Title page
The title page will contain:
• The report title, which clearly states the topic of the report
• Full details of the person/s for whom the report is intended
• Full details of the person/s who prepared the report
• Date of the presentation of the report (or date submitted if you are not presenting it).
Abstract or executive summary
The abstract is one of the most important components of the report. It will be read by vastly
more people than those who will read the whole report (if your report is published), and
needs to provide enough information to invite the audience to read on. Although the audience
will read this first, you should leave the writing of your abstract as the last step. This will
allow you to summarise the content of your report in a concise and clear format. Depending
on the length of your report, an abstract is usually no longer than 10% of the paper, or 100-
200 words.
An abstract aims to:
• Provide a brief overview of the whole report
• Give concise, complete, specific and self-sufficient information that can be easily
understood
• Offer recommendations for executives and managers to base their decisions on.
Table of content
Your table of contents will inform the reader of the layout of your report, and allow them to
navigate to the sections that will be most relevant to them. The format of your report can take
on an alphanumeric system, or a decimal system, which is the more common of the two. See
the examples below of the two different styles. Both tables are divided into headings and
subheadings to break up the information into sections that can be easily read out of order.
Example:
1. Coffee
1.1. Espresso
1.2. Cappuccino
1.3. Latte
Introduction
Your introduction will:
• Provide background information on the topic
• State the purpose of the report
• Indicate the scope, including limitations
• Outline the methods used to gather information
• Clarify key terms
• Inform the reader of what your report will cover
• Give the reader a preview of how the information will be presented.
It will also include your literature review of any publications you have used for your report.
Literature reviews are covered later in this module.
Discussion or body - the content
The content of your report will depend on its purpose. Your report should contain primary
sources if possible (such as observations and interviews), as well as secondary sources to
provide explanations of theory and background. Your lecturer will set guidelines on whether
to use primary and/or secondary sources. You should further detail the methods of your
investigation, including what you did and why, and any issues encountered in the process. In
the body content you will explain the findings gathered from your research, and discuss the
implications they hold. Remember to separate your key ideas and concepts into clear
headings and subheadings, so that you break up your report into digestible pieces of
information for the reader.
The body of your report will contain the following sections:
• Method (what was done and how?)
• Results and analysis (what happened? Why did it happen?)
• Discussion (what are the implications of this in the broader context of the topic?)
Conclusion
Your conclusion will be a summary of the key points you have raised in your discussion.
In this, you will need to:
• Contextualise your observations, findings, and analyses
• Remind the reader of what you have informed them in the body content (i.e. what you
researched, what you discovered, what implications or problems this raises)
• Give a sense of completion.
Make sure you do not include any new information in the conclusion – it is a summary of
what you have already told the audience.
Recommendations
Think of this as an action plan for how to resolve or improve the issue. Try to make your
recommendations as realistic as possible, and identify clear paths of how these
recommendations could be achieved by the responsible parties.
Appendix
This is a section where you can include further information that is relevant to your topic but
did not fit in the body of your report. This can include (but is not limited to) graphs, tables,
images, and raw data collected as part of your investigation.
References
As for all academic writing, the sources used in your report must be properly referenced.
