The document provides guidance on writing technical reports, outlining 10 key laws for technical report writing. It discusses important sections of a technical report such as the introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusions, and references. It emphasizes that the reader is the most important consideration and that reports must be well-organized, accurate, and concise. Technical reports should follow standard structures and include necessary sections like the executive summary, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusions.

2. Hint
Try always to find a reference or benchmark
for what are you doing or writing.

3. Technical Report Writing
• LAW 1
The reader is the most important person.
• LAW 2
Keep the report as short as possible.
• LAW 3
Organise for the convenience of the report
user.

4. Technical Report Writing
• LAW 4
All references should be correct in all details.
• LAW 5
The writing should be accurate, concise
• LAW 6
The right diagram with the right labels should
be in the right place for the reader.

5. Technical Report Writing
• LAW 7
Summaries give the whole picture in
miniature.
• LAW 8
Reports should be checked for technical
errors, typing errors and inconsistency.
• LAW 9
The report should look as good as it is.

6. Technical Report Writing
• LAW 10
The reader is the most important person.

7. General structure of scientific
manuscript
• Your report needs a good Format and structure – it
should include most of the following categories:
• Heading Page
• Content List
• Executive Summary
• Background / Introduction
• Results / Discussion
• Conclusions and Appendices

8. Heading Page
• Leave the Report heading page ‘til last!
• The report Header needs a lot of thought & first
impressions count when looking at a report
• Think about the Layout of the front page:
• Size and Style of font
•
• Colour of font (the bigger the font enables you
to use a lighter colour)
• Use of images and logos
• Use the Report Templates via Microsoft Word™

9. Logo Institute name
Title
Author's name
Supervisor name
Date of Submission

10. Contents Page
• This is obviously another page you will leave
until you have compiled the main body of the
report
• A contents list is only necessary for a
lengthy report
• Give each section of your report a title and
cross refer this to a page number
• Page numbers can be automatically entered
by setting the appropriate section of the
Microsoft Word™ Header or Footer

11. The contents list
• For most people, the contents list is a summary of the
chapter and section headings, together with a page
index, and is normally written when the document is
already complete.
• However, the contents list is the one place in the
document where overall structure can be examined, so
why not get the structure right at the start?
• Early organisation of the contents list is certainly not a
trivial problem and may take up to a few days to draft.
• The level of detail should go down to (probably)
subsubsections, where the final level contains one key
idea and takes up, at most, two to three paragraphs of
text.

12. Sample

13. Abstract
• Write this LAST!
• It summarizes the whole report in one, concise
paragraph of about 100-200 words.
• It might be useful to think in terms of writing
one sentence to summarize each of the
traditional report divisions: objective, method,
discussion, conclusions.
• Emphasize the objective (which states the
problem) and the analysis of the results
(including recommendations)

15. Sample : An abstract
• This report compares nuclear plants, fossil fuels, and
solar generators, in order to determine which energy
source will best meet the nation's needs. (why the work
was done)
• The criteria for comparison were the economic, social,
and environmental effects of each alternative. (what was
done)
• The study concludes that nuclear energy is the best of
these options, because North America is not self-
sufficient in fossil fuels, and solar power is currently too
unreliable for industrial use. (what was found)
• Although nuclear plants are potentially very dangerous,
nuclear energy is still the best short-term solution. (why
this is important)

16. Several names for summaries exist
Summary
Abstract
Technical
Abstract
Executive
Summary
Descriptive
Abstract
Informative
Abstract

17. Hint: try always to summarize what are you reading

18. Logical structure
• By logical structure is meant the natural
unfolding of a story as the reader progresses
through the document.
• This is achieved by going from the general
to the specific, with the background material
preceding the technical expose, which
should lead logically to the conclusions.

19. Chapter order
• With a technical document, it is often beneficial
to write the technical chapters first i.e., the core
material, leaving the introduction, discussion and
conclusions until the end.
• This is especially important when some results
are still not available and the time has come to
begin writing your document.
• Even in cases where all results are available,
leaving the introduction until the end allows a
better perspective to be had on the document as
a whole.

20. Introduction
the introduction of a technical report
identifies the subject, the purpose (or
objective), and the plan of development of
the report.
The subject is the "what", the purpose is the
"why", and the plan is the "how.“
Together these acquaint the reader with the
problem you are setting out to solve

21. • Use the introduction to provide the reader with
any background information which the reader
will need before you can launch into the body of
your paper.
• You may have to define the terms used in stating
the subject and provide background such as
theory or history of the subject (Literature review).
• Avoid the tendency to use the introduction
merely to fill space with sweeping statements
that are unrelated to the specific purpose of your
report .

23. Results
• This section should detail the results of the exercise
– the facts. These can be presented in text or
tabulation format, depending on the content
• If the results are quite short they can be presented
within the body of the report
– Remember that charts, diagrams or graphs can be exported
from Excel or PowerPoint and embedded into the body of
the report
• If, however , the results are lengthy consider if they
would be better placed as an Appendix

24. Discussion
• This section is the most important part of your report. The section
where you evaluate and interpret your results
• Should answer these questions:
• – Was the hypothesis supported or not?
• – Did your study have results that were consistent or not
• consistent with previous research?
• – What has your study contributed to the field of
• research?
• – What are your conclusions about your results (what
• does it all mean)?
• – What are the implications of your findings for future
• research, for applied situations?
• – Were there any limitations to your study?
• – If so, how might they have affected the results?
• • Includes a paragraph summarising the findings (last
• part of the discussion)

26. Recommendations
• This section allows you to make
recommendations based on the findings of
your report
• The recommendations could be for:
•
– Change
– Improvement
– New Ideas
• The recommendations should be based on
the findings / results detailed in the report

27. Conclusions
• The ‘How’ factor!
• How the implementation of your ideas and
recommendations would improve
– Service
– Productivity
– Performance
• Your assessment of the outcomes
• Your evaluation of the benefits
• It’s your chance to really ‘sell’ your ideas
and recommendations to the reader!

28. In a strong ending, you analyze results
and give a future perspective
Analyze results from
overall perspective
Conclusions
Analysis of Results
Several options:
Make recommendations
Discuss future work
Repeat limitations
Future Perspective

29. • Conclusions must conclude! They must
give some overall insight into the value of
your work in general and inform the reader
of what the major impact is, together with
any caveats which the reader should be
aware of.
• Don’t fill the conclusions section with a
summary of what's in the technical
chapters.

30. • This concludes nothing! The summary (if
present) should be at the start of the
document as an abstract.
• It may be helpful to flag items on a list,
which are appropriate for the conclusions
section, while writing the technical
chapters.
• The key to your conclusions is then
provided by the list.

31. References
• Make sure that your referencing method is one of the popular ones
(such as the Harvard or MLA styles). There's absolutely no point in
inventing another system of your own. Ensure you know how to
correctly reference:
• A journal paper:
• Ex: Hirschorn, R.M. and Miller, G., Control of nonlinear systems
with friction, IEEE Trans. on Control System Technology, Vol.7,
No.5, Sept. 1999, pp.194-200.
• A conference paper:
• Ex: Whitfield, A. and Wallace, F.J. Study of incidence loss models in
radial and mixed-flow turbomachinery, Proc. Cong. Heat Fluid
Flow in Steam and Gas Turbine Plant, Univ. Warwick, Coventry,
UK, April 1973, pp 122-32.

32. References
• A PhD/MEng thesis, final-year project or research report :
• Ex: Murray, F. Time Series Forecasting Methodologies for
Electricity Supply Systems, PhD Thesis, Dublin City University,
1997.
• A book :
• Ex: Kreyszig, E. Advanced Engineering Mathematics (7th Ed.),,
Wiley, 1993.
• An Internet source (via the URL):
• Ex: Ringwood, J. and Galvin, G. Artificial Neural Networks - An
Introduction, Available from: http://www.eeng.dcu.ie/~annet/
[Accessed 15th Nov. 1999].

33. Full report sections:
Executive Summary (1) Abstract (2)
Introduction (3)
Background (4)
Methodology (5)
Analysis of Results (6)
Conclusions (7)
Recommendations (8)
References or
Bibliography (9)
Appendices (10)
Figures and Tables (11)

34. Report sections order options
• (1) and (2): not always needed.
• (3): although not always a section entitled
• “Introduction” is needed (e.g., in short reports),
• an introductory section (e.g., a couple of
paragraphs) is always required .
• (4): required when the history of the problem
(Or methodology) is long. Otherwise, include as
part of the introduction.

35. • (5) and (6): Must be separate sections when
they
• are relatively long. Otherwise describe (5) before
• (6) in the same section.
• (7): Must follow from the main body (must be
supported by).
• (8): If short, put at the end of conclusions.
• (9): Use one or the other.

36. Sample: The main Thesis parts