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University Amar Telidji of Laghouat
English department
How to write a university report
by
Lakhdar Kamel OULAD DJEDID
www.ouladdjedid.sitew.com
Laghouat, 2013
1 Introduction
1.1 Background
Report writing is an essential skill for professionals in almost every field: teaching, graphic designing,
information science. That’s one of the reasons why your lecturers will almost certainly require you to
write reports during your period of study at the University of Laghouat.
A report aims to inform, as clearly and succinctly as possible. It should be easy to read, and
professional in its presentation.
Exactly what you include in your report and how you present it will vary according to your discipline
and the specific purpose of the report.
1.2 Motivation
This short document describes how to write a good report, this is based on common mistakes done
by the students. The comments below apply for course projects, other semester projects, technical
reports, theses (License/Master/Doctorate)
1.3 Scope and objective
Here we give some general guidelines to be able to write good and professional report, but you
should check with your lecturer for more detail on what is expected.
2 Why is the report important?
If you wish to secure a good mark for your project, it is absolutely essential that you write a good
report. No matter how significant your achievements, if you do not write up your work, and write it
up well, you will obtain a poor mark.
It is essential to understand that the report will be read and marked by a number of examiners, they
are not mind-readers, and cannot give credit for work which you have done but not included in the
report.
3 The mechanics of writing
The problem you have to solve is this: to transfer your own experiences of doing the project, and the
knowledge you have gained, from your brain onto paper in a coherent, logical and correct form.
There are several ways of achieving this. Different authors have different techniques. The best
method, which I think is quite common among technical authors:
1
Is firstly to write as quickly as I can, without regard for coherency, structure or order, until I
have written down (or rather, typed in) all the points I can think of. If my brain is running
faster than my fingers and a thought pops into my head which belongs in another part of the
document, I skip to the end of the page and insert a few words there to remind me to expand
that point later, then resume where I was. The aim is to transfer as much relevant material
from brain to paper as quickly as possible. This method has been called the ``brain dump''. It
is practiced, I think, by some writers of fiction as well as by technical authors.
2
After three hours of ``brain dumping'' I might have four or five pages of disorganized text. I
then spend perhaps six hours putting the text into order and, after which I might have three
pages of good-quality report. This method of writing is an iterative process, with periods of
``brain dumping'' alternating with periods of tidying-up.
If you kept a note-book during the project period, you will find the writing-up process much easier.
3 Reports and essays—what’s the difference?
A common problem is that students transfer what they have learned about essay writing to report
writing.
Both essays and reports need:
1
2
3
4
formal style,
careful proof-reading and neat presentation,
introduction, body and conclusion,
analytical thinking.
But there are some essential differences between the two.
A Report
Presents information
Is meant to be scanned quickly by the reader
Uses numbered headings and sub-headings
May not need references and
bibliography/reference list
An essay
Presents an argument
Is meant to be read carefully
Uses minimal sub-headings, if any
Always needs references and
bibliography/reference list
Uses short, concise paragraphs and dot-points
where applicable
Links ideas into cohesive paragraphs, rather than
breaking them down into a list of dot-points
Uses graphics wherever possible (tables, graphs,
illustrations)
Rarely uses graphics
May need an abstract (sometimes called an
executive summary)
Will only need an abstract if it is very long, or if
your lecturer asks for one specifically
May be followed by recommendations and/or
appendices
Seldom has recommendations or appendices
4 Types of reports
At University, the student can be one of the three levels,


Undergraduate: student of first cycle,
Graduate : student has a License or engineer degree,

or Postgraduate : student of second cycle, which prepares Master, Magistery or Doctorate
These
The main different types of report that the student can be require to write are:
1
course and semester projects report : it can be
1.1 filed report
It is common in disciplines such as Law, Psychology, companies Relations, language,
History and Education the student analyze his or her observations of phenomena or
events in the real world in light of theories studied in the course. An example of field
report is “teaching observation report for Education”.
1.2 technical report
In disciplines with an applied focus such as Engineering, Information Technology, it is
process of report writing in industry, the students research the problem, solutions and
present the results of the research.
2
Research project report:
It is for graduation, license and engineer, honours student or research student involved in
postgraduate studies.
Scientific report
It is common in all the Sciences and Social Sciences, A more detailed and extensive type of
this report is the research project report.
3
Undergraduation
Course and semester projects report [ex]
Research project report [ex]
Scientific report [ex]
graduation
Postgraduation
5 Report Structure
What follows is a generic structure for reports. Using this structure will help to give your report the
correct level of formality; it will also help to ensure that you do not leave out anything important.
However, the actual structure required by your discipline may not be exactly what is represented
here - you should check with your lecturer.
A report should generally include the following sections.
(Sections marked with an asterisk (*) are essential: others are optional depending on the type, length
and purpose of the report.)











Letter of transmittal
Title page*
Table of contents
List of abbreviations / glossary
Executive summary/abstract
Introduction*
Body*
Conclusion*
Recommendations/futur work
Bibliography/reference
Appendices
5.1 Title page
This must contain:




The report title which clearly states the purpose of the report,
full details of the person(s) who prepared the report,
full details of the person(s) for whom the report was prepared,
the date of the presentation of the report.
5.2 Table of contents
(Usually only if the report is longer than, say, ten pages)
This is a list of the headings and appendices of the report. Depending on the complexity and length of
the report, you could list tables, figures and appendices separately. Make sure the correct page
numbers are shown opposite the contents. Up-to-date word processing packages can generate a
table of contents for you.
5.3 Liste of abbreviation / glossary
If necessary, you should provide an alphabetical list of the abbreviations you have used in the report,
especially if they may not be familiar to all readers of the report.
If you have used a lot of technical terms, you should also provide a glossary (an alphabetical list of
the terms, with brief explanations of their meanings).
5.4 Acknowlegment (if appreciate)
This is a short paragraph thanking any person or organisation which gave you help in collecting data
or preparing the report.
5.5 Executive summary / abstract
An abstract is quite different from an introduction. It is a summary of the report, in which you include
one sentence (or so) for every main section of your report. For example, you can include:



The context of the research ,
the purpose of the report ,
the major findings (you may need several sentences here).
Write the abstract after you have written the report.
5.6 Introduction




Give enough background information to provide a context for the report,
scope of the report (ie what the report will cover),
state the problem and the purpose the report,
indicate the basic structure of the report.
5.7 Body
The content of the body depends on the purpose of the report, and whether it is a report of primary
or secondary research.
A report of primary research (based on your own observations and experiments) would include:
Literature review (what other people have written about this topic. See our webpage for hints on
writing a literature review). The literature review should lead towards your research question.



Method (summarises what you did and why). Use the past tense.
Findings or results (describes what you discovered, observed, etc, in your observations and
experiements). Use the past tense.
Discussion (discusses and explains your findings and relates them to previous research). Use
the present tense to make generalisations.
A report of secondary research (based on reading only) would include:


Information organised under appropriate topics with sub-headings. It is unlikely that your
report will discuss each source separately. You need to synthesise material from different
sources under topic headings.
Analysis/discussion of the sources you are reporting.
5.8 Conclusion
Sum up the main points of the report. The conclusion should clearly relate to the objectives of your
report. No surprises please! (That is, don’t include new information here.)
5.9 Recommentations (futur work)
These are suggestions for future action. They must be logically derived from the body of your report.
5.10 Bibliography/reference
An important part of an essay, report or other written work is the list of sources at the end, that is,
the list of books, journal articles and other materials that you consulted, Depending on the academic
discipline in which you are studying, this list may be titled bibliography or references, or works cited.
A bibliography lists the sources that you referred to in the essay as well as sources that, while
relevant, were not actually cited in your report. The list of references will contain only those sources
that you actually cited.
The American Psychological Association (APA) style [] is an academic format, a widely accepted
format for writing research papers, the references are listed at the end of the article in alphabetical
order by author, and by year for identical authorsThere are different formats :
Book
Encyclopedia
format
Exemple
format
Author (last name first). Title of the book. City: Publisher, Date of publication.
Dahl, Roald. The BFG. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1982.
Encyclopedia Title, Edition Date. Volume Number, "Article Title," page numbers.
Exemple
The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1997. Volume 7, "Gorillas," pp. 50-51.
format
Magazine
Exemple
format
Newspaper
Exemple
Person
Film
CD-ROM
Magazine
article
format
Exemple
format
Exemple
format
Exemple
format
Exemple
Newspaper
article
format
Author (last name first), "Article Title." Name of magazine. Volume number,
(Date): page numbers.
Jordan, Jennifer, "Filming at the Top of the World." Museum of Science Magazine.
Volume 47, No. 1, (Winter 1998): p. 11.
Author (last name first), "Article Title." Name of newspaper, city, state of
publication. (date): edition if available, section, page number(s).
Powers, Ann, "New Tune for the Material Girl." The New York Times, New York,
NY. (3/1/98): Atlantic Region, Section 2, p. 34.
Full name (last name first). Occupation. Date of interview.
Smeckleburg, Sweets. Bus driver. April 1, 1996.
Title, Director, Distributor, Year.
Braveheart, Dir. Mel Gibson, Icon Productions, 1995
Disc title: Version, Date. "Article title," pages if given. Publisher.
Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia: Macintosh version, 1995. "Civil rights
movement," p.3. Compton's Newsmedia.
Author (last name first). "Article title." Name of magazine (type of medium).
Volume number, (Date): page numbers. If available: publisher of medium, version,
date of issue.
Rollins, Fred. "Snowboard Madness." Sports Stuff (CD-ROM). Number 15,
(February 1997): pp. 15-19. SIRS, Mac version, Winter 1997.
Author (last name first). "Article title." Name of newspaper (Type of medium), city
and state of publication. (Date): If available: Edition, section and page number(s).
If available: publisher of medium, version, date of issue.
Exemple
format
E-mail
Exemple
WWW
format
Exemple
Stevenson, Rhoda. "Nerve Sells." Community News (CD-ROM), Nassau, NY. (Feb
1996): pp. A4-5. SIRS, Mac. version, Spring 1996.
Author of message, (Date). Subject of message. Electronic conference or bulletin
board (Online). Available e-mail: LISTSERV@ e-mail address
Ellen Block, (September 15, 1995). New Winners. Teen Booklist (Online). Helen
[email protected]
Author (or item's name, if mentioned), URL (Uniform Resource Locator or WWW
address). date.
Today's News, http://www.boston.com. August 1, 1996.
Citation style:
General citation:
Format: [Author, date]
Example:
Texte
…….. As described in [Mander 1983] ……...
Reference
[Mander 1983] K.C. Mander, Notes on a system specification method, York Computer Science report
no. 61, University of York (1983).
Format: [order number]
Example:
Texte
…….. As described in [5] ……...
Reference
[5] K.C. Mander, Notes on a system specification method, York Computer Science report no. 61,
University of York (1983).
5.11 Appendices
An appendix contains material which is too detailed, technical, or complex to include in the body of
the report (for example, specifications, a questionnaire, or a long complex table of figures), but which
is referred to in the report. Appendices are put at the very end of the report, after everything else.
Each appendix should contain different material. Number each appendix clearly.
6 Conclusion
This guide has been written to provide a general introduction to writing reports. It outlines the
typical structure of a report and provides a step by step guide to producing reports that are clear and
well structured. But the feedback with the tutor or the advisor still necessary and be sure to use what
he prefers.
7 Bibliography
APA Citation Examples, http://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/apa_examples.cfm#books. 2013.
How to Write a Project Report , http://www.cs.york.ac.uk/projects/howtowrt.html. 4 Dec 2006.
How to write a report, http://library.bcu.ac.uk/learner/writingguides/1.02%20Reports.htm. 4
January 2011.
How to Write a Research Paper, http://www.factmonster.com/homework/t8biblio.html. 01 Oct.
2013.
How to Write a Research Report, http://dwb4.unl.edu/Chem/CHEM869K/CHEM869KLinks/
www.ruf.rice.edu/ ~bioslabs/tools/report/reportform.html. 16 May 2000.
Report Writing, http://www.canberra.edu.au/studyskills/writing/reports. September 18, 2013.
Writing a references list or bibliography, https://academicskills.anu.edu.au/ resources/ handouts/
writing-references-list-or-bibliography. 9 April 2013.
Writing reports, http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/writing/writing-resources/reports. 4 Nov
2011.