Guidelines for Reports

The information below serves as a basic guideline. However, your instructor may have additional or different formatting requirements to add to or replace these. For more information see APA Publication Manual Seventh Edition.

Core sections of a report include:

• Title page: The title page often includes a descriptive title (not just “Report”), author’s name, class and section numbers, and date of submission. Check with the instructor for particular format or information required.
• Table of Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Body (e.g., method, findings, research, results)
• Conclusions
• References: This list includes only the sources cited in the text. If you want to include other, non-cited sources, then call this section Bibliography.
• Appendices

On shorter reports–under five pages–the Table of Content, List of Illustrations, and Executive Summary parts might not be required.

Additional Report Guidelines

Major Formatting Elements

Font

Most Common font used is Times New Roman 12-point font

Line Spacing

Most common line spacing used is Double-space text. An alternative is Single-space text.

Margins

Most common is one-inch margins all around. Use your word-processing software to add a header that will appear at the top of every page that includes the running head and the page number. The header appears within the top margin, not below it.

An alternative (if the report is to be enclosed in a binder) is to increase the left side margin to 1½ or 2 inches so that the tight binding will not make it difficult to read.

For more information see APA Publication Manual, sixth edition, section 8.03, pp. 229–230

Paragraph Format

Most Common is to Indent paragraphs one-half inch. An alternative is to insert a blank line between paragraphs, and then do not indent the paragraphs.

Page Numbers

• APA Style: Use Arabic numerals in the upper right hand corner with a running head. The running head is a shortened title no more than 50 characters, including spaces. It is flush with the left margin.
• Common Use: Arabic numerals, starting with the first page, centering the number in the page footer, about one- half inch from the bottom of the page
• Alternative: Number the prefatory pages (Table of contents, Preface, etc.) with lower case Roman numerals centered in the page footer about one-half inch from the bottom of the page.

Headings

Section Headings

Most Common is to use section headings with appropriate heading levels. A typical section will be from one to three or four paragraphs in length. Thus, on a double-spaced manuscript, one or two section headings will appear on each page. Headings must be consistent in format and parallel in grammatical structure.

Title Page

The title page includes five elements: title, running head, author, byline, institutional affiliation, and author note (which includes grant/funding information and a full correspondence address). The title page is numbered page 1.

Check with your instructor who may require other information on the title page.

The running head is a shortened title (no more than 50 characters, including spaces) that appears on every page. Use the automatic functions of your word-processing program to create a header that contains the running head and the page numbers for your paper. The header is located within, not below, the paper’s margin. There is no need to set the header at a specific distance from the top of the page. The words Running head: precede the running head on the title page only.

For more information see APA Publication Manual, sixth edition, section 2.01 – 2.03, section 8.03, pp. 229– 230, see also sample papers, pp. 41–59.

Sample Heading Formats

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1. Heading Level 1 is used for the main title. This should be a centered, boldfaced, uppercase and lowercase heading.
2. Heading Level 2 is used to divide major sections of the report. This should be a flush left, boldface, uppercase and lowercase heading.
3. Heading Level 3 is used to divide major sections of the report. This should be an indented, boldface, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.
4. Heading Level 4 is used for subheadings within the major sections of the report. This should be an indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading with a period.
5. Heading Level 5 is used for subheadings within the major sections of the report. This should be an indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading with a period.

Heading Tips

• Proceed through the levels numerically, starting with Level 1, without skipping over levels.
• The first heading won’t be called “Introduction” or be the title of your paper. The first heading will likely be somewhere in the body of your paper.
• Use as many levels as necessary to convey your meaning. Many student papers and published articles utilize two or three levels. Longer works like dissertations may demand four or five.
• For level 1 and 2 headings, capitalize the first and last words and all “major” words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns), including the second part of hyphenated major words (e.g., Self-Report not Self-report); and all words of four letters or more. ); lowercase all articles (a, the), prepositions (to, at, in, with), and coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or).

Report Style

Reports generally employ a more formal, professional style than do many letters, memos, or e- mails. The formal, professional style adds power to the report by emphasizing analysis and facts.

To accomplish a formal, professional style:

• Avoid informal words and phrases. Such words and phrases include jargon, colloquial expressions, contractions, slang, and casual language.
• Active Voice-when the subject of the sentence the person or thing doing the action of the verb or in the state expressed by the verb. This is the voice with which we are most familiar-the subject performs the action of the sentence. Explain abbreviations and acronyms at their first appearance.
• Avoid using personal pronouns, especially first person pronouns (I, me, we, our) and second person pronouns (you).
• Minimize use of adverbs and adjectives.

Formal vs. Informal Styles

Consider the two comparative samples of the formal, professional and informal styles.

Sample 1

1. Formal: This report will detail the advantages the company will see from the implementation of certain management reforms. These reforms will not adversely affect current policies and procedures.
2. Informal: In this report, I’ll explain the significant advantages that we can accomplish by ramping up a couple of management reforms. These reforms won’t require us to make major changes in the way we currently operate.

Sample 2

1. Formal: The authors of this report suggest that the firm narrow its marketing focus.
2. Informal: We think that you shouldn’t have your marketing program be all over the board.

The Executive Summary

Executive Summary vs. Abstracts vs. Introductions

Most professional business reports use an executive summary rather than an abstract or introduction. The executive summary has the advantage that it can be skimmed very quickly by a busy manager to get the critical information.

The differences between an executive summary, an abstract, and an introduction can be described as follows:

• An executive summary is a brief overview of a report designed to give readers a quick restatement of the report’s main points. The reader or audience is usually someone who makes funding, personnel, or policy decisions and needs information quickly and efficiently. The purpose of the executive summary is to consolidate the principal points of a document in one place. The summary should help the audience understand the main points, the evidence for those points, and why those points matter, without having to read the entire report.
• An abstract is a brief, comprehensive summary of the contents of an article; it allows readers to survey the contents of an article quickly. It is typically a highly condensed overview of 250 words or less.
• Introductions differ from executive summaries in that they present the specific problem under study and essential background information needed to better understand the detailed information to follow. They announce the purpose, why the topic is important, scope of coverage, and methodology used. However, an introduction usually does not say what the actual conclusions are or what evidence is used to reach those conclusions.

Guidelines for Writing Executive Summaries

An effective executive summary will be able to stand alone, because decisions may be made based upon the strength of the executive summary alone. The best strategy for writing the executive summary is to organize it according to the sequence of information presented in the full report.

Other things to consider include:

• Do not introduce new information that is not in the report.
• Write the executive summary last, after you have completed the report and decided on your recommendations.
• Make the length of the summary proportional to the full report it summarizes, typically 10-15 percent. Most executive summaries are one to two pages.
• Write the summary at the lowest level of technicality, translating specialized terms and complex data into plain English.
• Avoid personal comments such as “this report was very interesting” or “the author seems to think that….
• Organize the summary according to the sequence of information presented in the full report.
• End the summary with a one- or two-line recommendation for action along with the justification for the proposed action using terms the audience will consider important.

Look at first and last sentences of paragraphs to begin to outline your summary. Find key words and use those words to organize a draft of your summary; look for words that enumerate (first, next, finally); words that express causation (therefore, consequently); words that signal essentials (basically, central, leading, principal, major) and contrast (however, similarly, more than, less likely).

Sample Executive Summary

The following example of an executive summary is from the Colorado State University online Writing Studio:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Susie’s Cookies began as a small business in Cleveland, Ohio, which has expanded to include 45 stores throughout the Midwest. Plans have already been instituted to expand sales nationwide, using the same “mall-concept” marketing strategy, which has proven successful in the Midwest. Despite these plans, Susie’s Cookies may be in danger of bankruptcy.

Advertising Costs
Susie’s quadrupled its sales in the last two quarters, realizing a profit of $750,000 in the current year, an increase of $250,000 over the previous year, due to its increase in advertising. To realize equivalent sale figures nationwide, however, it is projected that advertising costs will increase by 200% for the first two years of the national expansions.

Expansion Costs
Further, construction costs for the new stores are estimated to be 20 million dollars. The result of increased advertising and construction costs will put a substantial debt burden on Susie’s cookies, an estimated $750,000 to 1 million a year. Given that sales did not reach current levels in the Midwest until the 45 stores had been operating for five years, projected sales nationally will not cover expansion costs. As a result, Susie’s Cookies is likely to show a loss of almost $2 million for at least the next five years.

Recommendation
Due to the high advertisement and development costs of national expansion, Susie’s Cookies may not be able to continue doing business in the future. Therefore, we recommend that Mrs. Field’s does not participate in the hostile takeover under consideration because the threat of competition will not be realized.