REPORT WRITING Guidelines

REPORT WRITINGand ReferencingWhat is a Report?A report is a specific form of writing that is organized around concisely identifying and examining issues, events, or findings that have happened in a physical sense, such as events that have occurred within an organization, or findings from a research investigation. (Massey University, 2010)Sections of a ReportsPreliminary SectionTitle PageAcknowledgmentExecutive Summary/ AbstractTOC, TOFMain BodyIntroductionBodyConclusion/ Recommendation (If any)Supplementary SectionReferences/ BibliographyAppendixGlossary

Title PageShould consist of a concise yet informative title for the report.EG: Sales Performance Report for the 4th Quarter (Oct-Dec) , 2011. (Quarter =3 months)Employee Performance report for the Year 2012Should Indicate the Author of the Report (Who has done the report)By John Smith, By the Department of Sales, By the Faculty of Information Technology, By ICBT. Table of Contents, Table/List of Figures, List of TablesTOC Should Consist of the Headings/ Subheadings of the report along with the respective Page number. Eg: 1. Executive Summary 03 2. Introduction042.1. Background042.2. Description to the Problem 05 3. Literature Review 06-10TOF, LOT Figures and Tables in the report (Indicated the figure/table number and the Title) with the respective Page number.

Executive SummaryThis is the overview of the Report.Should express as much as possible in the fewest words. (Weaver and Weaver, 1977)Should be self sufficient and can be understood in isolation. Written last and not more than one pageShould consist of problem description, methodology used, main points, conclusion and recommendation.IntroductionIntroduction to the reportProvides background information to the reader. The introduction includes:the background to the topic of your report to set your work in its broad contexta clear statement of the purpose of the report, usually to present the results of your research, investigation, or designa clear statement of the aims of the projecttechnical background necessary to understand the report; e.g. theory or assumptionsa brief outline of the structure of the report if appropriate (this would not be necessary in a short report)(Monash university, 2011)

Report BodyMain parts of the report where details will be presented.Should maintain a logical flow.Use concise and informative headings and subheadingsCan useFigures and tablesBulleted listsParagraphsConclusionProvides an effective ending to the report.Provide a brief summary of the reportShould relate to the aim of the report/ investigation. State whether objectives, aim achieved or not.Provide the outcomes and your conclusion. RecommendationOptionalIf there are any areas to be improved or identified problems, can provide action plan/ solutions as recommendations.AppendicesMaterials which are relevant but too detailed to go into the report body can be included under appendices.Each appendix need to be numbered. Each appendix must be referred to by using the number in the relevant section of the report. Formatting guidelinesNumber headings. SubheadingsEg: 2. Background2.1. Problem behaviorFont Size: 12pt for normal text, 14pt for headingsType: Serif for hardcopy (TNR), san serif for softcopy(Arial)Page layoutMargins : 1.5 left , 1 right, Top, BottomLine spacing: 1.5Page numbering: bottom, rightPreliminary section roman numbers (I, II, etc.)Main body and supplementary Arabic numbers (1,2,3, etc.)Tables and figuresHeading of the table/ figure on the topSource on the bottom.Eg: Table 1.1: Sales information for last quarter. Source: Annual report , 2010Tables and figures

Figure 1.2: Relational model explaining the factors affecting business incubators Source : Peters, Rice and Sundaralingam (2004)REFERENCING USINGHARVARD SYSTEMCitation and Referencingcitation is stating the sources you have referred in the body of your work. Referencing is providing certain information of the sources you have cited.Reference list is a collection of reference entries provide at the very end of the report (before the appendix) Why Referencing?

German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has temporarily renounced his doctorate title following accusations of plagiarism.Source : BBC, 2011Why Referencing?To avoid PlagiarismTo produce a legitimate piece of work (i.e. not subject to copyright laws) To give credits to the original authorsTo show the breadth and the depth of the research.To enable to reader to locate the related sources easily. Reference Vs BibliographyReference the sources you have specifically used, cited in your report.

Bibliography - the sources you may have just referred and may be important to the reader but, not used in the report body. Harvard Referencing SystemAuthor-date systemTwo partsIn-text citation (in the text)Reference list (in the final section of the report)Most commonly used referencing system for academic writing across the word.In-text citation The citation given in the body of the report.Eg: According to Daft (2000, p.34) management is a process of planning, organizingManagement can be considered as a process of . (Daft, 2000, p34) As stated by Porter and Armstrong (2006) Marketing mix ..Citing different SourcesPrinted book with one authorAuthors surname Published year, page no(if required)Eg: (Porter, 2005, p.55) or Porter(2005,p.55)

Printed book with two authorsAuthors surnames separated with and published year, page no (if required) Eg: (Porter and Armstrong, 2005,p.55) or Porter and Armstrong (2005,p.55)

Citing different SourcesPrinted book with more than two authorsFirst Authors surname et al Published year, page no(if required)Eg: (Porter et al., 2005, p.55) or Porter et al(2005,p.55)

Secondary sources surnames of the original author (cited in surname/s of the author/s of the cited source , publishes year, page no (if required))Eg: Porter (cited in Armstrong, 2005,p.55)

Citing different SourcesMore than one work of the Author in the same yearUse a,b,c, etc. along with the surname of the author. Eg: (Porter, 2005a, p.55) (Porter, 2005b, p.45)

Authors Name unknownAnon(published year)Eg: Anon(2005)

Published year unknownAuthors surname (n.d.)Eg: Porter(n.d.)Citing different SourcesA websiteAuthor/ Authorship/webpage published yearEg: BCS, 2011 or BCS(2011)

Quotations If a direct quote need to be used from a source, quotation marks should be included.As stated by Porter (2005) Business strategy can be defined as a long term plan designed to achieve desired future objectives.

Paraphrasing Paraphrasing is using your own words to express someone else's ideas whilst still preserving the main ideas of the original source. (UNSW, 2008)Reference ListFor each source cited, there should be a reference entry under reference list.

Book referenceArticle referenceElectronic material referenceBooksWith one author Authors surname, initials. (Year of publication) Title (Edition if not first edition). Place of publication: Publisher. Eg: Porter, M. (2005) Developing a business strategy (3rd edition). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Two authorsMore than two authorsArticles in JournalsAuthor of paper. (Year of publication) Title of paper/Article. Title of journal. Volume number, (Part number if any), Page numbers.

Eg: Akers, E.L. and Agah, A. (2008) Design and simulation of a polar mobile robot. Journal of intelligent systems, 17(25), 379-404. Electronic BooksAuthors name. (Year of publication) Title [online] (Edition if not first edition).Place of publication: Publisher. Available from: URL. [Accessed date].

Eg: Porter, M. (2009) Developing a business strategy [online] Poughkeepsie NY :Vassar College. Available from: http://faculty.vassar.edu/lowry/intro.html [Accessed 1 May 2012]. Electronic Journals Author of paper. (Year of publication) Title of paper. Title of journal [online], Volume number, (Part number if any), Page numbers. Available from: URL [Accessed date]

Eg: Larus, J. and Kozyrakis, C. (2008) Transactional memory. Communications of the ACM [online], 51(7), 80-88. Available from: http://mags.acm.org/communications/ [Accessed 1 May 2012]. Printed newspaper articleAuthors name. (Year of publication). Title of article. Name of newspaper. Day and month, Page number(s), (Column number). *The column number is optional.

Eg: Burrell, I. (2009). Broadband for every household by 2012. The Independent. 30 January, p15. References Monash university . 2011. Report writing: planning to write a report [online] available at: http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/quickrefs/15-report-writing.xml [accessed 12th May 2011].

Unlearning. 2000. Uni learning report writing [online] available at: http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/report/4bi.html [accessed 12th May 2011].

Anglia Ruskin University. 2011. Harvard referencing guide. [pdf] Available at: http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/files/Harvard_referencing_2011.pdf [accessed 15th October 2011]

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