6.1: Formal Report—Report Sections
Learning Objectives
- Identify the sections of a formal report
What Is Included in a Formal Technical Report?
Technical reports have specifications. These specifications address layout, organization and content, format of headings and lists, the design of the graphics, and so on. The advantage of these specifications is that you or anyone else can expect them to be designed in a familiar way—you know what to look for and where to look for it. Reports are usually read in a hurry; people are in a hurry to get to the information they need, the key facts, the conclusions, and other essentials. A standard report format is like a familiar neighbourhood, one that you know your way around.
When you analyze the design of a technical report, notice how repetitive some sections are. This duplication has to do with how people read reports. They don’t read reports straight through: they may start with the executive summary, skip around, and probably not read every page. Your challenge is to design reports so that these readers encounter your key facts and conclusions, no matter how much of the report they read or in what order they read it. According to Blicq and Moretto (2012), the traditional arrangement for a formal report is as follows:
Traditional Arrangement: Formal Report
Cover
Title Page
Summary
Table of Contents/List of Figures
Introduction
Discussion
Conclusions
Recommendations
References
Appendices
Blicq and Moretto (2012) also separate report sections into major and minor/subsidiary parts. This may be a helpful way to divide the report’s contents. Using this system, the major parts include Summary, introduction, Discussion, Conclusion, Recommendation, Appendices. These can be remembered by the acronym “SIDCRA” (Blicq & Moretto, 2012, p. 94). The minor or subsidiary parts include Cover, Title Page, Table of Contents/List of Figures, References.
| Major Parts | Minor/Subsidiary Parts |
| Summary | Cover |
| Introduction | Title Page |
| Discussion | Table of Contents/List of Figures |
| Conclusion | References |
| Recommendation | |
| Appendices |
In ENGL 250, we follow OACETT guidelines for a technology report. According to OACETT (2021), a technology report includes the following sections:
OACETT (2021): Technology Report Guidelines
Title Page
Statement of Authorship
Summary/Abstract
Table of Contents/List of Figures
Introduction
Discussion: Methodology, Results, Data, Analysis
Conclusions
Recommendations (if applicable)
References
Appendices
TRY IT
Exercise 6.1.A: Reflecting on Research
Read through this sample formal report. Does it follow OACETT’s guidelines for report sections?
References & Attributions
References
Blicq, R., & Moretto, L. (2012). Technically write. (8th Canadian Ed.). Pearson Canada.
OACETT. (2021). Technology report guidelines. https://www.oacett.org/getmedia/9f9623ac-73ab-4f99-acca-0d78dee161ab/TR_GUIDELINES_Final.pdf.aspx
Attributions
Content is adapted from Technical Writing by Allison Gross, Annemarie Hamlin, Billy Merck, Chris Rubio, Jodi Naas, Megan Savage, and Michele DeSilva, which is is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
Report is taken from DVD Technology and Applications (from Online Technical Writing: Examples, Cases & Models) by David McMurrey, which is licensed under CC-BY 4.0 International License.
