Academic Report Writing Template

On this page: Sections of a report with example text, links to related pages on report writing.

A long report usually has the following sections:

Title Page
Acknowledgments
Summary / Abstract
Contents Page
Introduction
Literature Review

Methodology
Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations
Appendices
Bibliography

This is an example long report template for you to copy to your word processor or print out. Then you can fill in your own details.

Title Page

The Title; e.g. 'A Report on ....'
'An Investigation into...'
'An Analysis of ...'
'A Comparison of ... and ...'

Your Name

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement of the
............................course.

If you are a HKPU student, your student number.

The date.

Acknowledgments

"I would like to thank my supervisor, Mr. _______, for the valuable advice and support he has given me in the writing of this report. I would also like to thank my teachers, Mrs. _______ and Mr. _______ for their encouragement and guidance. Thanks also to my typist, Ms. _______, for her immaculate job and her suggestions. My deepest thanks go to my wife/husband, for her/his love, understanding and support."

Summary / Abstract

This study was to ______________________________

It was requested by ____________________________

It was requested on (date).

The investigation was done by ____________________

The main findings were that ______________________

It was concluded that __________________________

The recommendations are that _______should be ______

Contents Page

Introduction.............................................................................1
Literature Review....................................................................3
Methodology...........................................................................5
Findings...................................................................................7
Conclusions............................................................................14
Recommendations...................................................................16
Appendices............................................................................18
Bibliography...........................................................................25

List of Figures

Bar Chart of Answers to Question 1...................................8
Pie Chart of Socio-economic Status of the Respondents.....9

List of Tables

Survey Findings by Gender and Age Group........................10

1. Introduction

Background
This report has been written because ....

It was requested by ...

It was requested on (date).

Objectives
The objectives of this report are to ....

Scope
This report examines .... . It does not examine ..... because ...... .

2. Literature Review

The area of investigation has been commented on by Channel (1994), Hoey (1993), Halliday (1993) and Lesser (1979), who are in agreement that...

However, they have different opinions on ....

Due to the differences highlighted above, it was decided to investigate ....

3. Methodology (also called the 'Method' or 'Procedure')

___ respondents, chosen by the method of _____ were surveyed from (start date) to (end date). Of these, ______ were invited for interview on (date).

The statistics were analysed using a _______ test because .........

The significance of the results was __________

4. Findings

4.1. Introduction
In general, the findings indicated that...

The major finding of the investigation was that...

In addition, ....

Surprisingly, ........ , which was an unexpected consequence of .....

Related exercises:

Trends - this exercise introduces the vocabulary and grammar needed to describe trends. Includes an exercise.
Trends Headings - this exercise shows how to use headings when describing trends. Includes an exercise.
Describing Satisfaction - choosing between 'satisfy', 'satisfied', 'satisfying' and 'satisfactory', etc.
Important or Importance? Explanation and exercise on which word to use.
'Lack' or 'Lack of'? - an explanation and an exercise.

5. Conclusions

The main conclusion that can be drawn is therefore that...

In the light of this, it is recommended that... (+ a general recommendation; e.g. that something needs to be changed. The detailed recommendations should go in the Recommendations section below.)

6. Recommendations

In the light of these conclusions, I recommend that _____ should be ____

In addition, a _______ could ______

Grammar Note:
To make suggestions and recommendations you should use 'could + infinitive verb' (if you are less sure), or 'should + infinitive verb' (if you are more sure). You could also use 'suggest + _ing' or 'suggest that + a subject noun (e.g. 'we') + a verb (e.g. 'could' + infinitive verb). Do NOT use 'suggest to'.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Sample Survey Form

Appendix 2: Results of Statistical Analysis by ______

Bibliography

(Click here to find out more about references.)

Channel, J. (1994). Vague language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Halliday, M.A.K. (1993). Quantitative studies and probabilities in grammar. In Hoey, M. (Ed.) Data, description, discourse. London: HarperCollins, 1-25.

Hoey, M. (1993). Data, description, discourse. London: HarperCollins, 1-25.

Lesser, R. (1979). Linguistic investigations of aphasia. Studies in language disability and remediation 5. London: Edward Arnold.

Content and Organisation

The Report Writing Process: an ordering exercise to re-order the stages of this process
Academic report writing template: useful phrases and expressions to use in your report.
Types of Report - the names of different types of report and what they mean.
Report Stages and Content - what goes in each section of a report.
Stages and Language of a Report - useful phrases for the sections of a report
Report Headings - understand the type of information each section of a report should contain.
Subject Headings - how to write correct subject headings.

Introductions

Report Writing: Introductions - a page to help you understand the content and grammar of report introductions. It contains explanations, an example and an exercise.
Report Introductions - a text-reconstruction exercise to help you remember the language of the introduction to a report.

Method / Methodology / Procedure

The Procedure / Method / Methodology section of a report: how to write it.
The Procedure / Method section of a report - a text-reconstruction exercise to help you remember the language of this section of a report.

Findings and Discussion

Matching Nouns and Verbs for Reports - an exercise in choosing the right vocabulary for reports.
Formality - an exercise to help you to write reports using formal language.
Describing Numbers - an explanation, a program to write and speak a number, and an exercise
Trends - this exercise introduces the vocabulary and grammar needed to describe trends. Includes an exercise.
Describing trends in line graphs
Trends Headings - this exercise shows how to use headings when describing trends. Includes an exercise.
The Language of Approximation - an exercise in describing numbers in an easy-to-understand way
Approximation Correction exercise - to check that you can use the language of approximation correctly
Approximating Dissatisfaction - an exercise to help you describe dissatisfaction
Describing Satisfaction in the Findings and Conclusion sections of a report - choosing between 'satisfy', 'satisfied', 'satisfying' and 'satisfactory', etc.
Important or Importance? Explanation and exercise on which word to use when describing Findings and Conclusions.
Concern - how to use concern correctly

Conclusion

The Conclusion section - an explanation, an example and an exercise.
The Conclusion section of a report - a text-reconstruction exercise to help you remember the language of this section of a report.

Recommendations

Report Recommendations - an explanation, an example and an exercise.
Report Recommendations Correction Exercise - correct the common errors.
The Recommendations section of a report - a text-reconstruction exercise to help you remember the language of this section of a report.

Practice Materials

Report Correction Exercise - correct these common errors made by students in report writing, so that you can avoid making the same mistakes.
List of common errors in report writing assignments
Common Errors in Report Writing - revision exercise.
Report Writing Scenario Site - practice the whole process of report writing
Scanner - a program that highlights the words in a text that are easy for a reader to find. Use it to improve the organisation and reader-friendliness of your writing.
List of Materials in CILL for Business reports

For a list of CILL Report Writing Materials, click here. | CILL writing page | CILL Report Writing Materials

For more details on referencing and bibliographies, click here.

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Last updated on: Thursday, December 15, 2016.