CAW LibGuides: Writing a Report

Introduction

Reports are a common form of assignment in universities. Like essays, they are a long-form written mode of assessed work that is intended to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of your subject to your assessor. However, this is where their similarity ends. Whereas essays use evidence and argument to develop an interpretation of a given subject, reports use findings, analysis and recommendations to present an objective, comprehensive and useful account of a specific topic or issue.

In this regard, the reports that we write at university have the same structure and requirements as those that are used in business, in research, in the sciences, and in technical fields. As this handout will show, however, each of these different types has particular features and audience requirements that you will need to bear in mind when writing your own report.

Learning objectives

• To understand the nature and purpose of report writing for academic assessment
• To understand the need to know your audience when writing a report
• To understand the general components of report writing and the specific conventions of your field
• To be able to present findings, analysis and recommendations in the style of a report

Who are you reporting to?

Unlike essays, reports are a common mode of communication across a range of technical and professional sectors. While these sectors may differ considerably, what they want from a report is generally the same. That is, a clear, concise, authoritative, and structured presentation of findings and sometimes recommendations about a given topic. Thus, none of them have time for poetic expression, metaphors, ambiguity, or lengthy digressions.

Where the needs of audiences differ is with regards to the specialist knowledge and terminology associated with their field: executives in a company developing a new material will likely know what polymerisation is; executives in a company marketing that material may not. When you are writing your own reports, it is crucial to keep in mind the question of what your reader needs explained to them and what they may reasonably be expected to know already.

Different types of report

A range of disciplines ask their students to produce reports of one kind or another but, for our purposes, there are four basic types of report that it is useful to be aware of. These are:

Research reports

These reports are most often encountered in the social sciences and the humanities. They typically involve collecting and analysing data, often using statistical methods. Because they are usually intended for the consumption of other academics, they are normally written in a formal academic style. Reports of this kind tend to emphasise interpretation and analysis of findings.

Business reports

Generally found in the business school, these reports usually provide information and analysis on a business-related issue or topic. Since business reports may be written for both specialist and non-specialist audiences, it is important to read your assignment brief closely to ensure you are pitching your report at the right level. Business reports tend to have a greater emphasis on providing recommendations than other types of report.  For guidance on understanding assignment briefs, see the Centre for Academic Writing’s resource, ‘How to Analyse an Assignment Brief’.

Lab reports

At the other end of the spectrum to business reports, lab reports are written for an expert scientific audience and tend to be purely descriptive. Their focus is on experiments and investigations conducted under laboratory conditions. Focusing on methodology and results, rather than analysis or interpretation, they are written using technical language and precise scientific terminology.

Technical reports

These reports are usually found in engineering, computer science and other technical fields. Like lab reports, they tend to use technical language and terminology specific to their field, although they are occasionally used to present technical developments to a non-expert audience. Their function is usually to provide detailed information about technical subjects or projects. Consult your assignment brief to determine the degree of expertise that the intended audience is expected to have.  If this is not specified, then you can assume you are writing for your peers.

Common components of a report

The audiences for reports are often busy people looking for specific information. Therefore, reports have evolved to be highly structured pieces of writing in which a series of titled sections perform specific tasks. While not every type of report will use all of the sections we list here, they will all use a majority of them. The table at the top of each subsection below specifies whether it is likely to be required for each type of report.

Abstract

Research report

Often

Business report

Sometimes

Lab report

Generally

Technical report

Generally

 

 

A paragraph-long summary of the report which often appears before the table of contents and introduction. Its function is to summarise the general focus and findings of a report in such a way as to make it easy for people to skim it when looking at several reports on a search engine or database.

Executive summary

Research report

Sometimes

Business report

Generally

Lab report

Never

Technical report

Sometimes

 

 

Also appearing at the very beginning of the report, an executive summary is a brief summary of the entire report. Longer than an abstract, it is intended to give readers a basic understanding of the entire sweep of the report so that they can decide if they need to engage with it in detail. To facilitate this, it must be written in simple and concise language and avoid complex terminology.

Table of contents

Research report

Generally

Business report

Generally

Lab report

Sometimes

Technical report

Generally

 

 

Provides a list of the report’s sections. Your assignment brief may also stipulate the inclusion of a ‘Table of figures’, which should be placed after the table of contents.

Introduction

Research report

Always

Business report

Always

Lab report

Always

Technical report

Always

 

 

This should set out background information relating to the report, its purpose, and its basic principles. Bear in mind that this is a separate section to your abstract or executive summary. You will still need an introduction even if you have included one of these.

Literature review

Research report

Generally

Business report

Often

Lab report

Never

Technical report

Sometimes

 

 

This should assess the usefulness and quality of the available literature on the topic under discussion. (For detailed information on how to plan and write a literature review, see The Centre for Academic Writing’s resource on ‘Writing a Literature Review’.)

Methodology/Methods

Research report

Generally

Business report

Generally

Lab report

Always

Technical report

Generally

 

 

Most reports will have a section describing how their results were arrived at. However, there is a difference between the accounts of methodology that we find in research, business and technical reports, and the methods section that we find in lab reports. These can be summarised in the following way:

	Methodology section	Methods section
Type of report	Research, business, technical	Lab
Purpose	Describe and justify the research methodology	Describe the experimental design and procedures
Content	Usually includes information about research design, sample selection, data collection and methods of analysis	Usually includes a description of the materials used, and the procedures followed.
Length	Often long as the research method is a crucial part of the report	Generally shorter, but varies depending on the scope and complexity of the experiment

Results/Findings

Research report

Always

Business report

Always

Lab report

Always

Technical report

Always

 

 

The results or findings section of a report presents the data or experimental results obtained via the methods set out in the previous section.

• The results should be presented in a clear, precise, and objective way.
• There should be no commentary or interpretation, only description of the results.
• It is common for this section to contain tables, charts and graphs, with technical reports also utilising diagrams, schematics and technical specifications.

Discussion

Research report

Always

Business report

Always

Lab report

Always

Technical report

Always

 

 

In this section you interpret your findings and draw conclusions about the topic that you are reporting on. This will usually entail an analysis of your findings, a discussion of their implications, and reflection on the limitations of the methods used.

• In a research report, the analysis will contextualise the findings in relation to the research questions and the literature review.
• In a business report, analysis will be made in relation to research questions and objectives.
• A technical report analyses findings in relation to technical issues.
• A lab report relates findings to a hypothesis or experimental objectives.

Conclusion

Research report

Generally

Business report

Generally

Lab report

Generally

Technical report

Generally

 

 

The conclusion of a report provides closure for the audience. Its job is to draw together an overview of the research questions or initial hypotheses, to recap the methods and findings, and to summarise the discussion.

Recommendations

Research report

Generally

Business report

Always

Lab report

Sometimes

Technical report

Sometimes

 

 

This section suggests solutions or courses of action on the basis of your analysis.

• In the case of a business report, recommendations will be addressed to the business issue at hand.
• When these sections are found in other types of reports, they are usually intended to guide further research.
• Therefore, while business reports focus on practical solutions to help a business, other reports will focus on addressing issues relating to knowledge, methods, and processes.
• Finally, business reports have a greater emphasis on recommending how their findings are to be implemented by their audience.

Reference list

Research report

Always

Business report

Always

Lab report

Always

Technical report

Always

 

 

As with all academic work, your report ends with a list of all of the sources you have referred to, presented in APA style (or OSCOLA where appropriate).

Appendices

Research report

Sometimes

Business report

Sometimes

Lab report

Sometimes

Technical report

Sometimes

 

 

Appendices are typically placed after the reference list of a report. They provide additional supporting information or data that is relevant to a report, but not essential to its main body.

• In business reports, this may include financial statements, organisational charts, market research data, and survey questionnaires.
• In research reports, it may include interview transcripts, survey data, and statistical analyses.
• In technical reports, we may find technical drawings, schematics, or detailed specifications.
• Lab reports may have appendices including raw data, calculations, or technical details of an experimental procedure.
• In all cases, appendices are usually broken up into numbered sections depending on the range of their content. Thus we may find survey questionnaires labelled Appendix I, Market research data labelled as Appendix II, and organisational charts labelled as Appendix III.

Having considered the nature and structure of different types of report writing, it will be useful to take some practical steps to consolidate and develop your understanding of the form. The following exercises will help familiarise you with the tone, appearance, and priorities of reports in your discipline.

Exercise 1

Find four examples of reports from your discipline. Using a table like the one below, consider their similarities and differences and map them to the list of sections set out above. (Remove rows that are not applicable for your discipline.)

	Report 1 “…”	Report 2 “…”	Report 3 “…”	Report 4 “…”
Abstract
Executive Summary
Table of contents
Introduction
Literature review
Etc…

Exercise 2

Use the information collected in Exercise 1, write a short report with the title “The use of reports in [your discipline]. This report is aimed at students working in your field and will consist of an abstract, a table of contents, an introduction, a literature review covering the four reports, a findings section, discussion, recommendations, and a conclusion.

Additional Resources

For an excellent guide that compliments the schematic breakdown of report writing given above with a focus on the language of report writing, see CU Coventry’s ‘Writing Reports at CU Coventry’ available at: https://libguides.coventry.ac.uk/ld.php?content_id=34501498

The University of York’s ‘Academic writing: a practical guide’ has a useful section on organising your time and focus while writing a report. It can be found at: https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/academic-writing/reports

Recommended Reading

The following books are also good sources of detailed discussion of report writing:

Lobban, C. S., & Schefter, M. (2017). Writing undergraduate lab reports: A guide for students. Cambridge University Press.

Cottrell, S. (2019). The study skills handbook. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Park, K. & Wang, G. T. (2016). Student research and report writing: From topic selection to the complete paper.  Wiley.

Citing this resource

Coventry University. (2023). Writing a report [Resource]. Centre for Academic Writing. https://www.coventry.ac.uk/globalassets/media/global/writing-a-report.pdf

CAW offers writing development workshops across all genres of academic writing, including Writing a Report workshop. To view available workshops and book online, visit: https://libcal.coventry.ac.uk/calendar/caw   

To book a one-to-one tutorial with the Centre for Academic Writing: https://libguides.coventry.ac.uk/cawlibcalhome