What Is A Report?: Reports May Contain Some or All of The Following Elements

What is a Report?
In academia there is some overlap between reports and essays, and the two
words are sometimes used interchangeably, but reports are more likely to be
needed for business, scientific and technical subjects, and in the workplace.
Whereas an essay presents arguments and reasoning, a report concentrates on

facts.
Essentially, a report is a short, sharp, concise document which is written for a
particular purpose and audience. It generally sets outs and analyses a situation or
problem, often making recommendations for future action. It is a factual paper, and
needs to be clear and well-structured.
Requirements for the precise form and content of a report will vary between
organisation and departments and in study between courses, from tutor to tutor, as well
as between subjects, so it’s worth finding out if there are any specific guidelines before
you start.
How to write a report
Some academic assignments ask for a ‘report’, rather than an

essay, and students are often confused about what that really
means.
Likewise, in business, confronted with a request for a ‘report’ to a

senior manager, many people struggle to know what to write.
Confusion often arises about the writing style, what to include, the
language to use, the length of the document
Reports may contain some or all of the following

elements:
 A description of a sequence of events or a situation;
 Some interpretation of the significance of these events or situation, whether solely your own
analysis or informed by the views of others, always carefully referenced of course (see our page
on Academic Referencing for more information);
 An evaluation of the facts or the results of your research;
 Discussion of the likely outcomes of future courses of action;
 Your recommendations as to a course of action; and
 Conclusions.
Not all of these elements will be essential in every report.
If you’re writing a report in the workplace, check whether there are any standard
guidelines or structure that you need to use.
For example, in the UK many government departments have outline structures for
reports to ministers that must be followed exactly.
Sections and Numbering

A report is designed to lead people through the information in a structured way,
but also to enable them to find the information that they want quickly and easily.
Reports usually, therefore, have numbered sections and subsections, and a clear and
full contents page listing each heading. It follows that page numbering is important.
Modern word processors have features to add tables of contents (ToC) and page
numbers as well as styled headings; you should take advantage of these as they update
automatically as you edit your report, moving, adding or deleting sections.
Report Writing
Getting Started: prior preparation and planning

The structure of a report is very important to lead the reader through your
thinking to a course of action and/or decision. It’s worth taking a bit of time to
plan it out beforehand.
Step 1: Know your brief

You will usually receive a clear brief for a report, including what you are studying
and for whom the report should be prepared.
First of all, consider your brief very carefully and make sure that you are clear who the
report is for (if you're a student then not just your tutor, but who it is supposed to be
written for), and why you are writing it, as well as what you want the reader to do at the
end of reading: make a decision or agree a recommendation, perhaps.
Step 2: Keep your brief in mind at all times

During your planning and writing, make sure that you keep your brief in mind:
who are you writing for, and why are you writing?
All your thinking needs to be focused on that, which may require you to be ruthless in
your reading and thinking. Anything irrelevant should be discarded.
As you read and research, try to organise your work into sections by theme, a bit like
writing a Literature Review.
Make sure that you keep track of your references, especially for academic work.
Although referencing is perhaps less important in the workplace, it’s also important that
you can substantiate any assertions that you make so it’s helpful to keep track of your
sources of information.
The Structure of a Report

Like the precise content, requirements for structure vary, so do
check what’s set out in any guidance.
However, as a rough guide, you should plan to include at the very least an executive
summary, introduction, the main body of your report, and a section containing your
conclusions and any recommendations.
Executive Summary
The executive summary or abstract, for a scientific report, is a brief summary of the
contents. It’s worth writing this last, when you know the key points to draw out. It should
be no more than half a page to a page in length.
Remember the executive summary is designed to give busy 'executives' a quick

summary of the contents of the report.
Introduction
The introduction sets out what you plan to say and provides a brief summary of the
problem under discussion. It should also touch briefly on your conclusions.
Report Main Body

The main body of the report should be carefully structured in a way that leads the
reader through the issue.
You should split it into sections using numbered sub-headings relating to themes or
areas for consideration. For each theme, you should aim to set out clearly and concisely
the main issue under discussion and any areas of difficulty or disagreement. It may also
include experimental results. All the information that you present should be related back
to the brief and the precise subject under discussion.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The conclusion sets out what inferences you draw from the information, including any
experimental results. It may include recommendations, or these may be included in a
separate section.
Recommendations suggest how you think the situation could be improved, and should
be specific, achievable and measurable. If your recommendations have financial
implications, you should set these out clearly, with estimated costs if possible.
A Word on Writing Style

When writing a report, your aim should be to be absolutely clear. Above all, it
should be easy to read and understand, even to someone with little knowledge of
the subject area.
You should therefore aim for crisp, precise text, using plain English, and shorter words
rather than longer, with short sentences.
You should also avoid jargon. If you have to use specialist language, you should
explain each word as you use it. If you find that you’ve had to explain more than about
five words, you’re probably using too much jargon, and need to replace some of it with
simpler words.
Consider your audience. If the report is designed to be written for a particular person,
check whether you should be writing it to ‘you’ or perhaps in the third person to a job
role: ‘The Chief Executive may like to consider…’, or ‘The minister is recommended to
agree

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What is a Report?

Whereas an essay presents arguments and reasoning, a report concentrates on

How to write a report

Some academic assignments ask for a ‘report’, rather than an

Likewise, in business, confronted with a request for a ‘report’ to a

Reports may contain some or all of the following

Sections and Numbering

Getting Started: prior preparation and planning

Step 1: Know your brief

Step 2: Keep your brief in mind at all times

The Structure of a Report

Remember the executive summary is designed to give busy 'executives' a quick

Report Main Body

A Word on Writing Style

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