Write in the third person – Scientific experiments demonstrate facts that do not depend on the observer, therefore, reports should avoid using the first and second person (I,me,my,we,our, OR us.) Using the correct verb tense – Lab reports and research papers should be mainly written in the present tense.

Typical Components

• Title Page.
• Introduction.
• Methods and Materials (or Equipment)
• Experimental Procedure.
• Results.
• Discussion.
• Conclusion.
• References.

Your report must be TYPED, DOUBLE SPACED (except title and literature cited sections), with 1.0 inch margins. All section headings should be typed in all capitals. Indent each new paragraph, rather than skipping two more lines. All papers will contain excellent SPELLING and GRAMMAR.

In order to convey an objective scientific point of view, lab reports are written in the third person passive voice, instead of the first person active voice. By doing this, the focus shifts from the experimenter to the experiment itself.

Paragraph Format Most Common is to Indent paragraphs one-half inch. An alternative is to insert a blank line between paragraphs, and then do not indent the paragraphs.

Follow general formatting guidelines when preparing your report. These include the following (adapted from MLA guidelines). Use full block formatting. This means that your paragraphs will not be indented but will be flush against the left margin.

Employment and academic recommendation letters are written in business “block” style, with no indents and two spaces between each paragraph. Character letters and other personal references can be formatted that way, or in traditional letter format, with indents and no spaces between the paragraphs.

The first line indents to the first default tab setting — one half inch from the left margin. You need to indent the paragraph one full inch from the margin, so you press [Tab] again. Word indents the first line one inch and indents the entire paragraph one half inch from the margin.

In a composition, an indentation is a blank space between a margin and the beginning of a line of text. The beginning of this paragraph is indented. Standard paragraph indentation is about five spaces or one-quarter to one-half of an inch, depending on which style guide you follow.

To change the indentation for an entire document, select all text in the document (press Ctrl + A ), then adjust the indent spacing in the ruler as detailed above. If a large indent is created when pressing the Tab and adjusting the indent on the Ruler doesn’t work, adjust the Left Tab Stop in the Ruler.

To indent using the Tab key:

1. Place the insertion point at the very beginning of the paragraph you want to indent.
2. Press the Tab key. On the Ruler, you should see the first-line indent marker move to the right by 1/2 inch.
3. The first line of the paragraph will be indented.

Indent is a purchase order often placed through an agent (indent agent) under specified conditions of sale. If no prior contract exists, then it is the acceptance of the order by the seller that forms a contract between the buyer and seller.

First-line indent by default

1. Put the cursor anywhere in the paragraph.
2. On the Home tab, right-click the Normal style, and choose Modify.
3. Select Format, and then choose Paragraph.
4. On the Indents and Spacing tab, under Indentation, select First line.
5. Select OK.
6. Select OK again.

Increase/Decrease Indent To increase indent of the selected paragraph, press Ctrl + M. To decrease indent, press Ctrl + Shift + M.

For instance, you may have several paragraphs indented to set them off from the left margin of the document. If you want to undo an indented paragraph, or reduce the indent, you can quickly do so in one of two ways: Click on the Decrease Indent tool on the toolbar. Press Shift+Ctrl+M.

Go to Home and select Line and Paragraph Spacing > Line Spacing Options at the bottom of the menu. The Paragraph dialog box opens. On the Indents and Spacing tab, select the options you want, and click OK. The Paragraph dialog box options are described in Adjust indents and spacing.

Indenting text adds structure to your document by allowing you to separate information. Depending on your needs, you can use tabs and indents to move a single line or an entire paragraph.