There are several types of technical reports, including proposals, progress reports, and recommendation reports. A proposal aims to convince a customer by defining a problem and proposed solution. It may be solicited in response to an invitation or unsolicited to attract new clients. Progress reports provide updates on ongoing projects, including accomplishments, issues encountered, and future plans. Recommendation reports analyze problems and advise a course of action to persuade the reader. Professional journals are scholarly publications for specific professions. When writing for these journals, authors should choose relevant topics, select an appropriate publication, and follow manuscript guidelines regarding formatting, illustrations, and review processes.

1. TYPES OF
TECHNICAL REPORT
by: Cherry Claire Allocod

2. PROPOSAL
• a written offer to solve technical problem in a
particular way under a specified plan of
management for a certain sum of money
• aims to convince a “customer”; a sales tool
• defines a problem and the means to solve it
• a communication that attempts to sell an idea,
concept, pieces of equipment, a complex system
or a service

3. Characteristics of Proposal:
• Technical Proposal - a written offer to solve a
technical problem
• Management Proposal - a specified plan of
management
• Cost Proposal - suggest a certain sum of
money

4. Types of Proposal:
• Solicited Proposal - written in response to a
direct invitation to bid; sometimes called a
“big request”; a “purchase request” or a
request for proposal; published in business
journals, official government publications or
in the newspaper classified ads

5. • Unsolicited Proposal - sent to a prospective
customer in the hope that the excellence of
the idea or plan proposed will result in a
contract; sometimes made by a company in
the hope that idea or plan is excellent enough
to attract a potential client to buy the service
or product being offered

6. Guidelines in Preparing a Proposal:
• Making a preliminary study.
• The management proposal explains to the
client how crucial activities will be carried
out, who will manage the project and suggest
a time-table for its completion.

7. • The cost proposal gives the detailed
breakdown of costs in terms of labor and
materials.
• The proposal must contain the essential
elements of a good study although unlike
the research proposal, the sequences of
the parts are not fixed.

8. PROGRESS REPORT
• written for those who need to keep in touch
with what is going on
• its main objective is to present information
about a work done on a particular project
during a particular period of time

9. • the most important link in overall
communications system since it keeps
technical activities and their result
continually before the management or
administrative group

10. • an interim report which may serve only to
inform the one in charge of the work that
satisfactory progress is being made, that the
workers are earning their keep
• another important function of a progress
report is its value as a record for future
reference

11. Parts of a Progress Report:
• most recent plans for the project
• new development, what has been
accomplished to date, special situations
encountered, problems met and other similar
information
• future plans

12. Parts of a Progress Report (from the POV of
organization):
• Transitional Introduction -this is where you
identify the nature and scope of the subject
matter of the report, and relate it to the
previous one so that the reader can read the
present one intelligently; a brief statement of
the conclusions reached in the present unit of
work and if possible some recommendations
are presented

13. • Body - contains the detailed account of the
current progress; this part must be
complete, accurate and clear; the
presentation of a mass of data can be
presented in tables; and tables should not be
allowed to stand alone without comment

14. • Conclusion - this is where you tell the reader
what to expect the next report to be about
and what is its coverage or scope will be;
along with this is the estimated time
necessary for the completion of the entire
project

15. RECOMMENDATION REPORT
• any report that contains recommendation;
• its function is to persuade the reader to take a
certain course of action

16. Guidelines in Writing a Recommendation
Report:
• Analyze the problem given to you
• Decide upon a proper course of action
• Make a forthright recommendation

17. Parts of a Recommendation Report:
• Statement of the problem
• Recommendation and advantage
• Conclusion

18. In volunteering recommendations, observe
the following:
• Your recommendation should not be a mere
opinion.
• Do not give impression that you are trying to
“muscle in” on something. Determine precisely
what course of action or what decision is best
justified by evidence; Instead of saying “it is
recommended …”, you could say “better result
would evidently be obtained by …”.

19. • Prepare a report that will be effectively
organized to make clear the logic of your
recommendations to the specific reader or
readers you expect to have.
• Estimate your readers’ probable attitude
toward your recommendations.
• Finally, prepare a good and clear
introduction, state your conclusion and give
your basis of proof.

20. WRITING FOR PROFESSIONAL JOURNALS

21. Professional Journal
a scholarly journal addressed to a
particular professional audience such as
doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, or
accountants and published by a
professional organization

22. Guidelines to Follow in Publishing Articles in
Professional Journal:
• Choosing a subject - read wisely in your
field, acquire a good acquaintance among
your colleagues, attend meeting of
professional societies, use your imagination
and be critical are some suggestions to be
able to get a good subject for your article

23. • Selecting a Journal - begin with where to
send it; find out what journals and publish
and materials of the kind you will have;
analyze the style of the journal (literary style
and physical journal) you have chosen ;
article should be computerized

24. General Suggestions about Manuscript
Forms:
• Use good paper of standard size (8 1/2 by 11
inches).
• Leave a margin of 1 1/4 inches at the left,
and 1 inch on the other side of the page.
• Type your name and address on the upper
right hand corner of the first page.

25. • Type the title of the articles about halfway
down the first page underneath.
Computerized “by” and underneath your
name, triple-spaced. The empty space in the
top half of the page is a convenience to the
editor for making notes.
• In the upper right corner of each page after
the first page, type the title of the article,
followed by the dash and page number. If
the title is long, use an abbreviate form of it.

26. • Be sure you have put a clear title on every
illustration and figures. Instead of putting the
illustration into the text, collect them in an
envelope at the end of the manuscript. To
show where they go in the body of the text,
write the figure number and the title on the
blank page left in the appropriate place in the
text. Finally, add to the collected illustrations,
a typed list, on a sheet 8 1/2 by 11, of figure
numbers and titles (this sheet should not
have a page number).

27. • Proofread your manuscripts with
painstaking care, particularly tables and
graphs.
• Mail the manuscript flat. Mark the envelop
“Do Not Fold”. Include in the envelope a
self-addressed stamped envelope to bring
back the manuscript if it is rejected.

28. • Resign yourself to a long wait. If your
manuscript is rejected, mail it again once. But
make sure that the manuscript looks fresh
and consider whether any changes should be
made in the articles to adapt it to the policies
and attitudes of the journal you now have in
mind.