Structure of a Project Report

Title Section – This includes the name of the author(s) and the date of report preparation. 

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 give a definition of terms if you
did not include these in the title section, and explain how the details of the report are
arranged.  

Abstract/Executive Summary

Many longer reports will contain an abstract. This is like an executive summary of the whole
report, and should contain details on the key areas, in other words the purpose, the
methodology, the main findings and the conclusions. An abstract is not usually needed for
shorter reports such as science lab reports.

1. Introduction
(Also called Background or Context)
This will often contain several sub-sections, such as: Problem statement, Motivation, Aim
and Objectives, Contribution etc. and explanation how the details of the report are
arranged.  

2. Related works/Literature Review:

(Also called Literature Review or Survey/Review of Research)
There should be some background information on the topic area. It is likely that this
section will contain material from other sources, in which case appropriate citations will
be needed. You will also need to summarize or paraphrase any information which comes
from your text books or other sources like journals, conference proceedings etc.

3. Method:
(Also called Methodology or Procedure)
This section outlines how you gathered information, where from and how much. For
example, if you used a survey:
How was the survey carried out?
How did you decide on the target group?
How many people were surveyed?
Were they surveyed by interview or questionnaire?

4. Results:
(Also called Data or Findings)
This section gives the data that has been collected (for example from the survey or
experiment). This section will often present data in tables and charts/graphs. This
section is primarily concerned with description.

5. Discussion
(Also called Data Analysis, Comparison)
The Discussion section, also called Analysis, is the main body of the report, where you
develop your ideas. It draws together the background information or theory from
the Introduction with the data from the Findings section. Should use some well-
 constructed paragraphs including graphs or other visual material, as this will help the
readers to understand the main points. This section should fulfil the aims in the
introduction, and should contain sufficient information to justify the conclusions and
recommendations which come later in the report.

6. Conclusion
(Also called Implications of the report)
Your conclusions should be a short section with no new arguments or evidence. Sum up
the main points of your research - how do they answer the original brief for the work
reported on? This section may also include:
 Recommendations for action
 Suggestions for further work/research

7. References:
(Also called Reference List or Bibliography)
Any sources cited in the text should be included in full in the reference section. For more
information, see the reference section page of the writing section.

Appendices
(For Supplementary Materials)
These contain supporting information, such as transcripts of interviews, results of surveys, a
glossary and results from experiments.

The diagram below summarizes the sections of a report outlined above.

Contribution Table