpose of the experiment, and a very brief overview of how you did the experiment.

THEORY: Provide a brief description of the underlying theory of the experiment, in the space of two to four paragraphs. In this section you should present in sentences, not just as a list of equations, most of the equations that will be used for your analysis. You should only derive equations that are essential for your analysis and that cannot be found elsewhere. Make sure that any important equations have references to literature, and that all of the variables in the equations are defined in the text of the paper. This section is not to be used for describing experimental details.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE: Describe the procedure you used in sufficient detail that a "knowledgeable" reader can supply the details of the experiment. Do not just re-write the lab handout. Be concise. If the section on procedure is longer than either the sections on analysis or results, you have not been sufficiently concise. Cite any references that you used. It is often helpful to include a sketch or two, if appropriate, of the apparatus you used. This needs to be a diagram you made yourself!

RESULTS: This section guides the reader through data tables, graphs, calculations, error estimates and analysis. It, therefore, must contain prose that not only refers to tables and graphs, but also summarizes what they contain or show. Don't show all your calculations. This section should allow the reader to take your raw data and use the appropriate equations to reproduce your calculations, without making any assumptions. It is not desirable (or good practice) to include all of the raw data, particularly if a single graph contains most of the information. Additional suggestions regarding graphs and error analysis are given below.

All reported values, including derived quantities should have uncertainties associated with them. In the case of the latter, they should be the result of error propagation. A brief statement on how the errors were propagated should be made.

GRAPHS AND TABLES These are are not a separate section, but embedded in your report near where you reference them in the text. Graphs should be clearly labeled with a title box, a key to symbols, and labeled axes with units specified. The scales should be selected so that the experimental points are spread over most of the page. Use caution when scales do not start at zero, and do not assume that the default scaling chosen by Python or Excel is ideal for what you are trying to show. Data values should be displayed as discrete points with error bars if appropriate. If a least-square analysis using ODR has been made, draw the fit result as a solid curve. Each table and figure must be numbered, and all figures should be referred to by number in the paper. (Do not just take every printout you have and staple it to the end of your report). Each table or figure must also have a self-contained one to three sentence "caption" which explains what is in the graph/table. Captions should be typed below the figure. (The practice of including captions on a separate page is still used for submitting manuscripts to some journals, but that is not how the finished report appears.) You may also attach them at the end of the report (which is the method specified in the AIP Style Manual).

DISCUSSION: This should consist of a critical evaluation of the experiment, discussing its precision and accuracy as well as its good and bad features. You should compare your results to those in the literature (if available) and/or to those of other students (if appropriate). Give reasons, or at least plausible explanations, of any differences observed. Many students are tempted to use this section to list every possible source of error they can think of, regardless of the magnitude of that error or the likelihood that it entered into the experiment in a significant way. You should use the results of your error analysis to make an informed decision as to which sources of error may have contributed to your measurements. Give suggestions for improving the experiment. Do not rehash the experimental method or procedure in the discussion.

The act of writing the discussion section is really part of the scientific method. You have made measurements, made observations, performed calculations, drawn graphs, etc., but now you need to draw some conclusions. What do you think it all means? Your lab report is a story of what you have done and what you have subsequently discovered. The discussion section delivers the punch line. The reader should come away from your discussion with a clear message, not a vague laundry list of error sources.

Citation and Reference Cheat-sheet Different publications will follow different rules for citations. To keep things simple, I recommend you use the AIP style (aka. publications like Physics Today, Physical Review Letters, etc.). However, if you choose a different format, as long as you are consistent, that is fine. You must include citations for any material which is not your own. The recommended style for citations is numbered end-notes with a format in accordance with the American Institute of Physics Style Manual.

The full style guide is available. Though the best bet is to see from Gustavus Adolphus College a quick reference on how to cite following the AIP style.

Checklist for formal reports BEFORE STARTING TO WRITE: ____ Analyze data and perform calculations. You may need to redo this part if it is not correct in the lab notebook.

____ List all equations that are needed for the analysis. It is likely that these should be derived or discussed in the theory section of the paper.

____ Make an Outline to construct the basic structure of the paper.

____ Decide who you are writing for and aim at an appropriate level.

____ Form a "thesis statement" - a short (1-3 sentence) statement of what you want the reader to understand as the most important point in your paper. This statement may end up appearing in the abstract or introduction.

____ Look up the "accepted values" for all constants (e, e/m, ...) in an acceptable reference. See Physics Today, August issue of most years for an up-to-date list. The CODATA database of the latest physical constants can be found at http://physics.nist.gov/funcon.html. Report accepted values in your paper with the stated uncertainties and a reference. Textbooks such as Serway or Tipler are not acceptable references. You may also use up-to-date Python packages which come with constants, but again these must be cited.

WHILE WRITING & MAKING GLOBAL REVISIONS TO THE PAPER: ____ Double-space your paper. Use Times Roman 12-point font or larger throughout, including captions, graphs, and footnotes.

____ Check organization of the paper. It should contain (in some format) an abstract and introduction, some theory to support paper (primarily any equations used), some (but not much) procedure and apparatus description. It should also discuss the measurements which were taken, the analysis of the data performed, and conclusions.

____ See the "Checklist for Global Revisions" (from A Writer's Reference, 3rd ed. Diana Hacker, Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1995, p. 30).

____ Make sure that the text in each paragraph agrees with the opening sentence of the paragraph. Break the paragraphs by logical divisions.

____ All graphs, pictures, drawings, diagrams, sketches, etc. must be called a "Figure." All tabular material must be called a "Table." All figures and tables must be square with the page, not crooked, or extending beyond the edge of the paper.

____ All Figures and Tables must be numbered and include a one-to three-sentence caption. If desired, figures may be on separate pages at the end of the reports, but captions should be at the bottom of the figures, preferably centered.

____ All Figures and Tables must be referred to, by number, in the text. Do not include figures or tables that are not referred to in the text. When referring to figures, tables, or equations in the text, use the abbreviation, with leading capital, such as "Fig. 4" or" Eq. 2."

____ Any scanned figures, such as circuit diagrams, must be sharp, clear, and easy to read. It is often better to manually cut-and-paste figures instead of scanning and inserting them into the documents. Figures must be attributed if they are not your original work, including if they are copied from a lab manual.

____ Do not include a fitting program printout or spreadsheet table unless it is "cleaned up". This means change column headings, correct number of significant figures, units, explain what is on the page, what parameters mean, etc.

____ Numeric values of importance (fit parameters, results, etc.) should be in the text of the paper or in a figure caption. Don't force the reader to read printouts and graphs to find parameters.

____ Carefully explain the fitting or analysis method, especially how errors were used, for any calculations.

____ All numeric values should have units and errors (if appropriate). Check significant figures.

____ If you are going to state any deviations from accepted values, state them as the number of standard deviations (in addition to % error if you want).

____ Footnote (endnote, etc.) any material, including apparatus diagrams, which is not your own or is not "common knowledge", and use a standard style for references. For this course, the required style is from the AIP Style Manual. Be careful of plagiarism in following the structure of another book too closely. See, for example, A Writer's Reference, 3rd Ed. Diana Hacker, pp. 327-334).

____ Conclusions should logically follow from data and analysis.

____ Carefully read the whole paper!

____ Backup your work. Your best bet is to use a cloud based storage solution that automatically syncs such as Dropbox, OneDrive, or Google Drive. You may also want to backup on a removable storage device such as a USB flash drive or a portable hard drive.

PROOF-READING OF PAPER (At the sentence/paragraph level) ____ Carefully read the whole paper from a printed page! Check carefully for any reformatting that your word processor may have done.

____ Check the spelling and run spell checker in the word processor. Be careful of correctly spelled words that are not correct (such as "then" instead of "than" or "excepted" instead of "accepted").

____ Avoid participles and participial phrases, particularly at the beginning of sentences. Incorrect: "Putting the meter in series, the current was measured." Better: "The meter was placed in series with the load, and the current measured."

____ Never use contractions (wasn't, didn't, ...) in formal writing.

____ If a sentence is longer than about 2-3 lines, double check to make sure it is not run-on or that you shouldn't rewrite it.

____ Check tense of verbs and remain consistent: past tense (was, were), present tense (is, are).

____ Check noun/verb agreement (singular/plural): "The coil's diameter were measured ... "

____ Check punctuation, particularly of equations.

____ Avoid unnecessary words (often "then" is not needed, replace phrases such as "due to the fact that" with "because" or "in order to" with "to").

____ If your report is printed, check that everything printed clearly. If you are submitting electronically, make sure the PDF appears the way you want it to.

____ While you are at it, carefully read the whole paper one more time! Ask your partner or someone else to proof-read your paper, while you do the same for him or her.