sp;If use of a specific type of equipment, a specific enzyme, or a culture from a particular supplier is critical to the success of the experiment, then it and the source should be singled out, otherwise no.

       • Materials may be reported in a separate paragraph or else they may be identified along with your procedures.

       • In biosciences we frequently work with solutions - refer to them by name and describe completely, including concentrations of all reagents, and pH of aqueous solutions, solvent if non-aqueous.

       Methods:

       • See the examples in the writing portfolio package

       • Report the methodology (not details of each procedure that employed the same methodology)

       • Describe the mehodology completely, including such specifics as temperatures, incubation times, etc.

       • To be concise, present methods under headings devoted to specific procedures or groups of procedures

       • Generalize - report how procedures were done, not how they were specifically performed on a particular day. For example, report "samples were diluted to a final concentration of 2 mg/ml protein;" don't report that "135 microliters of sample one was diluted with 330 microliters of buffer to make the protein concentration 2 mg/ml." Always think about what would be relevant to an investigator at another institution, working on his/her own project.

       • If well documented procedures were used, report the procedure by name, perhaps with reference, and that's all. For example, the Bradford assay is well known. You need not report the procedure in full - just that you used a Bradford assay to estimate protein concentration, and identify what you used as a standard. The same is true for the SDS-PAGE method, and many other well known procedures in biology and biochemistry.

       Style:

       • It is awkward or impossible to use active voice when documenting methods without using first person, which would focus the reader's attention on the investigator rather than the work. Therefore when writing up the methods most authors use third person passive voice.

       • Use normal prose in this and in every other section of the paper – avoid informal lists, and use complete sentences.

       What to avoid

       • Materials and methods are not a set of instructions.

       • Omit all explanatory information and background - save it for the discussion.

       • Omit information that is irrelevant to a third party, such as what color ice bucket you used, or which individual logged in the data.

       Results

       The page length of this section is set by the amount and types of data to be reported. Continue to be concise, using figures and tables, if appropriate, to present results most effectively. See recommendations for content, below.

       General intent

       The purpose of a results section is to present and illustrate your findings. Make this section a completely objective report of the results, and save all interpretation for the discussion.

       Writing a results section

       IMPORTANT: You must clearly distinguish material that would normally be included in a research article from any raw data or other appendix material that would not be published. In fact, such material should not be submitted at all unless requested by the instructor.

       Content

       • Summarize your findings in text and illustrate them, if appropriate, with figures and tables.

       • In text, describe each of your results, pointing the reader to observations that are most relevant.

       • Provide a context, such as by describing the question that was addressed by making a particular observation.

  &nb

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