GOAL

Provide a sufficiently detailed account of what you did so that a reader will be able to evaluate and critique the methods and to replicate the study. In addition, the materials need to be described in precise enough detail for the reader to order or construct the same materials.

CHARACTERISTICS

• The methods and materials section is broken into subsections that are identified with subheadings.

• The subheading titles and order are discipline specific.

DON’TS

• The methods section should not contain any results or discussion of the results.

• It is not necessary to describe every step of commonly used procedures (e.g., streaking plates with bacteria).

STYLE

PAST VS. PRESENT TENSE

• Write the methods in past tense, because you have completed the study.

• When referring the reader to a figure or table, use present tense (e.g., Figure 1 shows …).

ACTIVE VS. PASSIVE VOICE

Although writing in active voice is generally preferred, the methods section is the one section where you are more likely to use passive voice. You want the reader to focus on what was done rather than on you (the experimenter) doing the steps.

WRITE WITH PRECISION & CONSISTENCY

Precision and consistency in word choice are always important but especially so when describing your study’s methods because a reader needs to understand exactly what you did in order to evaluate your study and possibly attempt to replicate it.