Report writing

Many situations at university and work require report writing skills. But just what is a report? When might you write a report and how should you format it?

What is a report?

A report is a document that presents information about an issue or investigation concisely and impersonally, in a clearly structured format. There are many different types of report to suit different purposes.

Most fall into one of the following categories:

Report writing style

Reports are usually written in an objective, formal style. This means you avoid using more informal language, such as slang or colloquialisms, or contractions. You structure your language carefully, using complete sentences and paragraphs.

However sometimes a more personal and less formal style may be acceptable, so make sure you check the guidelines you have been given.

How do I plan my report?

As in all writing assignments, it's crucial to analyse the task carefully.

Then start planning:

Remember! Always check the guidelines you have been given for your assignment. These may specify a particular format or structure that you should use.

Key steps in report writing

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How do I structure my report?

A report is designed to allow the reader to find information anywhere in the report very quickly. At different times, the reader may only wish to consider certain parts of the report. So the information is divided into sections, each with a heading.

These sections and headings will depend on the nature and subject of your report. In longer reports, the sections may be broken into subsections, also with headings. Sometimes these sections are numbered.

The presentation of a report is also important, not just because of the first impressions it creates, but because a report must be laid out in such a way that the reader can find information quickly and easily.

Here are some examples of report structure:

Structure › Basic report structure

As a guide, many reports use the same basic structure.

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Structure › Longer or more detailed reports

Some reports have a more detailed structure, for example reports on a scientific or technical investigation.

If a report is quite long, you may also need to write a Summary or Executive Summary, sometimes called an Abstract. This summary is placed after the title page, before the Contents page. Its purpose is to give readers the main ideas of the report, so that they can decide whether the report is relevant for them.

This example shows a more detailed report structure.

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Structure › Numbering and headings

In order to help the reader find their way around a report quickly, a report is always divided into clear sections with headings. Usually, a numbering system is used too. The important thing is to be clear and consistent.

Here is one example of a numbering system you might use.

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Tip: Use your word processing software to automatically number the sections of your report.

Example report structure

Section	What goes in?
Executive summary	The summary should provide an overview of the whole report, so that the reader can get a good idea of what the report contains, without having to read it in detail. The summary should stand alone. It should include, very briefly, the background and purpose of the report, the main points covered, the significant findings, conclusions and recommendations.
Introduction	The introduction should tell the reader: the purpose of the report what the background is what the report should cover how the information was collected any limitations on the report
Main section	This is the largest section and contains most of your information. In it, you will present your research findings to the reader. You need to organise the information into smaller subsections, and give these sections a heading. Make sure the information flows logically from one section to the next.
Conclusion	You must not introduce any new information here. You should pull together the main points of the report in a brief summary, and emphasise the most significant points. You should link your conclusion back to the purpose of the report which you stated in your introduction.
Recommendations	This is where you have a chance to suggest how things could be improved or progressed. Your recommendations must flow logically from your conclusions, so that the reader can see the basis for your suggestions. Recommendations can be listed and numbered. It is important that recommendations are realistic!
References/Bibliography	A reference list tells the reader all the sources you have referred to in your report. A bibliography tells the reader all the sources you have consulted, but not necessarily referred to. Check which is required in your assignment guidelines
Appendices	Appendices are materials you have referred to which are not essential for the reading of the report, and which could distract the reader from its logic. However, they need to accompany it so the reader can refer to them. Examples are tables, graphs, statistics, diagrams, which have been mentioned in the report. Appendices are numbered, for referencing in the text.

What goes where?

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Editing and reviewing

Reports are designed to inform, so this makes it particularly important for the information in them to be accurate and well presented. You'll need to check accuracy of the report content, as well as writing style, grammar, spelling, punctuation, references, and so on.

You'll find some useful tips on how to do this in the section on editing and reviewing.

Report writing tips

Anne Chirnside with Mary Hutchison
First published July 2005. Last updated 11 January 2009.