A Manual for Undergraduate Research in Field Biology
Part IV. Share— write up or present your findings
A Manual for Undergraduate Research in Field Biology
Part IV. Share— write up or present your findings
Responsible use of AI
AI is an incredibly powerful tool that when used wisely can save time and improve the quality of your writing. However, AI should be used responsibly and ethically. Most importantly, the accuracy of any writing you submit for any class assignment, or especially for presentation at a conference or publication in a journal is entirely your responsibility and that of your co-authors (if you have any). And importantly, according to most professional science associations, AI platforms such as ChatGPT can NEVER be considered co-authors.
This means you must fact check and thoroughly understand any writing resulting from AI use. As you may know, AI is prone to mistakes, so checking content is critical. Best case scenario: if you let an AI generated error slip through, you’ll lose a few points on an assignment; worst case scenario: you fail your assignment, or in the case of submitting work to a conference or a journal, you face a damaged reputation, embarrassment, and even negative consequences for your career.
Fortunately, there are guidelines and best practices for the responsible use of AI. As of 2026, most scientific journals recommend or require that any use of AI be reported in the acknowledgement section of journal articles along with a description of how it was used, including prompts and queries and the exact AI platform used (see the Acknowledgement section on pg. 17 of this article). If AI was used as part of the methods for data analysis or some other aspect of the study itself, the details should be described in the methods section of the study.
Here are some sources related to responsible use of AI in science writing:
On the nature of scientific writing
Unlike many other forms of writing, formal science writing is not supposed to include the unique voice of the author. The goal is to communicate the content of your writing clearly and objectively rather than through the use of creative words or flowery language. To some, this may make the writing seem dull or boring. In a sense, that is exactly the point as the writing itself is not supposed to catch the attention of the reader, but rather the content. Another way of thinking about this—don’t let the nature of your writing get in the way of the content you’re describing! For the most part (there can be occasional exceptions), avoid jokes, puns, clever titles, extra adjectives, language that expresses excitement, etc. Of course, you are likely to have more leeway on course assignments than in formal work you might prepare for publication. As always, check in with your professor if you have questions—some are more strict about these guidelines than others.
Pro-tips for avoiding some common mistakes!
Sound educated and professional and avoid these errors in word choice, similar sounding words, and appropriate use of terms:
affect/effect
“Affect” is a verb and “effect” is a noun. Examples:
It is clear from this set of experiments that predators affect the survival of tadpoles.
The effect of predators on tadpole survival has been well documented.
vary/very
“Vary” is a verb and “very” is aa adverb. Examples:
The effect of predators on tadpole survival can vary depending on the abundance of vegetation in the experimental ponds.
The effect of predators on tadpole survival is very dramatic.
its/it’s This distinction is confusing since “its” is a possessive meaning “belonging to it” even though no apostrophe is used; “it’s” is a contraction, an abbreviation for “it is”. Example:
The lion cub strayed from its mother. It’s dangerous for lion cubs to stray from their mother.
theirs/there’s Like the example above, “theirs” is a possessive meaning “belonging to them” even though no apostrophe is used; “there’s” is a contraction and an abbreviation for “there is”. Examples:
The lion pride abandoned the dead antelope even though the kill was theirs. There’s a strong correlation between survival and kill rate in many predators.
here/hear
This is probably the least confusing of all of these examples. “Here” refers to a location; “hear” is a verb referring to hearing.
data/datum
Technically the word “data” is plural and refers to many “datum” or data points. So, to be correct, the word “data” should be followed by a plural verb: “The data show that…” rather than “the data shows that…” To check yourself, you could substitute “data points” for “data” and see whether your sentence reads clearly. All this said, it has become more acceptable to use “data” as a singular noun.
Appropriate language for describing results
The majority of scientists agree that when data support a hypothesis, it is not appropriate to state that the hypothesis has been “proven”—it is always possible that future information will uncover a different explanation than the hypothesis that was supported. A classic example has to do with our understanding of the solar system. Before the 1500s, Europeans believed that the earth was the center of the universe and that the sun orbited the earth. Simple observation seemed to “prove” this fact—the sun rises in the east every morning and sets in the west every evening. Of course, the sun must revolve around the earth! Eventually, detailed observations clarified that the earth orbits the sun and that the earth’s rotation makes the sun appear to rise in the east and set in the west.
So, how should one describe results that seem to “prove” a hypothesis? Always keep in mind that there are other possible explanations beyond the scope of the study that could provide a better explanation for any patterns in the data. This fact explains why scientists use language that often sounds tentative to those who aren’t trained scientists. Here are some examples of appropriate language for results that support hypotheses: “these results are consistent with the hypothesis that…” “the data support the hypothesis that…” “the positive relationship shown in Figure 1 is consistent with the hypothesis that…” “this pattern may be the result of…”
Brief Guidelines for Writing a Scientific Report
Written reports summarizing scientific findings generally follow this format:
Introduction
Provide the general background for the study. What general idea(s) related to the appropriate field of science were being investigated? Typically this will involve a summary from other studies of what is already known about the topic (a “literature review”).
What was the main focus of the study?
Give a description of the species that were studied. When using Latin names, remember the genus name is capitalized, the species name is not. Also, both should italicized (or if hand-written or “old school,” underlined).
State the question, hypothesis, or hypotheses being tested and the independent and dependent variables. When relevant, explain the reasoning behind each hypothesis.
Methods
Write in sentence/paragraph format. Do not give a list of directions.
Explain what you did in enough detail that someone else reading the report could repeat what you did. I recommend using the first person, past tense. For example, "We measured shoot length by . . . "
Describe where the study took place.
You need to describe your methods of data collection and the statistics and/or graphs you used to interpret the data. If you do a statistical test using computer software, you need to state the name of the test and the software. You do not need to include the steps that were taken in order to use the software.
Results
Be sure to describe your results in sentences/paragraphs. Do not simply state "Results are shown in Figure 1".
Describe each result in sentences. Typically, it will take a paragraph to describe the results shown in each figure or table. When a figure and table go together (are based on the same data), you can include one paragraph for that result; begin with a description of the figure and what the figure shows, then report what the statistical test says about those data. The length of the paragraph will depend on how complicated the result is and how concise your writing is. The reader should understand the result by reading this section even if the reader does not look at the figure or table.
There are two possible ways to refer to figures or tables: "Table 1 shows the results of a t-Test indicating . .
. " OR "A t-Test comparing . . . confirmed that the differences between the means was statistically significant (Table 1)." Back up your general description of a result with detail. "For example . . . "
Discussion
Did the results described in the result section answer your question, support your hypothesis, disprove your hypothesis, or were they inconclusive?
Give a biological/ecological explanation for your results. This is the most important part of the discussion.
If there were any problems with the study (accuracy of data, problems with methods, etc.), describe them in the discussion section.
Describe appropriate next steps for continuing to investigate the topic.
Acknowledgements
Not typically required for lab reports; include in any manuscript prepared for publication.
In addition to acknowledging people who helped with conducting the study, writing the report, or reviewing the manuscript, refer to any funding source(s) or organization(s) that supported the research.
If AI was used to aid in writing, explain what it was used for, the prompts used, and state the specific AI platform that was used (such as ChatGPT).
References
In general, AP format is used. Be sure to include in-text citations within the sentences/paragraphs of your report. If submitting for publication, be sure to pay close attention to the specific requirements of the journal where you plan to submit; requirements vary from journal to journal.
Tables and Figures
When preparing a study to submit to a scientific journal, include the figures and tables at the end of the paper on separate pages. In MS Word, the shortcut ctrl + enter will add a page break at the end of your document.
Anything with rows and columns is a Table. Any graph, picture or drawing is a Figure. Number them consecutively (Table 1, Table 2, etc., then Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.), and be sure to give each Table or Figure a title. Table numbers and titles go above the Table; Figure numbers and titles go below the Figure.
Brief Guidelines for Preparing an Oral Presentation
Overview
The goal is to clearly communicate your findings to an audience through a combination of a visual presentation (typically a PowerPoint presentation) AND what you say as a speaker.
Be sure to minimize the amount of text you use on your slides; you should supplement the key points listed on your slides with your descriptions as a speaker. Don’t simply read the text from your slides!
Some general tips for your PowerPoint
Avoid busy fonts and backgrounds.
A good length is length 10 to 12 mins; ~ 12 to 20 slides.
Avoid crazy animation.
Remember that the goal is to communicate your main point(s) on each slide.
Avoid too much text on each slide; font size > 28.
Follow the “six by six” rule (not a strict rule, but a good guideline: maximum of six bullet points per slide; maximum of six words per bullet point).
Don’t type everything you will say.
It can help to animate items so that they come in one at a time; avoid having information on the slide that distracts the reader from what you are talking about at the moment; for example, have the final bullet item on a slide appear when you’re ready to talk about it, not before.
Use pictures! - if you get them from the internet, cite your source.
Pay special attention to how graphs and tables paste into your PowerPoint file, especially font size. Sometimes it helps to paste graphs or tables as images. It can also help to paste them as screenshots.
Don’t rush when explaining graphs, give the audience time to process what they are looking at. A goo habit is to begin by explaining what the axes represent and what the symbols on the graph represent.
Organization
Follow the same general organization as written reports: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements, References.
Be sure to provide background information about your topic in the introduction; refer back to it at the end of your discussion.
State your question(s) and/or hypothesis(es) on a separate slide along with the independent and dependent variables.
If possible, include a map showing where your study took place.
Brief Guidelines for Preparing a Scientific Poster
Overview
A scientific poster is an opportunity to highlight the most important ideas you studied and your most interesting results. You typically don’t have time to explain everything, so you need to prioritize what to include.
You typically will be standing at your poster during a poster session, so people interested in your study can ask you questions about your research – this is an opportunity to elaborate or explain aspects of your study that you were unable to include on your poster.
It’s very helpful to draft and edit all of your text in MS Word (or Google Docs, or something similar) BEFORE you paste it into your poster. Formatting of posters gets finicky; the less adjusting of words you need to do as your finalizing your poster, the better!
See this template to get started (clicking the link should download the template to your computer). The word limits for each section are guidelines to shoot for, but every poster is different. You may also find other templates online.
Allow plenty of time to edit and finalize your poster – making sure it is error free and that the layout is pleasing is a lot of work, but will pay off and make your poster look professional.
You will find that you need to zoom in and out a lot while working with your file – be patient and allow plenty of time!
