It communicates information that has been compiled as a result of research and analysis of data and of issues.  

It is important tools to guide decision-making and to allow business owners and senior managers the opportunity to investigate and solve any identified issues.

It is an account of an experiment and what was discovered during the experiment

The main difference between laboratory and scientific report is that

It describes the observation of people, places, and/or events and analyzes the data in order to identify and categorize common themes in relation to the research problem.