The Scientific Paper:  Methods

It should be a narrative of the steps you took in your experiment or study, not a list of instructions such as you might find in a cookbook.

You should assume that the other scientist has the same basic skills that you have, but does not know the specific details of your experiment. For example, it is unnecessary to write:

"We poured N-free fertilizer solution into a graduated cylinder until the bottom of the meniscus was at the 30 ml line. We poured the fertilizer onto the top of the soil in a pot and then repeated this procedure 24 times."

Rather, you would assume that the scientist knows how to measure and add liquids to pots and write:

"We added 30 ml of N-free fertilizer to each of 24 pots."

An important part of writing a scientific paper is deciding what bits of information needs to be given in detail. Do not quote or cite your laboratory manual! 

In the last paragraph, provide a brief description of statistical tests you used (statistics are methods!).  Be sure not to include extraneous information, though, as scientists know all about null hypotheses and when to reject them.  See the Results section for more information on statistics. 

See examples of Methods sections.

The Scientific Paper