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REPORT WRITING BASICS
- Title page/area
- Table of contents
- Introduction
- Main section with headings (findings)
- Conclusion
- Recommendations (when required)
- References
- Clear purpose
- Factual, accurate and objective information
- Suitable headings
- A logical order of information
- Concise and clearly presented
- Easy and quick to interpret
- Useful for assessing situations and making decisions.
DETAILS ABOUT SECTIONS OF REPORTS
Title page
Includes:
- Report title
- Authors' names
- Date
- Subject and assessment name
Table of contents
-
List section headings
-
Include page numbers
-
Introduction
- States what the report is about
- Gives background information
- May explain the purpose, scope and methods used
Main section with headings (findings)
- Covers the work done and what you found
- Divided into topics
- Arranged in a logical order
- Uses headings and sub-headings
- May include graphs, tables and diagrams
Conclusion
- Summary of the main findings
- No new ideas or findings
Recommendations
- Suggest how the problem can be solved
- Suggest possible courses of action as a result of the conclusions, eg:
- who should take action
- what should be done
- when and how it should be done
- Not always required
References
- List journal articles, web sites, books, magazines etc. used
- These are useful if you need to refer back to them for some reason
- Not always required in business reports
- Use the Angliss referencing guide to assist with formatting
