Some academic assignments ask for a lsquo report rsquo , rather than an essay, and students are often confused about what that really means. Likewise, in business, confronted with a request for a lsquo report rsquo to a senior manager, many people struggle to know what to write. Confusion often arises about the writing style, what to include, the language to use, the length of the document and other factors. This page aims to disentangle some of these elements, and provide you with some advice designed to help you to write a good report. In academia there is some overlap between reports and essays, and the two words are sometimes used interchangeably, but reports are more likely to be needed for business, scientific and technical subjects, and in the workplace. Whereas an essay presents arguments and reasoning, a report concentrates on facts.

essentially, a report is a short, sharp, concise document which is written for a particular purpose and audience. it generally sets outs and analyses a situation or problem, often making recommendations for future action. Requirements for the precise form and content of a report will vary between organisation and departments and in study between courses, from tutor to tutor, as well as between subjects, so it rsquo s worth finding out if there are any specific guidelines before you start. If you rsquo re writing a report in the workplace, check whether there are any standard guidelines or structure that you need to use. For example, in the uk many government departments have outline structures for reports to ministers that must be followed exactly.

Academic Writing a Guide for Management Students And Researchers Pdf

A report is designed to lead people through the information in a structured way, but also to enable them to find the information that they want quickly and easily. Reports usually, therefore, have numbered sections and subsections, and a clear and full contents page listing each heading. Modern word processors have features to add tables of contents toc and page numbers as well as styled headings you should take advantage of these as they update automatically as you edit your report, moving, adding or deleting sections.

College Papers Topics

The structure of a report is very important to lead the reader through your thinking to a course of action and/or decision. You will usually receive a clear brief for a report, including what you are studying and for whom the report should be prepared. First of all, consider your brief very carefully and make sure that you are clear who the report is for if you're a student then not just your tutor, but who it is supposed to be written for , and why you are writing it, as well as what you want the reader to do at the end of reading: make a decision or agree a recommendation, perhaps.

step 2: keep your brief in mind at all times

during your planning and writing, make sure that you keep your brief in mind: who are you writing for, and why are you writing? all your thinking needs to be focused on that, which may require you to be ruthless in your reading and thinking. As you read and research, try to organise your work into sections by theme, a bit like writing a literature review.

Although referencing is perhaps less important in the workplace, it rsquo s also important that you can substantiate any assertions that you make so it rsquo s helpful to keep track of your sources of information. Like the precise content, requirements for structure vary, so do check what rsquo s set out in any guidance. However, as a rough guide, you should plan to include at the very least an executive summary, introduction, the main body of your report, and a section containing your conclusions and any recommendations. Remember the executive summary is designed to give busy 'executives' a quick summary of the contents of the report. The introduction sets out what you plan to say and provides a brief summary of the problem under discussion.

The main body of the report should be carefully structured in a way that leads the reader through the issue. You should split it into sections using numbered sub headings relating to themes or areas for consideration. For each theme, you should aim to set out clearly and concisely the main issue under discussion and any areas of difficulty or disagreement. All the information that you present should be related back to the brief and the precise subject under discussion.

conclusions and recommendations

the conclusion sets out what inferences you draw from the information, including any experimental results. recommendations suggest how you think the situation could be improved, and should be specific, achievable and measurable.