CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB REPORT GUIDELINES

Communication is the lifeblood of science. No matter how incredible or revolutionary your results or ideas, if
you cannot present them so that other people can understand them, it is as if you have discovered nothing. The
following format has been designed to clearly and succinctly communicate your findings. There may be other
ways to report this, there may be better ways. But in this class, this format is the way. If you do not follow the
format, points will be deducted. A good laboratory report does more than present data; it demonstrates the
writer's comprehension of the concepts behind the data and the significance of the results. Thus, no length is
set.

REPORT CONTENT
1. Title Page
 Name of experiment, lab number and course information
 Full typed names of lab partners
 Submission date

2. Introduction
 State the experimental objective and background.
 Explain the relevance and importance of the experiment (including actual engineering examples and
applications). Why are you performing the experiment?

3. Technical Theory
 Explain the scientific principles that apply to the experiment and are relevant to the analysis and
interpretation of results.
 Explain relevant equations.
 Equations should be on their own separate line (use the equation editor).
 The equation reference number should be right-justified.
 Each variable should be defined the first time it is used (do not define with just units).
 Equations are referenced by number in the Results section when describing how a particular
quantity was determined.
 Equation example:
𝜎 = 𝐸𝜀 [1]
Where 𝜎 is the stress
𝐸 is Young’s Modulus
𝜀 is the strain
 Do not include the experimental procedure in this section.
 Do not include equations specific to equipment.

4. Materials and Equipment

 Provide a description of the lab equipment (what it does and how it is used). Use paragraph
structure. Do not use lists.
 Include and discuss equations that are specific to the lab equipment (i.e. specific strain gauge
constants).
 You may need to rewrite some of the laboratory manual – do not assume the reader has access to it.
 Do not include the experimental procedure in this section.
5. Experimental Procedure
 Describe the process in chronological order. Use paragraph structure. Do not use lists.
 Explain all the steps in the order they were performed so that, if necessary, another researcher
could duplicate your experiment.
 You may need to rewrite and/or correct some of the laboratory manual.
 The procedure is always written in past tense and passive voice.
 Example: “Two pieces of bread were sliced from the loaf and placed next to each other
on a plate. A knife was used to spread peanut butter on one slice of bread at a thickness
of approximately 2 mm. The same knife was cleaned and then used to spread jelly on the
other slice of bread at a thickness of approximately 3 mm. The two slices of bread were
put together with the peanut butter and jelly on the inside to create a peanut butter and
jelly sandwich.”

6. Results and Discussion

 Present the findings and interpret their significance.
 Explain, analyze and interpret your results.
 Refer to equations used to perform calculations by their equation number.
 Do not include raw data or sample calculations. These should be located in the Appendix and
referenced in the text.
 Present all relevant tables and figures in this section.
 Remember that this section is the most important part, so it should be detailed and display your
engineering acumen.
 Guidance on Content:
 Result Analysis and Interpretation
o What do the results indicate?
o What is the significance of the results?
o Analyze the data in relation to the experiment (save the comparisons to theoretical data until
later).
o Do not start this section by exposing errors as compared to expected results.
o If questions are provided in the assignment, answer them in a separate section titled Specific
Questions.
o Are these the expected results? Why or why not?
o When comparing observed results to expected results, base the expected results on sound
scientific principles (provided in the Relevant Theory section).
 Graphs, Figures, and Tables
o Do not present data in a graph/figure/table without an accompanying explanation in the
text. If you do not discuss the graph/figure/table, then there is no reason it should be
included in the report.
 Experimental Error Analysis
o Was it avoidable? Was it the result of equipment?
o There can be deviation from the ideal even if an experiment was within tolerances.
o If the error results from experimental design, explain how the design can be improved.
o If the error is human error, explain why the experiment was not repeated.
7. Conclusions
 Consult with the entire lab group on this section.
 Summarize the significance and implications of your findings.
 Be consistent with stated objectives and results.
 Discuss the weakness of the experimental design (if applicable).
 Discuss what future work needs to be done to extend the conclusions.
 Recommendations for future work should be positive, relevant, constructive, useful, and
practical.

8. References
 Properly cite material/information from any outside sources (including the lab manual) used in the
report.
 Include in-text citations that refer to the numbered citations in the References section.
 Only include references that you actually cited in the report (i.e. material properties).
 Wikipedia is NOT allowed as a reference.

9. Appendices
 Raw data is required in the appendix.
 Other appendices can include calculations or graphs/pictures/tables not included in the report itself.
 Each kind of item should be in its own appendix, and each appendix should have a letter designation
(Appendix A, etc.).
 Refer to each appendix at least once in the body of the report, and a brief mention of the contents
should be included.
REPORT FORMATTING
Be professional! All format guidelines are established to produce readable, visually appealing, and clearly
structured documents.

1. Formal English
 No contractions
 No personal pronouns – I, we, our, us, you, your, yours, he, her, theirs
 No jargon, clichés, or colloquialisms

2. Verb tense
 Use past tense when talking about the experiment (it is already finished).
 Use present tense when talking about the theory and permanent equipment (they still exist).

3. Font
 Calibri, Times New Roman, or Arial are acceptable.
 Use 10- to 12-point text.
 Use 1.5 spacing (double is not professional, and single does not leave room for written comments).

4. Headings
 Headings should be bolded and in the same font as the document text.
 Skip one line above and below headings.

5. Figures/Graphs/Tables
 All figures/graphs/tables must have descriptive titles.
 Example: “Figure 1. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich”
 Figure titles should be below the figure.
 Table titles should be above the table.
 No hand plots are accepted – they must be computer generated.
 All graph axes should have titles and dimensions.

6. Page Numbering
 Pages should be numbered at the bottom of the page in the center.

7. General Notes
 Always double-check for spelling errors!
 It is a false stereotype that engineers are expected to be poor writers. Make sure your language
is clear and conveys your point accurately.
 Watch for “orphans” and “widows” in the text.
 An orphan is a section title (or something similar) that begins on one page, but the rest of that
section is on the following page.
 A widow is a figure title or table row (or something similar) that ends on one page but was
started on the previous page.