Section Description

• Identifies the problem/questions that the project addresses
• States the objectives of the project
• Describes the general procedures
• Includes key results (quantitative results and key trends)
• Evaluates results in light of the problem/ questions
• Lists the main conclusions
• Suggests future work or implementation

Introduction

(and Theoretical Background)

• Identifies the problem/ questions that the project addresses
• Describes related work done on the topic (previous work, theoretical background, key parameters, equations, etc.)
• States the (specific and measurable) objectives of the current project
• Lists the general procedures (including the measurements and calculations) that will be used to achieve the objectives  

• Describes the scientific method/ approach used to collect data
• Describes the materials and equipment used to collect data
• Describes the detailed procedures followed to collect data in a way that would allow someone else to reproduce such procedures
• Describes the process by which measurements were recorded, preserved, and analyzed

• Reports key results and explains their meaning
• Explains data derivations and transformations obtained from the measured data
• Presents key results visually (tables, figures, graphs)
• Reports discrepancies and anomalies in the results

• Compares measured results to predicted values
• Explains the discrepancies and anomalies in the results

• Summarizes the most important results reported in the report
• Assesses the success of the project
• Suggests possible future improvements (e.g. address error sources, safety issues, alternative approaches)
• Ends with a bottom line statement (why should the reader care about the results?)

• References (lists the external sources cited in the report)
• Appendices (includes raw data, sample calculations, error analysis, etc.)​
  
  

Section Description

• Provides an overview of the paper: background, purpose, methods, findings, conclusions, value/implications

Introduction

and Literature Review

• Establishes the topic (narrows down the topic from general explanations to a specific angle/scope/problem)
• Reviews the literature (reviews aspects of the problem that have been previously studied and organizes them thematically)
• States the gap (identifies the need for further investigation/research with respect to a particular aspect of the problem)
• States the purpose (explicitly states the purpose/ objective/ hypotheses of the study)

• Details the methods, materials, and procedures used in the study

• Presents the findings by theme
• Reports the data and interprets their meaning in light of the purpose of the paper

• Expands on the major interpretations
• Compares findings to the literature

• Presents the importance of the findings and how they may be applied in broader contexts (other contexts, disciplines, real-life scenarios, etc.)
• Includes limitations and suggestions for future work

• Gives thanks and credit to contributors other than the listed authors

• Documents the sources using an acceptable style