BIO 111, Introduction to Biology I: Scientific Method

Scientific articles that report the results of scientific research generally follow the same outline:

1. The Introduction includes the hypothesis and a review of the existing scientific literature. There may or may not be a heading for this section.
2. The Methods section describes how the experiment or research was conducted and should provide enough detail for other scientists to be able to replicate the experiment. It might also be labeled "methodology" or "materials" or "procedures" and be divided into subsections.
3. The Results section describes and analyzes the data collected in the experiment or research, as well as any statistical methods used. This section often includes charts, tables, photographs, or other visual representations of the data.
4. The Discussion section provides insight into the scientists' thoughts on what the results add to our knowledge of the topic, as well as what the results mean in the context of the hypothesis (did they find an answer to their question?) and the existing literature (i.e., what others have already learned). It might also be labeled "interpretation" or "conclusions," although in scientific research a conclusion is rarely that - there's almost always something more to be learned.

Take a look to see how this corresponds to the cycle described above. Notice, also, that there are several ways in which the scientific literature is reflected in reports of scientific research. For example, you may find references to previous scientific research in the methods, results, and discussion sections of the paper, as well as in the introduction.