Verbal communication is temporal and easily forgotten, but written reports exist for long periods and yield long-term benefits for the author and others. Scientific research is a group activity.
Individual scientists perform experiments to test hypotheses about biological phenomena.
After experiments are completed and duplicated, researchers attempt to persuade others to accept or reject their hypotheses by presenting the data and their interpretations. If the results stand up to criticism, they become part of the accepted body of scientific knowledge unless later disproved. In some cases, a report may not be persuasive in nature but instead is an archival record for future generations. For example, data on the distribution and frequency of rabid skunks in a certain year may be of use to future epidemiologists in deciding whether the incidence of rabies is increasing. Regardless of whether a report is persuasive or archival, the following guidelines apply.