Report title page

Title of report. Include a thought-provoking and succinct title for your report here (e.g. ‘Annual environmental report for GreenTree Holdings’).The title of the report should clearly describe to the reader what the report is about. Remember, what is obvious to you in a title may not be obvious to your reader: you may be too close to the issue, taking for granted a knowledge of certain concepts or jargon that may not be familiar to your reader. Try out a number of titles on people who are more removed from the problem. If the report has a cover, the wording of the cover title and the title page should be identical. The title of a report is usually centred near the top of the report title page. You should check that the vertical positioning of the report title is offset by the text that is included further down on this page (i.e. that the page looks visually balanced to the eye). The title of the report should be set at a larger font size than the body text for the report.

Target readership. You should outline the target readership (i.e. who commissioned the report) if appropriate on the title page. This information should be centred and set lower on the page and in a smaller font size than the title of the report but a larger font size than the body text (e.g. ‘Report prepared for Stephen Jones, Managing Director, Environmental Lobby Group’).

Writer’s name. Include the name of the report writer below the target readership details. This information should be centred and set in a smaller font size than the title of the report but a larger font size than the body text (e.g. ‘Prepared by Chen Li, Manager, GreenTree Holdings’).

Date. Include the date of the report (e.g. ‘5 June 2011’) centred and in a smaller font size than the title of the report but a larger font size than the body text near the bottom of the page.

Memo or letter of transmittal

The letter of transmittal is the introductory or covering document for a report. It is used when the audience is outside the organisation. A memo of transmittal is the introductory or covering document for a report that is used when the audience for your document is within the organisation. For a memo of transmittal, you may like to include the following bulleted information, presented as shown below:

Memo of transmittal:

TO:Include details of who the report is addressed to here (e.g. ‘Stephen Jones, Managing Director’)

FROM:Include details of the report author here (e.g. ‘Chen Li, Manager’)

DATE:Include the date of the publication of the report here (e.g. ‘5 June 2011’)

SUBJECT:Include the subject of the report here (e.g. ‘Annual environmental report — GreenTree Holdings’). This text may also be underlined for emphasis.

This bulleted summary information for a memo or letter of transmittal should be left aligned at the top of the page.

Body text for memo or letter of transmittal: Summary body text for a memo or letter of transmittalis provided in a few short paragraphs after the bulleted summary information (shown above). This information should be formatted in a smaller font size than the bulleted summary information (the same point size as the body text for the report is ideal) and should be written in a personal style that is fitting for a memo.In this section, you should include:

  • a salutation to the person who commissioned or authorised the report (e.g. ‘Dear Mr/Ms...’)
  • a statement of purpose of letter/memo (e.g. ‘Here is the report on... you requested’)
  • a brief overview or summary of the report (e.g. ‘In this report you will find...’)
  • acknowledgements to people who helped you with your investigations (e.g. ‘Several people proved to be of great assistance to me...’)
  • acourteous close (e.g. ‘Thank you for the opportunity to investigate...If you have any questions about the report, please contact me...’). This section should thank the report commission and should also invite them to follow up with any discussion points.

Some writers will include a brief mention of their recommendations in the letter or memo of transmittal. Whether you decide to do so will depend on factors such as whether your recommendations are controversial and you would prefer the reader to read the rationale behind them before being confronted with them, as well as on space constraints.

Table of contents

The table of contents, which will probably be similar to the outline you developed in the report planning process, is the reader’s roadmap. The bigger and more complex the report, the more important a table of contents becomes. There are a few factors that you should take into account in developing the table of contents. It is worthwhile to consider:

  • indenting different levels of the report’s hierarchical structure. This will allow the reader to see the structure more clearly (e.g. you may like to include a tab before a listing for a new subsection that appears on a separate line below a section listing). This may be visually represented as shown in the following example:

1.5 BACKGROUND

1.5.1. The current situation

  • whether an index is needed for the report. An index may not be required for a shorter report, but may be suitable to include with a longer report.
  • how you want to identify the pages and sections in the report. Often, lowercase Roman numerals are used for material that precedes the Introduction (e.g. ‘iv’, ‘v’). After this, Arabic numerals are often used (e.g. ‘4’, ‘5’).

Note that the table of contents is not listed in the table of contents, and also that it may be suitable to use bold to differentiate levels of the report structure. The page numbers should be right aligned next to each corresponding section listing and should not be shown in bold or in a different point size.

List of illustrations

It may be suitable to include a list of illustrations on a separate page after the table of contents. A list of illustrations may be helpful for larger reports with a substantial number of graphics. For more complex documents it may also be useful to provide separate lists for figures and tables. Photographs are sometimes referred to as ‘plates’ in an illustrations list. If used, a list of illustrations should be similar in format and style to the table of contents for the report.

Summary or executive summary

In this brief section you need to summarise the entire content of the body of the report, including the introduction, the main discussion, and your conclusions and recommendations. Keep in mind the considerations of a direct versus an indirect approach. The summary is as far as many of your readers will get in your report, or indeed will want to get. They want the quick version, so you must ensure your summary is good. A good summary will confirm what is already present in your document and reveal what is missing. You may need to revise your scope and approach as a result. While this may be annoying, it is better than discovering major errors or omissions after the document has gone out to its audience. The page may be presented as follows:

Executive summary(The heading for this section should be set at a larger font size and should be left aligned at the top of the page.)

Body paragraphs in the executive summary. In a few paragraphs, you need to outline the following information clearly for the reader:

  • the introduction
  • the main discussion
  • the conclusions and recommendations of the report.

The writing style for the executive summary should be accessible and the content on this page should encourage the reader to want to read the contents in the full report.

Introduction

The introduction should inform the reader about some or all of the following:

Background. Why was the report commissioned? What circumstances led people to believe that a report was needed?

Purpose. What is the purpose of the report? Keep this section brief and to the point.

Scope. What issues are discussed in the report? What issues are not covered? (This is also known as the brief or terms of reference.)

Research methods. How was the data in this report obtained? What types of primary and/or secondary data were used? Does the data limit the report in any way (see limitations that follow)?

Definition of terms. What specific terminology is used that the lay reader may not be familiar with? (If there are more than five or six such terms, you should consider including a separate glossary of terms in the end matter of the report.)

Limitations. What constraints (e.g. time, resources, data) were there on the exercise?

Assumptions. What has the writer assumed about background, concepts, language and reader awareness?

Position all figures and tables, even in the introduction, close to the point at which they are first mentioned in the text. Figure captions should clearly explain (in a summary form) what the reader is looking at. Another tip is to remember that you should not create a subsection for the point of it — make sure your section and subsection titles are relevant to the content that follows.

Introduction(The heading for this section should be set at a larger font size and should be left aligned at the top of the page. This heading may include section numbering, such as ‘1.0’, if appropriate).

Body paragraphs in the introduction: The body text in the introduction should provide the reader with an overview of the content in the report. The introduction should have a hierarchical structure, with section numbering being used to signpost the content to the reader.For example, you may like the body of the introduction to take the following format:

1.1 Purpose

<Include a concise description of the purpose of the report here.>

1.2 Scope

<Discuss what the report is about, and what it is not about, in a statement of scope here.>

1.3 Sources and methods

<These sections can be combined, listed separately or not considered at all if appropriate.>

1.4 Limitations and assumptions

<These sections again can be combined, listed separately or not considered at all if appropriate.>

1.5 Background

A statement of background is useful for setting the scene for the body of the report that follows.>

Body of report

The body or findings section of the report includes the majority of the content and material that you want to discuss in the report. It will almost certainly be the largest section, and its preparation will entail the most work. Ensure that your argument is developed clearly, and is broken up logically into sections and subsections, with appropriate headings and subheadings. There are many different methods to developing an argument, as shown in the next table.

Some argument development methods

Argument development method / Approach
Chronological / From then to now, and on into the future
Inductive / From the particular to the general
Deductive / From the general to the particular
Geographical / From one area/section/state/country/planet to another
Topical / From one subject to another
Problem/solution / The problem is . . . The solution/options are . . .
Pros/cons / The advantages are . . . The disadvantages are . . .
5W/H / Explanation of what, where, when, why, who, how
Ideal/reality / What we would like is . . . What we are stuck with is . . .

In your report, you may decide to combine some of these methods.

Here are some other points to consider with the format and structure for the body of the report:

  • The information in this section should be clearly structured and coherent. The tone of your writing should be appropriate and balanced, and the arguments that you present should be well supported by evidence (this may be most suitably presented, at times, in figures and tables).
  • Confine yourself to facts in the discussion section of your report (don’t discuss personal opinions in this section).
  • This section should include sections and subsections (if appropriate), with information being clearly signposted to the reader.
  • Always reference material where appropriate and maintain a consistency in referencing style throughout the report.
  • Don’t place definitions in the body of the report. Definitions may be placed in the introduction section, or in a separate glossary at the end of the report.
  • Tables, figures and bulleted and numbered lists can help to improve the overall readability of the report and may be used to break up large sections of content, as well as to draw attention to important information.Always provide cross references that signpost tables and figures shortly before they appear in the report.

Conclusion/s

This section provides an overview of the content of the report. Here you can provide your own interpretation of the information that has been set out, answering the question ‘What does all this mean?’ You can also provide a specific context for the recommendations that will follow in the next section. Typical conclusion might take the following forms:

‘It is clear that the photocopying centre cannot cope with certain peak workloads, particularly when we are conducting audits of large clients...’

‘Options 2 and 6 are attractive if solely financial criteria are applied, but would be unpopular with staff in the eastern zone plant. Options 1, 3, 4 and 5 would be less unpopular, but clearly would entail greater expense, particularly if we buy rather than lease...’

Recommendations

In this section, you should propose specific actions that flow from the conclusions you draw in the report. Here are some points to consider when you write this section of the report:

  • It is important that you do not introduce new material in the conclusions or recommendations sections of your report.
  • It may be useful to number your recommendations. This will make discussion of them easier. You may also choose to place recommendations in priority order.

Some writers prefer to give recommendations in the body of the report, at the end of each section. This style is adopted particularly with large reports. It can be a useful way of linking a response directly to the problem discussed. If you choose to do this, it is still helpful to list all of the recommendations together, and the best place for such a list is where most readers would expect to find them — at the end of the report, following the conclusions.

Typical recommendations might take the following forms:

‘It is recommended that all systems continue operating the Microsoft operating system for the next six months. At that time, Data Processing will report on options to convert systems to an alternative operating system.’

‘3. Option 3 (subcontract new accounts to external consultants via competitive tendering) should be trialled for 12 months.’

References

This section lists all the materials you have referred to in your research and used in the report. References are listed alphabetically and you should use a style of referencing that is recommended by your university or by your organisation, depending on the purpose of the report.

Appendices or attachments

You may wish to include material with your report that does not belong in it (perhaps it is too large, or would be of interest to only part of your audience) but still might be useful for the reader to refer to. Such material is included at the back of a report as an appendix. If you have more than one set of such material, then each should be separately identified (e.g. Appendix A, B, C or Appendix I, II, III and so on). This material might include raw data, copies of questionnaires used, interview transcripts, maps, copies of legislation appropriate to the topic, detailed historical background, complex graphics, computer software demonstrating what you are talking about, a video recording — in short, anything that does not fit tidily into the structure of the written report.

Glossary, list of abbreviations and index

If your report is particularly complex, involving terminology that may be unfamiliar to some of your audience, consider creating a glossary in which you list and define these terms. If you include a glossary, you may decide to show the key terms in bold and/or in a larger font so that they are easy for the reader to identify.

Similarly, if appropriate, you should take the time to create a list of, or key to, possibly confusing abbreviations (acronyms, initialisms or shortened words).

If your report is extensive (say, over 20 pages), consider creating an index. An index will provide your audience with a more detailed ‘navigation map’ than is possible with the table of contents.

If you decide to include these optional extra sections in your report, present the information clearly on a separate page (or pages).