LONG FORMAL REPORTS

A typical structure of a long formal report might look like this, but bear in mind that you may modify and adapt the following components to virtually any type or length of report.

(A) Preliminaries

1 Title page

2 Letters of authorisation, transmittal and approval (terms of reference)

3 Table of contents

4 List of tables and figures (if appropriate)

5 Foreword/Preface

6 Acknowledgements

7 Synopsis (or abstract)

(B) Main report

1 Introduction

2 Findings and discussion

3 Conclusions

(C) Supplements

1 References and Bibliography

2 Appendices

3 Index (Key words with page references to where they occur in the text)

Preliminaries

The Title Page. The title page is the reader's first contact with the report and it is worth taking some trouble over its lay-out. It answers questions in the mind of someone who might be going through a pile of reports looking for a particular one and those questions would probably be:

What is it about? (Subject of the report)
Who wrote it? (Author(s))
For whom? (Name of person or group for whom it was prepared)
From where? (Full postal address of organisation on whose behalf it was written
When? (Date, including month, when report was completed)

The title should be centred in the middle of the page

Letters of authorisation, transmittal and approval.
These are normally only required for a very formal report being presented to or written within a public body, and may often be excluded from the report and presented separately. In business reports the authorisation and instructions are usually run together in summary form under a title such as "Terms of reference."

Table of contents. This is not only aids of reference, and makes possible selective reading by those who are interested in only parts of the report, but by bringing all the headings and subheadings together it shows even more clearly the logical structure of the report. Afew moments' study of the contents page by the reader helps rapid understanding, provided the lay-out really does show the structure clearly, and if the titles and subtitles are concise and explanatory and identical with those used in the text. Table of contents should also include page numbers and should therefore be typed last of all, when the final page numbers are known.

List of tables and figures.
This list not only aids the reader, but also helps to provide a valuable check against inaccurate collating (assembly) before stapling and binding.

Foreword or preface.
This may be found in a large general report, perhaps issued for a whole profession or for the general public, rather than a particular body. It briefly explains why the writer or his/her employers wanted to carry out the investigation or to write a report about it, or to explain why the report was produced in the way it was.

Acknowledgements.
It is customary to thank by name those who have helped in the investigation and compiling of the report, both within your own organisation and in other organisations. This does not mean listing every single person who had anything to do with it, only those of particular significance: "The Managing Director, Mr. ..., and his staff," "my colleagues and in particular Mr. ... and Ms. ...."
Where money has been provided from outside funds, this must be mentioned but without any indications of the actual sums involved. Help by secretarial staff and technicians should equally be mentioned.

Synopsis or abstract.
The synopsis or abstract is a highly compressed paragraph summarising the purpose of the report and the general character of its conclusions or recommendations. Its function is to give the busy reader quickly a good idea of what he may expect to find in the report even before he/she has read the probably much longer introduction. Where a synopsis is not included, its function is often fulfilled by means of placing the conclusions and recommendations sections early on in the report instead of in their more usual position at the end.

Supplements

References and bibliography.
If you have used other people's work or writing to compile your report, you should acknowledge this in the text and then list the references at the end of the report.
You should strictly observe these five rules: 1. All items which are not your own original work should be clearly shown as such. This should prevent allegations of plagiarism (copying without acknowledgement). 2. Put any quotation within quotation marks. Even a single word might have to be treated in this way if it expressed a major aspect of another writer's opinion. 3. Every reference in the text and illustrations to other work should appear in the list of references. 4. Every item in the list of references must have a reference in the text (or a figure). It is good practice for the text to make some mention of any reference quoted or a figure as a source of data. 5. Every figure and photographic plate must have a reference in the text.

Normally the numbering of references should correspond to the order of mention in the text and should give the author, the title of the book or work, the place of publication, the publisher, the date of publication and ISBN number. Example:
Norderhaug, Magnar: Det er sent på jorden. Oslo, Grøndahl, 1984
ISBN 82-504-0974-4

A bibliography is optional. It provides a guide to suitable background reading around the subject of the report.

Appendices.
An appendix (plural: appendices) should be used whenever statistical data or lengthy quoted material (e.g. passages from books, other reports, letters) would congest the main text, hold up the argument or otherwise hinder the reader. The main text itself must make quite clear the exact part played by the information given in the appendix. It is not sufficient to say simply "see in Appendix A", and hope that all will be clear from a first glance at the appendix. If an appendix is constantly referred to at many places in a text, it could be made to open out for easy reference. Mounted photographs or other flat examples should be placed in a pocket of the back cover.

Index.
An index is really only necessary for very long detailed reports. Key topics are listed alphabetically providing easy reference for the busy reader who wants to find a particular point.

From: Stanton, Nicki: Communication. 2nd ed. London, MacMillan Education Ltd., 1990 ISBN 0-333-51963-9 Pbk
Adapted by Ulf Leslie Hallenstvet, Vestfold University College, Norway.