Laboratory Writeup Advice

Good quality writing is essential even in technical documents like lab reports. 
Sloppy disorganized lab reports diminish the effective communication of extremely nice data. 

Do not include direct quotations from any source in your writing.  These are overused and rarely necessary.

Introduction  Does it provide enough scope to interest a reader in the work?
    This section is not simple a summary of results from the experiment.  That kind of information should be reserved for the discussion section.  Rather, the introduction gives scope and purpose to the laboratory work by providing relevant background information.  It could mention underlying theory that your experiment is testing.  For a particular metal compound, it is appropriate to mention compounds with similar coordination geometries to the one you might be studying.  Introductions are often written last.  After you have completed the work you are in a better position to include the most appropriate background material so that the introduction logically flows into the rest of the report.  Use figures, even in handwritten reports.  Too often people try to explain complex theory or compounds when a simple figure (one that is referred to) can go a long way to make their point.

Experimental  Can your written procedure (and appropriate references) be used to reproduce your work?
Syntheses: Do not paraphrase a published procedure.  Simply cite the literature procedure and include a statement such as "synthesized according to literature methods."  Clearly cite the published procedure.  It is appropriate and important to specify modifications you may have made to a published procedure.  This could include slight modifications in reagents chosen, concentrations used, temperatures, or reaction times, etc.  Percent yields should be provided for all synthetic work.
Spectroscopic measurements: Always cite instrument and model used, sample prep--gas, solid, solution (cite solvent and approx. concentration), KBr pellet, etc.-- and temperature (say ambient Rm. Temp. if at lab temperature).  This needn't be more than a single sentence for each type of spectrum.
Other instrumental specifics: as in magnetic susceptibility, scanning electron microscope, kinetics measurements, computational modeling software, or conductivity, for example.  Unusual and novel experimental setups deserve a sketch of the apparatus so that others may duplicate your work.

Avoid on-the-fly lab slang in your write-ups:

Slang (avoid this)	Correct phrasing
______ (NMR, IR, etc.) was taken	_____ spectrum was recorded or measured
UV-vis spectrum	electronic spectrum
spectra was	spectra were
spectrum are	spectrum was
the (IR, NMR, etc.) was	the (IR, NMR, etc.) spectrum was

Results/Discussion  Do you use your data to support your conclusions?
The discussion should connect to the introduction.  Any questions raised in the introduction should be specifically addressed here in the discussion (more good reasons to write the introduction last).  REFER TO YOUR DATA to support your comments and conclusions.  Do not underestimate the importance of qualitative observations, especially color changes, compound textures, gas production, or energy changes.

    Whenever possible refer to other known (published or previously reported) results to establish precedents for your results.  Do you have data on similar compounds that helps support your conclusions?

    Do not attach spectra or other figures that are not referred to in the text.  Some explanation should be offered for a figure (for example major peak assignments in an IR spectrum).  All figures and tables should have meaningful titles and captions (Do not use the chart title option of Excel) and appropriately labeled axes.   For example:

Figure 1: Infra Spectrum (KBr pellet) of Oxidized H_xWO₃

Figure 1: pH Titration of N(SO₃K)₃ with Hydrochloric Acid

Report any unexpected twists and turns in your work.  These are common for laboratory research and can be enlightening for two reasons.  They teach new things, things we didn't know or expect before doing the work.  They are seeds for future work in this area; your work is the foundation for others.