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Report Wrighting Guide

Report writing is an essential skill that provides information to readers in a clear and succinct manner. Reports differ from essays in their purpose and structure. A report's purpose is to present information, while an essay presents an argument. Reports use numbered headings, short paragraphs, graphics, and recommendations, while essays have minimal structure and focus on linking ideas. A typical report includes sections like an introduction, body, conclusion, and recommendations. The structure and formal presentation help ensure all important information is provided to the reader.

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110 views6 pages

Report Wrighting Guide

Report writing is an essential skill that provides information to readers in a clear and succinct manner. Reports differ from essays in their purpose and structure. A report's purpose is to present information, while an essay presents an argument. Reports use numbered headings, short paragraphs, graphics, and recommendations, while essays have minimal structure and focus on linking ideas. A typical report includes sections like an introduction, body, conclusion, and recommendations. The structure and formal presentation help ensure all important information is provided to the reader.

Uploaded by

nyalaastra
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction

Report writing is an essential skill for professionals in almost every field:


accountants, teachers, graphic designers, information scientists (the list
goes on). That’s one of the reasons why your lecturers will almost
certainly require you to write reports during your period of study at the
University of Canberra.
A report aims to inform, as clearly and succinctly as possible. It should be
easy to read, and professional in its presentation.
Exactly what you include in your report and how you present it will vary
according to your discipline and the specific purpose of the report. Here
we give some general guidelines, but you should check with your lecturer
for more detail on what is expected.
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Reports and essays—what’s the difference?

A common problem is that students transfer what they have learned


about essay writing to report writing.
Both essays and reports need:

 formal style
 careful proof-reading and neat presentation
 introduction, body and conclusion
 analytical thinking
But there are some essential differences between the two.

A Report An Essay

Presents information Presents an argument


Is meant to be scanned quickly Is meant to be read carefully
by the reader
Uses numbered headings and Uses minimal sub-headings, if any.
sub-headings
May not need references and Always needs references and
bibliography/reference list bibliography/reference list
Uses short, concise paragraphs Links ideas into cohesive paragraphs, rather
and dot-points where than breaking them down into a list of dot-
applicable points
Uses graphics wherever Rarely uses graphics
possible (tables, graphs,
illustrations)
May need an abstract Will only need an abstract if it is very long,
(sometimes called an or if your lecturer asks for one specifically
executive summary)
May be followed by Seldom has recommendations or appendices
recommendations and/or
appendices

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Report structure

What follows is a generic structure for reports. Using this structure will
help to give your report the correct level of formality; it will also help to
ensure that you do not leave out anything important. However, the actual
structure required by your discipline may not be exactly what is
represented here - you should check with your lecturer.
A report should generally include the following sections.
(Sections marked with an asterisk (*) are essential: others are optional
depending on the type, length and purpose of the report.)

 Letter of transmittal
 Title page*
 Table of contents
 List of abbreviations and/or glossary
 Executive summary/abstract
 Introduction*
 Body*
 Conclusion*
 Recommendations
 Bibliography
 Appendices

Letter of transmittal

(only if specified by your lecturer)


This is a letter to the person who commissioned the report, in which you
effectively hand over your work to that person. Include:

 a salutation (eg. Dear Ms Podolinsky)


 the purpose of the letter (eg. Here is the final version of the report
on ‘Underwater Welding’ which was commissioned by your
organisation.)
 the main finding of the report
 any important considerations
 an acknowledgement of any significant help
 an expression of pleasure or gratitude (eg. Thank you for giving us
the opportunity to work on this report.)

Title page

This must contain:

 the report title which clearly states the purpose of the report
 full details of the person(s) for whom the report was prepared
 full details of the person(s) who prepared the report
 the date of the presentation of the report

Table of Contents

(usually only if the report is longer than, say, ten pages)


This is a list of the headings and appendices of the report. Depending on
the complexity and length of the report, you could list tables, figures and
appendices separately. Make sure the correct page numbers are shown
opposite the contents. Up-to-date word processing packages can
generate a table of contents for you.

Abbreviations and/or glossary

If necessary, you should provide an alphabetical list of the abbreviations


you have used in the report, especially if they may not be familiar to all
readers of the report.
If you have used a lot of technical terms, you should also provide a
glossary (an alphabetical list of the terms, with brief explanations of their
meanings).

Acknowledgements (if appropriate)

This is a short paragraph thanking any person or organisation which gave


you help in collecting data or preparing the report.

Abstract (Summary or Executive Summary)


An abstract is quite different from an introduction. It is a summary of the
report, in which you include one sentence (or so) for every main section
of your report. For example, you can include:

 the context of the research


 the purpose of the report
 the major findings (you may need several sentences here)
 the conclusions
 the main recommendations
Write the abstract after you have written the report.

Introduction

 Give enough background information to provide a context for the


report.
 State the purpose of the report.
 Clarify key terms and indicate the scope of the report (ie what the
report will cover).

Body

The content of the body depends on the purpose of the report, and
whether it is a report of primary or secondary research.
A report of primary research (based on your own observations and
experiments) would include:

 Literature review (what other people have written about this topic.
See our webpage for hints on writing a literature review). The
literature review should lead towards your research question.
 Method (summarises what you did and why). Use the past tense.
 Findings or results (describes what you discovered, observed, etc, in
your observations and experiements). Use the past tense.
 Discussion (discusses and explains your findings and relates them to
previous research). Use the present tense to make generalisations.
A report of secondary research (based on reading only) would include:

 Information organised under appropriate topics with sub-headings.


It is unlikely that your report will discuss each source separately.
You need to synthesise material from different sources under topic
headings.
 Analysis/discussion of the sources you are reporting.
Conclusion

Sum up the main points of the report. The conclusion should clearly
relate to the objectives of your report. No surprises please! (that is, don’t
include new information here.)
Recommendations (if appropriate)
These are suggestions for future action. They must be logically derived
from the body of your report.

Bibliography

(See our page on Using References for more information).

Appendices

An appendix contains material which is too detailed, technical, or


complex to include in the body of the report (for example, specifications,
a questionnaire, or a long complex table of figures), but which is referred
to in the report. Appendices are put at the very end of the report, after
everything else. Each appendix should contain different material. Number
each appendix clearly.
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Presentation of the report

The content and structure of your report is important; so is the


presentation and style. First impressions count, so consider these simple
tips to ensure your report is reader-friendly:

 use plenty of white space


 ensure the separate parts of your report stand out clearly
 use subheadings
 allow generous spacing between the elements of your report
 use dot points/ numbers/ letters to articulate these elements
 use tables and figures (graphs, illustrations, maps etc) for
clarification. Label them clearly and cite the source. These graphics
should relate to the text of your report; for example, Figure 1 shows
that the population of Bandung has increased dramatically since
1890, or The population of Bandung has increased dramatically
since 1890 (see Figure 1).
 number each page (a neat header and/or footer makes your work
look more professional)
 use consistent and appropriate formatting (you may like to follow
the report format supplied with your word processing package)
 use formal language. It would be worth having a look at the
language which is used in other, similar reports to check out useful
expressions and terms.
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Common problems

Some common problems with research report writing that you should
take care to avoid are:

 the inclusion of careless, inaccurate, or conflicting


 the inclusion of outdated or irrelevant data
 facts and opinions that are not separated
 unsupported conclusions and recommendations
 careless presentation and proof-reading
 too much emphasis on appearance and not enough attention to solid
content.

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