Committee on Professional Training
Preparing a Research Report
A research experience provides undergraduates a problem-solving activity unlike anything else in the curriculum.
It provides exposure to research methodology and an opportunity to work closely with a faculty advisor. It usually
requires the use of advanced concepts, a variety of experimental techniques, and state-of-the-art instrumentation.
Ideally, undergraduate research should focus on a well-defined project that stands a reasonable chance of
completion in the time available. A literature survey alone is not a satisfactory research project. Neither is
repetition of established procedures. The Committee on Professional Training (CPT) strongly supports efforts by
departments to establish active and vibrant undergraduate research programs, recognizing the role that research
can play in developing a wide range of student skills. The 2015 guidelines allow for the use of undergraduate
research both as in-depth coursework, as well as a means of meeting 180 of the 400 laboratory hours required for
certification provided that a well-written, comprehensive, and well-documented research report is prepared at the
end of a project (samples of such research reports must be submitted with the periodic reports.) The CPT has a
separate supplement outlining the components of successful research programs and projects.
Preparation of a comprehensive, well-documented and appropriately referenced written research report is an
essential part of a valid research experience, and the student should be aware of this requirement at the outset of
the project. Interim reports may also be required, usually at the termination of the quarter or semester. Sufficient
time should be allowed for satisfactory completion of reports, taking into account that initial drafts should be
critiqued by the faculty advisor and corrected by the student at each stage. It may be expected that concrete
outcomes of any research project would be student presentation of research results at a professional meeting
and/or co-authorship on a journal publication. While desirable outcomes, they are not a substitute for a well-
written comprehensive report that demonstrates that the student has a full grasp of the scope of the problem, the
techniques/instrumental methods used, and the ramifications of the results generated (much as might be expected
for a capstone paper or a B.S. thesis). The student report should receive substantive critique and correction by
the faculty mentor in its development.
Guidelines on how to prepare a professional-style research report are not always routinely available. For this
reason, the following information on report writing and format is provided to be helpful to undergraduate
researchers and to faculty advisors. Much of what follows is similar to what authors would find in many ‘guidelines
to authors’ instructions for most journal submissions.
The most comprehensive student research reports examined by CPT have been those student reports reviewed
by more faculty than just the supervising research advisor. In some cases, programs require an approval of the
report by several faculty members; in such cases, student research reports are often of high quality.
Organization of the Research Report
Most scientific research reports, irrespective of the field, parallel the method of scientific reasoning. That is: the
problem is defined, a hypothesis is created, experiments are devised to test the hypothesis, experiments are
conducted, and conclusions are drawn. The exact format of scientific reports is often discipline dependent with
variations in order and content. The student is encouraged to adopt the format that is most appropriate to the
discipline of the research. Many journals offer a formatting template to aid the author. One example of such a
framework is as follows: