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WRITING OF REPORTS
In the following you find some guidelines that may be useful when writing reports. The
guidelines are partly taken from Kristiansen (1970) and partly from Day (1991).
1. GENERAL
1.1 Purpose and get started
In the case of scientific experiments, the research scientist must provide a written document
showing what he or she did, why it was done, how it was done, and what was learned from it.
The key word is reproducibility. Based of what is written, another competent person should
be able to repeat exactly the same experiment. Day (1991) recommends that the report is
structured according to the IMRAD format. (IMRAD stands for Introduction, Methods,
Results and Discussion). This can be defined in question form: What question (problem) was
studied? The answer is the Introduction. How was the problem studied? The answer is the
Methods. What were the findings? The answer is the Results. What do these findings mean?
The answer is the Discussion.
It is a wise policy to begin writing the report while the work is still in progress. Use 12 pt
Times New Roman and single line spacing.
1.2 Pagination
A report shall be completely page numbered. First part using Roman lower case letters
(i,ii,iii,iv,v,vi,vii,viii,ix…). The first pages are not numbered but counted from Front page,
numbering is printed for Table of Contents and the following pages. The main part is page
numbered using usual numbers (1,2,3,…) starting at the Introduction page. The Attachments
are paged separately as e.g. A1,A2,A3,…, B1,B2,B3,….
1.3 Figures and tables
All figures and tables should be centred and arranged throughout the text and should be
numbered consecutively using Arabic numbers (i.e. Figure 1, Figure 2, Table 1, Table 2, etc.).
The figures and tables should have self-contained captions as in Figure 1 and Table 1. Place
the figure captions below the figure, and the table captions above the table. Please ensure that
all lines and information on the figures are sufficiently large so that they remain readable.
Photographs should preferably have a resolution better than 300 dpi x 300 dpi.
The headings of each column in a table is bold as in Table 1 and table contents font size
should be 10 pt or larger.
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Figure 1 - The River during late spring.
Table 1 - Explanation to Table contents.
Column 1
H (m)
T(s)
λ(m)
Column 2
0.08
1.0
1.56
Column 3
0.8
3.2
15.6
Column 4
8.0
10.0
156.3
1.4 Equations
The equations should be preceded and followed by one blank line. They should be numbered
consecutively with the numbers in parenthesis close to the right margin. Equations should be centred
as
λ = gT 2/(2π ),
(1)
and preferably, write all symbols in text and in equations in italics. All the symbols used must
be clearly identified in the text.
2. PRIMARY HEADINGS
The following is a recommendation. If you have other solutions you may go for that.
However, a heading must distinguish itself from the main body text. Not the same font type
as in the main body. All headings are numbered . Primary headings are written in upper case
bold fonts. Include 2 lineshifts before and 1 lineshift after the primary heading.
2.1 Secondary headings
Secondary headings are written in upper and lower case bold fonts. Include 1 lineshift before
and 1 lineshift after the primary heading.
2.1.1 Third level headings
Third level headings may be written in upper and lower case italics fonts. Include 1 lineshift
before and 1 lineshift after the primary heading.
2.1.1.1 Forth level headings
Forth level headings should be avoided, but if required you may use upper and lover case
italics fonts. Include 1 lineshift before and 1 lineshift after the primary heading.
-33. SUGGESTED STRUCTURE OF A REPORT
The structure of a thesis or project report may be as follows:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.
o.
p.
q.
r.
Cover page
Front page (Title, abstract, key words, etc.)
The signed “Task description”
Page of “dedication of the report to” if you want
Preface
Acknowledgements
Table of Contents (use Roman lower case letters (and put page number on this page
and on the following pages. But you start counting pages at the Front page.)
List of figures
List of tables
List of attachments
Summary (last section paged with Roman letters)
Chapter 1. Introduction (paged as page 1, if you print on both sides of the paper the
front page should always be paged with an odd page number, the back page always
with an even page number.)
Chapter 2. Materials and Methods
Chapter 3. Results
Chapter 4. Analysis and discussion
Chapter 5. Conclusions
References
List of symbols
4. PREFACE
The preface should contain information about:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The purpose of the report
The pre-history of the project including changes from the Task Description
Funding (if any)
Major contents of the report
Co-workers
5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The acknowledgements should contain:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Thanks to co-workers
Thanks to other that have assisted and contributed
Link co-workers and their contribution.
Thanks to supervisor
Thanks to sponsors
-46. ABSTRACT
The abstract should be viewed as a miniversion of the report and should contain:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
A briefing on the purpose of the work
Information about the limits of the examinations
A briefing of the methods that are used
Information about the quality/certainty of the given information
The most important results
Major findings and conclusions
Recommendations for further work
Every report should contain an informative abstract where the most important results are
summed up. The abstract is the most read part of the report and should therefore be
composed carefully. Even if it is read first, the abstract should be the last that is written to
ensure that it is in complete accordance with the contents in the report. The importance of
the conclusions is indicated by the fact that they are often given four times: In the abstract,
in the summary, in the introduction and again (in more detail probably) in the Discussion.
The abstract should be written in past tense because it refers to work done.
•
•
•
The abstract should be written on a stand-alone basis, it is a miniature of the report.
The abstract should not refer to certain pages, tables or figures.
Write briefly, the reader is exposed to far more articles and reports than he can
manage to read. Telegraphic style should be avoided .
Form the abstract with the readership in mind. Be careful with using sprecial words.
7. INTRODUCTION
The introduction should comprise:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
A short historical review.
A brief description of the methods.
The limitations of the report.
Information on accuracy of the given data.
Structure of the report.
7.1 General comments:
A good introduction gives a clear formulation of the task, it gives the background for the work
and the authors methods. In this part of the report the author should explain the significance of
the accomplished work and how the work is cohering with former investigations. He should
introduce the reader to the subject and refer to former investigations of immediate importance
for his own work. A comprehensive survey of the former investigations should be avoided
since it may be an obstacle for the interested reader. Highlight the major items.
7.2 The major items:
•
•
•
Make as soon as possible clear what is to be investigated
Outline the extent of the report and limitations
State the purpose of the report
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Explain the structure of the report
8. MATERIALS AND METHODS
Describe (and if necessary defend) the experimental design and then provide enough detail
that a competent worker can repeat the experiments. Be precise. Methods are similar to
cookbook recipes. Be informative and precise, if you added salt to water state the amount. If
temperature raised somewhat, then give the value at required accuracy.
9. RESULTS
This is the core of the report. It is usually written in past tense. Most important, in the
manuscript you should present representative data rather than endlessly repetitive data. These
you put on CD’s . A good table of content of these CD’s should be included. All diagrams and
tables shall have caption and shall be referred to from the main text. The Results need to be
clearly and simply stated.
10. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Discussion is usually the hardest section to write.
The main components of the discussion will be provided if the following is considered:
1. Try to present principles, relationships, and generalizations shown by the Results. And
bear in mind you discuss – you do not recapitulate the Results.
2. Point out any exceptions or any lack of correlation and define unsettled points. Never
take the high-risk alternative of trying to cover up or adjust data that do not quite fit.
3. Show how your results and interpretations agree (or contrast) with previously
published work.
4. Don’t be shy. Discuss the theoretical implications of your work, as well as any
practical application.
5. Summarize your evidence for each conclusion.
In the Discussion your verb tense should swing back and forth between present and past.
Other peoples work (established knowledge) should be described in present tense, but your
own work results should be described in the past tense.
The discussion should end with a short summary or conclusion regarding the significance of
the work and the conclusions may be rephrased in a separate chapter.
11. CONCLUSIONS
All conclusions must be in accordance with the investigation and analysis presented in the
report. It is a consequence of the discussion. The conclusions may be written in the Analysis
and discussions chapter, but it is recommended that they are sorted out in a separate chapter
also.
-6REFERENCES
Referring from the text
References can be written in many ways. Preferably use the following guidelines:
1. Refer with authors name and year
2. If more than two authors, use et al.
3. The list is arranged alphabetically
Examples
In the text the reference may be written in the following way:
Kanestrøm (1996)
Løset and Timco (1992)
Bergan et al. (1986)
Løset et al. (1997)
(Bergan et al., 1986; Løset and Timco, 1992; Kanestrøm, 1996)
How to write the list of references
In the reference list the cited literature should appear with the following format in alphabetic
order of the firs author Last_name. Book titles in italics without quotation marks. Papers in
Proceedings and Journals with quotation marks and name of conference in italics.
Bergan, P.G., P.K. Larsen and E. Mollestad. 1986: Svingninger av konstruksjoner. Tapir,
Trondheim, 262 p. (in Norwegian).
Day, R. A. 1991. How to Write & Publish a Scientific Paper, Cambridge University Press,
3rd. ed.
Kanestrøm, Ø. 1996. Lasting av oljetanker med STL i drivis. Prosjektoppgave våren 1996,
NTNU, Institutt for marin hydrodynamikk, 69 p. (in Norwegian).
Kristiansen, H. (ed.) 1970. Rapportskriving, Retningslinjer for utarbeidelse av skriftelige
rapporter, Universitetsforlaget, Oslo.
Løset, S. and G. Timco. 1992. Laboratory Testing of a Flexible Boom for Ice Management.
Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, Vol. 115, pp. 149-153.
Løset, S., Ø. Kanestrøm, T. Pytte, K.U. Evers, P. Jochmann and P.C. Sandvik 1997. Model
Tests in Ice of a Submerged Turret Loading (STL) Concept. Proceedings of the 16th
International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering. Yokohama,
13-18 April 1997, Vol. IV, pp. 173-181.
LIST OF SYMBOLS
First time you use a symbol you shall define it. Try to stick to commonly used symbols for the
different parameters you include. A list of symbols with a short explanation is
recommended. Each symbol should have a unique definition. If you run out of roman and
-7greek letters, subscript and superscript parameters can be used. The list of symbols should be
sorted alphabetically. First roman letters, next greek letters.
NTNU, December 2007, Øivind A. Arntsen.