What is Report Writing ? A report is a major form of professional communication. In todays corporate world, reports play a crucial role.

It is used extensively by government, business and industry as well as in professions such as science, social sciences, engineering, medicine, etc. A Report is a strong base for planning and control in an organization, i.e., reports give information which can be utilized by the management team in an organization for making plans and for solving complex issues in the organization. It facilitates decision-making and acts as an instrument for nurturing the health of an organization and promoting its growth. A report is also used for the study of existing procedures and practices as well as for launching new projects and assessing the progress of on-going projects. It is always written to meet a demand or to fulfil a requirement. So, it is purely based on observation and analysis. Good report writing call for--- professionalism, profound knowledge of the subject, attentiveness, and outstanding writing proficiency. Types of Report Writing Research Report Business Report Science Report News Report etc.

Research Report Writing - To presents the tangible proof of the conducted research is the major intention of the academic assignment. When writing on research report, you must ponder over clarity, organization, and content. Research reports are all the more same to technical reports, lab reports, formal reports and scientific papers which comprise a quite consistent format that will facilitate you to put your information noticeably, making it crystal clear. Business Report Writing - In business milieu, Business report writing happens to be an indispensable part of the communication process. Executive summary is written in a nontechnical manner. By and large, audience for business reports will consist of upper level manager, for that reason you should take the audience needs in consideration. Go on with the introduction to articulate the problem and determine the scope of the research. To attain the desired results, dont fail to state about the precise quantitative tools. Science Report Writing - Parallel to a business report, science report writing also corresponds with the line of investigation. To report upon an empirical investigation, these reports make use of standard scientific report format, portraying technique, fallout and conclusions. As an assignment in undergraduate papers within the scientific disciplines, it is

required

frequently.

The main objective of the Science report is to boast an aim, the technique which enlightens how the project has been analyzed, the outcomes which presents the findings and the conclusion. This embraces advance research suggestions and your own biased opinion on the topic which has been talked about. When writing a science report, do not fail to remember to use heading and subheadings in order to direct a reader through your work. In the form of tables and graphs, Statistical evidence should be incorporated in appendices. Than refer to it in the body of your scientific report. Reports are a common form of writing because of the inclusion of recommendations which are helpful in implementing the decision. An effective report can be written going through the following steps1. Determine the objective of the report, i.e., identify the problem. 2. Collect the required material (facts) for the report. 3. Study and examine the facts gathered. 4. Plan the facts for the report. 5. Prepare an outline for the report, i.e., draft the report. 6. Edit the drafted report. 7. Distribute the draft report to the advisory team and ask for feedback and recommendations. The essentials of good/effective report writing are as follows1. Know your objective, i.e., be focused. 2. Analyze the niche audience, i.e., make an analysis of the target audience, the purpose for which audience requires the report, kind of data audience is looking for in the report, the implications of report reading, etc. 3. Decide the length of report. 4. Disclose correct and true information in a report. 5. Discuss all sides of the problem reasonably and impartially. Include all relevant facts in a report. 6. Concentrate on the report structure and matter. Pre-decide the report writing style. Use vivid structure of sentences. 7. The report should be neatly presented and should be carefully documented. 8. Highlight and recap the main message in a report.

9. Encourage feedback on the report from the critics. The feedback, if negative, might be useful if properly supported with reasons by the critics. The report can be modified based on such feedback. 10. Use graphs, pie-charts, etc to show the numerical data records over years. 11. Decide on the margins on a report. Ideally, the top and the side margins should be the same (minimum 1 inch broad), but the lower/bottom margins can be one and a half times as broad as others. 12. Attempt to generate readers interest by making appropriate paragraphs, giving bold headings for each paragraph, using bullets wherever required, etc. Format: Your report needs a good Format and structure it should include most of the following categories:
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Cover Title Page Acknowledgements Table of Contents Abstract and Summary Introduction Discussion or Description Conclusions Recommendations Appendix List of References Bibliography Glossary Index Back Matter Main Body Front Matter

General guidelines:An established font of 12 Times New Roman and paragraph style must be followed Type 2 line space throughout the text on both side of the paper. Margins: 38 mm from the left edge of the paper, 25mm from the top, bottom and right edge for A4 size paper. Units and symbols should conform to the international system of units. Avoid the use of jargon, nouns as adjectives, split infinitives, improper matching of subjects and verbs, changes of tense in mid-paragraph and redundancy and verbosity. More than a very few errors in spelling or typography leave an impression of carelessness on the examiners. How to Write a Lab Report 1. Title Page Not all lab reports have title pages, but if your instructor wants one, it would be a single page that states: o The title of the experiment.
o o o

Your name and the names of any lab partners. Your instructor's name. The date the lab was performed or the date the report was submitted.

2. Title The title says what you did. It should be brief (aim for ten words or less) and describe the main point of the experiment or investigation. An example of a title would be: "Effects of Ultraviolet Light on Borax Crystal Growth Rate". If you can, begin your title using a keyword rather than an article like 'The' or 'A'. 3. Introduction / Purpose Usually the Introduction is one paragraph that explains the objectives or purpose of the lab. In one sentence, state the hypothesis. Sometimes an introduction may contain background information, briefly summarize how the experiment was performed, state the findings of the experiment, and list the conclusions of the investigation. Even if you don't write a whole introduction, you need to state the purpose of the experiment, or why you did it. This would be where you state your hypothesis. 4. Materials List everything needed to complete your experiment. 5. Methods Describe the steps you completed during your investigation. This is your procedure. Be sufficiently detailed that anyone could read this section and duplicate your experiment. Write it as if you were giving direction for someone else to do the lab. It may be helpful to provide a Figure to diagram your experimental setup. 6. Data Numerical data obtained from your procedure usually is presented as a table. Data

encompasses what you recorded when you conducted the experiment. It's just the facts, not any interpretation of what they mean. 7. Results Describe in words what the data means. Sometimes the Results section is combined with the Discussion (Results & Discussion). 8. Discussion or Analysis The Data section contains numbers. The Analysis section contains any calculations you made based on those numbers. This is where you interpret the data and determine whether or not a hypothesis was accepted. This is also where you would discuss any mistakes you might have made while conducting the investigation. You may wish to describe ways the study might have been improved. 9. Conclusions Most of the time the conclusion is a single paragraph that sums up what happened in the experiment, whether your hypothesis was accepted or rejected, and what this means. 10. Figures & Graphs Graphs and figures must both be labeled with a descriptive title. Label the axes on a graph, being sure to include units of measurement. The independent variable is on the X-axis. The dependent variable (the one you are measuring) is on the Y-axis. Be sure to refer to figures and graphs in the text of your report. The first figure is Figure 1, the second figure is Figure 2, etc. 11. References If your research was based on someone else's work or if you cited facts that require documentation, then you should list these references.

Simple Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW CHAPTER III: MATERIALS AND METHODS USED CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS APPENDIX REFERENCES ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

pg 1 pg 4 pg 8 pg 14 pg 25 pg 40 pg 42 pg 43

Detailed Table of Contents

Table of Contents Introduction Background Objective Methods Review of Literature 3.1 Definitions 3.2 Basic Concepts to be Understood 3.3 Concept Model ................................. 2-1 ................................. 2-2 ................................. 2-3

................................. 3-1 ................................. 3-2 ................................. 3-4

Materials and Methods Used 4.1 Population and Sample ................................. 4-1 4.2 Survey Development and Design ................................. 4-2 4.3 Data Collection Method and Analysis ................................. 4-5 Results and Discussions 5.1 Description of the Sample 5.2 Description of the Responses 5.3 Analysis of Responses Conclusions 6.1 Summary 6.2 Recommendations Appendix References and Acknowledgements

................................. 5-1 ................................. 5-2 ................................. 5-3

................................. 6-1 ................................. 6-6 ................................. 7-1 ................................. 8-2

Sales Report and Its Constituents A sales report is basically a summary of the total amount of sales of a particular accounting period, such as a day, week, year or a quarter. A simple template has been included in the following paragraph, however, it is first necessary to understand the concepts and contents that are included in this report. If you take any common, sales report example, you will notice the following common features that are present in the report. Date or Time Period: One of the most important factor that is included in any sales report is the time duration within which the sales have taken place. This time period is a really important aspect of the report as it depicts time-bound productivity of the salesperson and also the time-bound profit behind every sale. Monetary Worth Sales: The monetary worth of sales is another important aspect as the total amount of sales is always taken into consideration by the management. Total value added taxes and sales taxes as well as profits are calculated on the basis of this figure.

Discount: Discount and reduction of per unit profit determine the loss in profit. Hence in order to keep a tab on the discounts given, the total discount given for every sale is recorded in the sales report.

Taxes: In some regions and states, it is a statutory compliance to record the taxes that have been involved in a particular transactions, to be recorded in the sales report. These recorded taxes are also instrumental in providing the accounts departments with exact tax totals.

Sales Report Template

Sales Report Date of Sales:______________ Total Amount: Rs.____________ Total Discount:_____________ Total Taxes:________________ Name of Salesperson:__________________________________________ Employee Code:_________________

Sr Particulars No

Units Sold Per Unit Cost

Tax

Discount

Total

Signature of Salesperson Signature of Superior

Business Report: Example Report on Eco-Homes Project 1. Title of Business Report

Title: Eco-Homes Project Initiative Objective: Compile data and analysis for development for housing project Eco-Homes at location and address of the project. Report by: Dr. Larry Marshall, CEO EcoVision Projects, Empire Construction and Infrastructure Group. Key Contents: A Detailed plan, proposition, execution schedule and analysis of the project idea of an eco-friendly settlement put forth by Dr. Jason Smith, New Projects Department, Empire Construction and Infrastructure Group (mother company). Reporting and Analysis Time: 1 month Project Implementation Time: 17 months Assumptions: The time frame and execution is framed, taking into consideration the seasonal elements of climate and other turnover ratios, experienced in the previous financial year.

2. Letter of transmittal Attached, letter of transmittal, conveying the idea by Dr Smith, consisting of the core features of report. 3. Table of Contents Summary and Synopsis of the Project Introduction

Discussion and Details Conclusion Recommendations

4. Summary and Synopsis The Eco-Homes Project Initiative is an underway project which has been conceived by the Empire Group. The basic ideology of the initiative is eco-friendly living. The Empire group intends to build a mega residential complex which is spread over 35 acres of land, and house around about 150 households, which are self sufficient in several ways. The complex thrives on the basis of inbuilt agricultural center, animal husbandry center, building gardens, fuel cell and bio-gas-propane generators of electricity, massive solar panels which provide heat to the homes and also electricity. The complex will span over the 35 acre premise and will consist of 3 core residential centers 15 solar panel driven green houses, 2 orchards, 5 gardens, 3 pastures and 3 animal husbandry centers cum dairies and a staff of 33 people. 5. Discussion and Details Some common points, details and conclusions that were drawn in the meeting of project engineers, company architects, cost accountants and the CFA's go as follows. The project will bring a substantial revenue if all 150 houses are sold off at a price of amount per house hold. The project will be a highly big commercial success as it is not just situated in the city but, once the customer buys the housing facility his usual bills that include, electricity and water bill will be cut down to half. The only con that is foreseen is that the sale value is huge. There are 5 phases of the project, namely, the basic foundation phase, housing complex 1 phase, followed by 2 and 3, with the last phase being the development of all the support and infrastructure facility. It is estimated that every phase would go on for 3 months plus a backup of 2 months has been provided.

The sales for real estate would begin with the completion of housing complex 1, followed by complex 2 and 3. By the end of complex 3, the real estate market rates would have increased by 7.8%. This price escalation however is not included in any of the calculations. The cost sheets showing cost projections for the project have been attached. A 5 year maintenance, free of cost has been provided for the complex. An operation cost of about $500 per 2 months is to be paid by every household to keep the operations going.

6. Conclusion The project team recommends that this project should be taken up and executed as fast as possible as the real estate market is and the eco-friendly products have been consistently showing positive rises in the past 5 years. 7. Recommendation In order to reduce operational cost of $500 for every two months, which is incurred by the residents, the project team recommends more research and development. It a selling point that can be put forth to boost sales. HOW TO WRITE A TECHNICAL REPORT by Dr. R.Soundararajan A report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for B.A. Degree Course in English Department of English National College, Tiruchirapalli 1 12 December 2011

ABSTRACT Mechanics of writing a technical report is explained in a pseudo report format. The purpose of this pseudo report is to explain the contents of a typical engineering report. It can also be used as a template for an actual engineering report. With some adaptation, the format can be extended to other type of technical writings as well.

TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................i LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES ................................................................................. iii LIST OF SYMBOLS .........................................................................................................iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................................v INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................1

EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS ............................................................................................1 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS .......................................................................................2 SECTION DESCRIPTIONS ..............................................................................................2 Letter of transmittal............................................................................................................. 3 Abstract.............................................................................................................................. 3 Table of Contents................................................................................................................ 4 List of Figures and Tables ...................................................................................................4 List of Symbols................................................................................................................... 4 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................4 Introduction........................................................................................................................ 5 Experimental Details........................................................................................................... 5 Results and Discussions ......................................................................................................5 Conclusions and Recommendations ...................................................................................6 References .......................................................................................................................... 6 Appendices ......................................................................................................................... 7 MISCELLANEOUS DESCRIPTIONS ..............................................................................8 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................11 REFERENCES...................................................................................................................11 APENDICES......................................................................................................................12 APPENDIX A SAMPLE CALCULATIONS ..................................................................12 APPENDIX B ALTERNATIVE METHOD FOR CONDUCTION TESTS ...................12 Method 1........................................................................................................................... 12 Method 2........................................................................................................................... 12 LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1 Schematic of experiment set up to do nothing ......................................................2 Figure 2 Quantity 1 versus Quantity 2 ................................................................................3 Table 1 Test matrix for experiment on nothing ...................................................................2 Table 2 Some numbers from the result of the experiment on nothing ................................3 LIST OF SYMBOLS r V radius of a circle volume of a sphere pi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author would like to acknowledge nobody for input in the preparation of this pseudo report. However, he would like to thank Dr. R.Soundararajan for lending his name to this report. The name, however, is fictitious but with significance that is left for the reader to ponder. The name of the writer of this report is actually Er. N.Sreedharan.

Report Template
Dr.R.SOUNDARARAJAN Asst. Professor (SG) Department of English National College Tiruchirapalli 620 001 December 12, 2011

Abstract
Every report should have an abstract. The abstract summarizes the report using between 100 and 200 words in a single paragraph. The purpose of an abstract is so that a reader can quickly get an idea of the main points and contributions of the paper. The author often writes the abstract last. This is because it is only after the body of the report is written that the writer gains a good perspective of the contents and results of the report. All reports submitted to me should follow the format shown in this template. Also, if you use this template for reports in your courses, you will be in good shape. However, be aware that CSU has a separate template for theses and dissertations. Note that the purpose of the abstract is not to provide an introduction to the problem, or a motivation for solving the problem, or a discussion of related work. Those discussions belong in the abstract. The purpose of the abstract is to summarize the report and the results. 1. Introduction All reports should have an introduction. One purpose of the introduction is to introduce the problem. For instance, consider the background of this report template. I receive a lot of reports from students; a lot of them have common errors in writing, grammar, and organization; and all of them are in different formats. It looks more professional if all the reports that I collect are in the same format. This is especially true if the reports are distributed to other people, or if they are posted on the Internet. Another purpose of the introduction is to provide a motivation for the work presented in the report. For instance, consider the motivation of this report template. If all of my students follow this template, then I wont have to provide individual guidance to hundreds of students. However, it is not only for selfish reasons that I provide this template. Students who follow this template can be sure that their reports will be more correct and more professional than they would be otherwise. Another purpose of the introduction is to provide an overview of related work. The introduction should include at least five references to related papers and books. Internet references are strongly discouraged because they are not reliable. I could discuss many papers and books that are closely related to the topic of this report template. I use Markels book [8] in my technical writing class. Strunk and Whites book [9] is a classic that should be owned and used frequently by all writers. Many other excellent books have also been written to provide guidance for engineering communications [1013]. There are also many papers that give more focused writing advice. One that I have found to be particularly helpful is Li [2].

Also, some papers that provide general research advice include sections that include writing advice [14]. The final purpose of the introduction is to summarize the paper one section at a time. In this report template, Section 2 discusses section headings, and Section 3 discusses fonts. Section 4 covers spelling and punctuation, and Section 5 discusses equations, which are often represented in a sloppy and inconsistent way in student reports. Section 6 shows how tables and figures should be properly presented. Section 7 discusses the importance and correct use of references and appendices. Finally, Section 8 contains some concluding remarks. Most reports will not have this many sections. A total of between four and six sections is more typical.

2. Section headings and report titles

The section headings are begun with numbers. The section headings begin with a capital letter, but all of the other letters in the section headings are lower case. In addition, make sure that the section heading (or subheading) and the first two lines of the following text are on the same page. The section heading at the bottom of this page is wrong because the section heading is on a different page than the first two lines of the section. You can enforce this in Microsoft Word 2007 by selecting the section heading and the first two lines of the section, right clicking, selecting the menu item Paragraph, selecting the tab Line and Page Breaks, and finally checking the check box Keep with next.

2.1. Subheadings
Subheadings are numbered with an additional numeral such as 1.1, 1.2, and so on. If you have a 1.1 subsection, then you must also have a 1.2 subsection. It does not make sense to have a 1.1 subsection without a 1.2 subsection. This would be like trying to divide a pie into one piece. If you want the pie to be in one piece, then dont divide it. If you want to divide it, then you have to divide it into at least two pieces. Similarly, if you want to divide a section into subsections, you have to divide it into at least two subsections.

2.2. Report title

The first word of the report title is always capitalized. Every word in the title is capitalized except for prepositions, articles, and conjunctions (words like of, or, and, the, with, and so on). The title should be concise, typically 10 words or less, and should avoid acronyms unless they are commonly known. Include your name, affiliation (for example, Cleveland State University), and mailing address below the title. Include the date of the report below the title. If the work was done as part of your thesis research, include your advisor as your coauthor. If the work was done as part of a class project, do not include your advisor as your coauthor. Include the authors email addresses as a footnote on the first page. The footnote should also acknowledge any financial support that helped you in your work. This is the only time you should use a footnote in the paper.

3. Fonts, justification, paragraphs, and spacing

Section headings and subheadings are 14-point font. The title is 16-point font. All the other text in the report is 12-point font. Never use all capital letters (this includes the report

title and the section headings) unless you want to convey the impression of yelling. All fonts should be Times New Roman. A new paragraph is indicated by skipping a line. Indents should not be used. Paragraphs should almost always be at least three sentences long. The justification is flush left and ragged right. Dont force all of the lines to end at the same point on the right margin. Some writers prefer right justification, but I think it forces unnatural spacing. Use single spacing throughout the report, with blank lines inserted at appropriate places as shown in this template. Every main heading, including the abstract and section headings, should be preceded by two blank lines. Every subheading should be preceded by one blank line. Paragraphs should be separated with one blank line. Set up your page settings using the Microsoft Word default, which includes one-inch top and bottom margins, and 1.25-inch left and right margins. Page margins can be set by selecting the Microsoft Word 2007 tab Page Layout. Insert page headers and footers in your report by using Microsoft Words Insert tab. The first page does not need a header or footer. The page header should contain the report title (left justified), and the report authors (right justified), both in 10-point italics. The page footer should contain the page number and the total number of pages, center justified in 10-point italics, as shown in this template.

4. Spelling and punctuation

Microsoft Word has a spell checker. Use it. There is no reason to have spelling errors in your report, as this simply indicates laziness. I do not expect your spelling to be perfect, but careful proofreading should eliminate 99% of spelling errors. Microsoft Word also has a grammar checker, although it does not work so well. But it cannot hurt to use it. It might help you find errors in grammar. Commas need special attention. There are two main rules to use with commas. First, commas should never be preceded with a space. For instance , the comma in this sentence is wrong because it has a space in front of it. Second, commas should always be followed with a space. For instance,the comma in this sentence is wrong because it does not have space after it. Periods should always be following by exactly one space.For instance, this paragraph is wrong because the period at the end of the first sentence does not have space following it. Some people like to use two spaces after a period this is an anachronism from the days of typewriters, but it is fine, as long as you are consistent. If a parenthetical phrase is at the end of a sentence, the period belongs outside the parenthesis (like this). However, if an entire sentence is parenthetical, the period belongs inside the parentheses. (Here is an example.) Integers should usually be spelled out if they are less than 10, or if the number begins a sentence. Integers should be written with numerals if they are greater than nine. Nineteen out of 20 technical writers agree with this rule.

5. Equations
Mathematical variables should always be in italics. If you use Microsoft Equation Editor then it will format the equation for you. If you type the equation yourself in text mode, then make sure that you italicize the variables. Numbers should not be italicized. Also, every mathematical operator symbol should be preceded and followed with a space. For example, the equation x2 2x + 3 = 0 (1)

was typed in text mode. It has a space before and after the minus sign, a space before and after the plus sign, and a space before and after the equal sign. The variable x is italicized. If you refer to any mathematical symbols in the text of your report, they should be italicized. If you need to refer to equations by number, the equations should be numbered inside parentheses and aligned with the right margin, as shown above. (Insert a tab stop with a right alignment at the right margin.) If you need to refer to an equation later in the text, refer to it without using the word equation just refer to it by using the equation number in parentheses. For example, we can solve (1) using a genetic algorithm. The minus sign is not the same as the hyphen on your keyboard. The hyphen is a short dash and looks like this: -. The minus sign is a long dash and looks like this: . You can often get a minus sign by typing two consecutive hyphens in Microsoft Word. If that does not work, then go to the Microsoft Word menu item Insert Symbol, choose the Symbol Font from the combo box, and find the minus sign. If you need to use a multiplication symbol, dont use x (ex) because it is a letter, not a multiplication sign. Neither should you use * (asterisk). Instead you should use . This symbol can be found by selecting the Microsoft Word menu item Insert Symbol, and choosing the Symbol Font. All equations should be preceded and followed by a blank line. If you dont have a blank line before and after an equation, it looks cluttered. If you have more than one blank line before or after an equation it looks too spread out.

6. Tables and figures

Tables and figures should be numbered and have a descriptive caption, as shown in Table 1. Tables should never appear before they are referenced in the text. They should appear as soon as possible after the paragraph where they are first referred to in the text. Each table must be referred to in the text by table number, along with some discussion of the data. For instance, Table 1 shows the average soybean price in Jamaica and Lebanon during the years 1999 and 2000. Note the judicious use of borders in Table 1 to make the table more readable. Note that the table, along with its caption, is center justified. Note that the caption is 10-point font.

When you refer to a specific table in the text (for instance, We see that Table 1 shows such and such), always capitalize the first letter in the word Table. On the other hand, if you are

referring to a table without using a number, then the first letter in the word table is not capitalized. For instance, The above table shows the average soybean prices in Jamaica and Lebanon during the years 1999 and 2000. The same rule applies to designators like figure and section. If you want to refer to a specific section, then always capitalize the word section for example, In Section 6 we discuss tables and figures. If you use the word section in a more generic manner, then do not capitalize it for example, In this section we discuss tables and figures. This is like the use of personal titles. For instance, if you are using a title with a specific person you capitalize their title, but if you are not using the title with a specific persons name then you do not capitalize the title. The history books tell us that President Washington was the first president of the United States. Or, One of the pickiest professors Ive ever seen is Professor Simon. Always insert a blank line before and after each table. This is just like the use of blank lines around equations. The same general rules that apply to tables also apply to figures. Note that figure captions do not have to be short. In fact, the more descriptive a figure caption is, the better. The reader should not have to delve into the text to understand a figure. The reader should be able to understand the figure by looking at the figure along with the caption. Also, figures should always have a white background. MATLAB often creates figures with a gray background, but you need to change it to white (using MATLAB options) before you put it in a report. The figure axes should always be labeled, legible, and include units if applicable. You can use color, but make sure the lines will be distinguishable if the report is printed in black and white.

7. References and appendices

Almost all reports should include references. It is hard to imagine a report without references. References should be arranged either alphabetically or in order of appearance in the text. I prefer alphabetical, but many journals and authors prefer order of appearance. Every reference that is listed should be referred to in the text, but the abstract should not contain any references. References should be referred to with the reference number in square brackets. When the reference list is finally presented at the end of the report, the word References is not preceded by a number; that is, the references section is an unnumbered section. The purpose of including references is so that the reader can look up those references. Make sure the reference has enough information so that the reader can obtain the references. Reference [1] shows how to refer to a thesis or dissertation. Note that at the beginning of a sentence, a reference must be preceded by the word Reference. However, in the middle of a sentence, the reference is never preceded by the word Reference. For example, [1] shows how to refer to a thesis or dissertation. Reference [2] shows how to refer to a journal publication. Reference [3] shows how to refer to a web page, but Internet references are strongly discouraged because they are not reliable, and because links get broken so quickly. Wikipedia references should never be included in a formal report. Wikipedia is a good source of information, but any information gathered from Wikipedia needs to be double-checked with a more formal publication (conference, book, or journal) before that information is included in a report, and then it is the refereed source ( not Wikipedia) that needs to be listed in the reference list. Reference [4] shows how to refer to a conference publication, and [5] has a template that can be used for writing a thesis at Cleveland State University. Reference [6]

shows how to refer to a book, and [7] shows how to refer to a contributed chapter in an edited volume (that is, the chapter author is different than the book editor). Be consistent in the formatting of your references. Look on the Internet for American Psychological Association (APA) style guidelines. Or you can use the style shown in the reference list of this report template. For example, if you use the first initial and last name of the authors for one reference, then you should use the first initial and last name of the authors for all references. If you list the issue number for one journal reference, then you should list the issue number for all journal references. If you italicize the name of one conference, then you should italicize the name of all conferences. All of your reference formatting needs to be consistent. Appendices are included after the references and are labeled Appendix 1, Appendix 2, and so on. Appendices are sections that contain material that is not essential to understanding the report, but that an interested reader can refer to for the sake of completeness. For instance, detailed mathematical proofs, schematics, flow charts, and program listings could all be included in appendices.

8. Conclusion
All papers should have a conclusion. One purpose of a conclusion is to summarize the report. For example, this template has discussed various aspects of report writing. The student who attempts to follow these guidelines will see a marked improvement in his or her written communication skills. Like anything else, good writing takes practice. Dont get discouraged if you dont get it right the first time. Just keep practicing. We discussed how sections should be numbered, and how the report title should be formatted. We also discussed what types of fonts should be used at various points of the report. We talked about spelling, punctuation, and equation formatting. We talked about the proper use of tables and figures, and finally we provided information about how references should be formatted. Another purpose of the conclusion is to summarize the benefits and drawbacks of the material that was presented. For instance, I could say that the benefit of this report template is that students now have a guideline that will improve their writing skills. However, a drawback of this template is that students may feel that they are spending more time on writing and report formatting rather than technical research. Each student needs to strike a balance between time spent on technical work, and time spent on writing and other communication skills. The final purpose of the conclusion is to present ideas or proposals for future work that could be conducted either by the author or by someone else. For example, this report could be expanded in the future by including additional grammatical rules and guidelines. Finally, it should be noted that a paper could violate a lot of the rules discussed here and still be an excellent paper. For instance, you could use different margins, right justification instead of ragged right margins, different font sizes or styles, different capitalization rules, and many other choices. The important thing is to be consistent. It does not matter too much if you capitalize the first letter of every word of your figure captions, or just the first letter of the first word, as long as you are consistent. It does not matter if you use a different font size, as long as you are consistent. Inconsistency in these matters is a sure way to produce a paper with a sloppy look.

References
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[11] D. Beer and D. McMurrey, A Guide to Writing as an Engineer, 3rd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2009. [12] W. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins, Technical Communication, 7th Edition, Prentice Hall, 2010. [13] S. Dobrin, C. Keller, and C. Weisser, Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall, 2010. [14] M. Shuster, Advice to Young Researchers, IEEE Control Systems Magazine, vol. 28, pp. 113117, October 2008.