Report Writing

Introduction to Report Writing

Structure of a Report

Using a Template to Write Reports

By: Bishaara Adam

 Introduction to Report Writing
 A report is a short, sharp, concise document which is written for
a particular purpose and audience.

 Specific information and evidence are presented, analyzed and

applied to a particular problem or issue.

 The information is presented in a clearly structured format

making use of sections and headings so that the information is
easy to locate and follow.
 Structure of a Report
1. Title Section
2. Contents (Table of Contents)
3. Executive Summary (Abstract)
4. Introduction
5. Main body
6. Conclusions
7. Recommendations
8. References
9. Appendices
 Title Section
 If the report is short, the front cover can include any information that
you feel is necessary including the author(s) and the date prepared.
 In a longer report, include a table of contents and a definitions of terms.

Contents (Table of Contents)

 A list of the major and minor sections of your report.
 It should list the different chapters and/or headings together with the page
numbers.
 You may want to number chapter headings and subheadings in addition
to providing page references.
 Executive summary
 It includes a summary of the major points, conclusions, and
recommendations. It needs to be short as it is a general overview
of the report.

 Some people will read the summary and only skim the report, so
make sure you include all the relevant information.

 It would be best to write this last so you will include everything,

even the points that might be added at the last minute.
 Introduction
 The first page of the report needs to have an
introduction.

 You will explain the problem and show the reader

why the report is being made.

 You need to explain how the details of the report are

arranged.
 Main body
 This is the main section of the report.

 This section needs to include several

sections, with each having a subtitle.

 Information is usually arranged in order of

importance with the most important
information coming first.
 Conclusion
 In the conclusion you should show the overall significance of what has
been covered.
 Include the most important points that have been made in the report or
highlight what you consider to be the most central issues or findings.
 No new material should be introduced in the conclusion.

Recommendations
 This is what needs to be done.
 This section is for your suggested solution to the problem and/or what
you think should happen next, i.e. the action(s) you recommend.
 Explain your recommendations, putting them in order of priority.
 References
 This is a list giving the full details of all the sources to which
you have made reference within your text.

Appendices
 This includes all the information (graphs, charts, tables or
other data) you used in your report but did not include in the
body.
 Using a Template to Write Reports
 When you create a report that is based on an existing report template, you
build the report on a template that already contains objects.
 This can save you time designing a new report.
 Templates are particularly useful when you want to create several reports
that require one or two of the same objects.
 A report can be created containing one or two common objects, and saved
as a template.
 Then you can build reports based on the template and simply add individual
objects required by each report.