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How to write a Report

This blog is all about how to write a report. Report writing is not an easy task. The students always wonder how to write a lab report, or how to write a scientific report. So in this blog, my aim is to disentangle some of these elements and provide you with some advice. So the first thing you should know is that what is report writing?

What is a report?

A report is written for a clear purpose and to a particular audience. In report writing, there is a piece of specific information and evidence are analysed, presented and applied to a particular issue. It is a factual paper, and this is why needs to be clear and well-structured. 

Whenever you are asked to write a report you will usually be given a brief report which provides you with the guidelines. So, when you start the report, you must follow all the instructions and guidelines which are given to you by your department. If you are a sophomore, then you should probably take some assistance from the online assignment helpers to know more on framing a good report writing.

Structure of a report

Reports are generally much more structured than other academic writing. You should have a clear plan for structuring the report as it’s the most crucial aspect of report writing. When you make a good report divide the sections and subsections that are formulated using numbering or bullet points.

Title page

This is the first page of your report writing, so you have to make your title page descriptive and informative, incisive stating the topic of the report. Plus, you should mention your name, disciple and the name of your professor.

Abstract

The abstract is generally a brief summary of the context, findings, methods of the report. The abstract should cover the main aim or idea of the report. Avoid detail and discussion in the abstract. You just need to outline the main points here. 

Table of contents

The table of the content page is to identify which sections are most relevant to them. The content page should list the different chapters or headings together with the page numbers. The table of contents helps the students to scan the particular topic of the report. So when you make a table of content, make sure that it is right and clear for the students.

Introduction

Many times students wonder “How to write an introduction for a report ?” The introductions are the first paragraph of your report so make sure it should be catchy and the aims and objectives of the report should be explained in detail. Here you have to include everything which you will gonna write in your main body. You should identify the limitations of the existing thesis. Then you should convey the same in the introductions for reference of other researchers.

In some of the reports, you have asked to write a section called ‘Terms of references’, in which you have to mention who asked for the report, what it should cover, and what are the limitations. 

Methodology

In the methodology section, you have to write your research activity, a list of equipment used; the materials you have used in your content, including sources of materials and details. The methodology section should provide an accurate description of the material and procedures used so that others could replicate the experiment you conducted. 

Results/findings

In this section, you should include a summary of the results of the experiment together. You can use graphs, figures or tables to describe the most important results and trends. You should present your results in a logical order without comment. Here you don’t need to provide the discussion of your results as this will happen in the comment section.

Discussion

In the discussion, you have to critically evaluate your findings. It is the main body of your report. Here, you just have to discuss the persisting issues or problems. Also, you should be able to relate the results with the main problem. How to do the results influence the theory of the thesis? If you think that you want to increase your paragraph or your discussion you might divide it into heading sections. In your discussion section, use headings and subheadings to create a clear structure for your material. 

Conclusion

The last part is the conclusion part. there is no need to worry about the conclusion. Even if you do not have any prior experience of writing a conclusion. In your conclusion, you should summarise the outcomes of your above discussion. You can give a recommendation or advice in the conclusion section. It all depends on you. However, there is no need to start a new topic or ideas in the conclusion.

References

The references are a list of any sources you have used in your report. You should use the standard referencing style preferred by your school or department such as APA, Numeric, Harvard etc.

Appendices

Under the appendices, you should include all the supporting information you have used that is not published. Only one item is referred to as an appendix. More than one appendix should be called appendices. Refer to the appendices in the body of your report. Appendices can be given numerical or alphabetical headings, for example, Appendix 1, or Appendix A. 

How to Write a Report

Purpose of the report

To envision the purpose of the report is important. You should be able to contemplate the main idea of the report. It is crucial for report writing. The essays are also written in a similar way. Therefore, you should have a sufficient amount of experience in essay writing as well. An expert writer is always clear about the purpose of the report. Know your audience from top to bottom, especially their requirements. You can always take help from some of the best report writers online. And yes, always when you write a report, keep your audience in mind, think about what they need to know. You can understand this by an example, you can write for

  • Senior management
  • General public
  • To the customer
  • To the client

Stages of report writing

You need to be clear and concise while writing the report. The objective is to create a well-structured report. To write good quality and well-researched report you have to give time for planning and executing. The essential stages are mentioned below.

Understand the report topic

The very first step is to understand the topic or brief of your report before starting it. Also, go through the instructions first before writing a great report. First, you should know your audience. The readers should understand every content of the report. Therefore, it is important to brush up your language techniques. Also, keep in touch with your professor for further guidance. Take help whenever you encounter any doubt.

Collect the information

Once you understand the report brief, the next step is to gather all the relevant information. It all depends on you how much information you want to provide in your report. Keep referring to your report brief to help you decide what is relevant information.

Organize and analyse your report

Once you have gathered all the information the next thing is to decide what will be included and in what sequence. Organising is important in report writing. So wisely choose a streamlined order to your material that is logical and easy to follow. It is not enough to just simply write down the information that you have searched. First, you have to relate the problem described in the report brief.

Writing the report

It is important that first, you make a draft of your report. So that at the end of it you can do some changes and can include anything that you want to include. Make your points clearly and concisely. You can describe the structure much presentable way by following the hierarchy- Introduce, explain, present, comment, and conclude.

Review your report

After you write the report, just review your paper. And yes don’t review your paper right after writing it. Take a short break before your review your draft. Let your mind have enough space to process all the information. Also, read your draft from the perspective of the reader. Then only you can frame it well. Also, it is recommended to evaluate your paper through a plagiarism checker. It will ensure their no grammar or similarity issues.

I hope this blog is helped you. You can also refer to the blog on tips to write an assignment.

Thank you for reading!

By Sara Jason

Sara has been closely working with academic websites for last 8 years. Sara has been associated with makemyassignments.co.uk for last 4 years a s a leading academic writer. She writes majorly about marketing, general management and human resources.