machanics of report writing.

1. Mechanics of Report Writing
By
V.M.Vimal

2. Introduction
• Research is an art to present the views of a
researcher to the readers
• Communication should be proper
• Report is not only meant for technical hands
• It should be free from prejudices and bias
• Research reports are the product of slow,
accurate inductive works done with great care
• These reports should follow the mechanics
strictly

3. Mechanics of Report Writing
1. Size of physical design:
• Unruled paper 81/2*11
• Blue or black
• Margins
• Double spaced
2.Layout:
• Well thought and appropriate
• Consider objective and nature of the problem

4. 3.Treatment of quotations:
• Quotation marks
• Double spaced
• If it is more than 4 or 5 lines, single spaced
4.Footnotes:
• Meant for cross references, citation of authorities
and sources, acknowledgement and explanation
of a view

5. • Placed at the bottom of the page
• Numbered consecutively
• Single spaced
5.Documentation style:
1.Regarding the single-volume reference:
• 1. author’s name in normal order
• 2. title of the work, underlined to indicate italics
• 3. place and date of publication
• 4. pagination references

6. • Eg.1 Kothari, C.R. Quantitative Techniques, New
Delhi, Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., 1978,
p995.

7. • 2.Regarding multi-volumed reference:
• If it is multi volumed, number of the volume
should be given after the publication
• Author’s name in the normal order;
• Title of work, underlined to indicate italics;
• Place and date of publication;
• Number of volume;
• Pagination references (The page number).

8. • 3.Regarding works arranged alphabetically:
• No pagination is needed for alphabetically
arranged works.
• Eg.2“Salamanca,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14th
Edition

9. • 4.Regarding periodicals reference:
• If the reference is from periodicals, name of the
periodical is given after the title.
• Name of the author in normal order;
• Title of article, in quotation marks;
• Name of periodical, underlined to indicate
italics;
• Volume number;
• Date of issuance;
• Pagination.

10. • 5.Regarding second-hand quotations reference:
• Original author and title;
• “quoted or cited in,”;
• Second author and work.
• Eg.3. J.F. Jones, Life in Ploynesia, p. 16, quoted
in History of the Pacific Ocean area, by R.B.
Abel, p. 191.

11. • 6.Case of multiple authorship:
• In case of multiple authorship, et al or “and
others” should be used.
• Eg.4. Hughes et al, “Science or Promotion” ,
SAGE Journals,2013,p.13.

12. 7.Punctuation:
• Author’s name should be followed by comma
• First word, proper nouns and adjectives should
be capitalized
Title is followed by comma
• Edition also ends with comma
• Place of publication may be mentioned in
abbreviated form eg. Lond for London.
• If the date appears in the copyright notice it
should be enclosed in square brackets. Eg [c
1978]

13. 8. Use of statistics, charts and graphs:
It is used in the form of tables, charts, bars, line
graphs and pictograms.
• Neat and attractive
9.Final drafts:
• Revising and rewriting the rough draft of the
report
• Are the sentences clear?
• Grammatically correct?
• Whether it is logical?

14. 10.Bibliography:
• Prepared and appended to the research report
11.Preparation of the index:
• Index acts as a good guide for the report
• Two ways : subject index and author index
• Alphabetically arranged