Project documentation

Project documentation is essential when working in a scientific environment. Figure 1 is the result of a brain storming session that tried to highlight the main information that should be provided in a project documentation. Note, this list is not necessarily exhaustive.

For successfully completing the module, you will have to submit a lab protocol. As mentioned repeatedly in the course, you are encouraged to write this protocol during the course in the dokuwiki. However, please note the difference between a daily report of your work, i.e. kind of a lab book, where you chronologically note down what you did, and a lab protocol. The lab protocol is a single document that should give an overview of the entire project. It requires

• a meaningful introduction which specifies the research questions or hypotheses
• a comprehensive listing of your materials and methods that brings others in the position to reproduce your work and your findings. Make sure to not forget
  • relevant software together with their version number, their source, and the accompanying publication
  • data sources together when they have been last accessed (e.g. databases)
  • relevant parameter settings
  • list of analysed species, if necessary
• A comprehensive presentation of your results. Make sure that the reader understands what question you are currently addressing, what analyses you were performing, and what results you achieved
• A discussion of your results in the light of your research question. Among others, you can discuss the influence of certain filters, the limitation to a certain subset of data or taxa, your paramter settings, and the like

You will find some general guidelines for writing a project report, or in general scientific text here

• How to write a Labreport
• How to write scientific text