por The parts of a report or report The most prominent are index, summary, introduction, analysis and bibliography. You can also include annexes and preliminary pages. Reports can also be called reports. This is because in the English language the word used to refer to this type of document is report.
A report is a document whose main objective is to publicize some type of information or knowledge, generally the product of an investigation or of events that occurred previously.
These documents serve to communicate any situation that merits in different professional areas. Many professionals such as journalists require daily reporting.
The facts presented in a report must be the products of work previously carried out by the author.
Any research must meet the scientific and methodological parameters so that it can be taken into account in the academic field and thus the content of the report can be endorsed. The report must be complete and supported.
Generally, the reports are presented in writing, so in addition to the methodological parameters that must be followed, some style rules need to be applied so that the work presented has a consistent and appropriate style, and thus does not underestimate the result of the investigation.
Reports, like all documents, have a structure segmented into subheadings. The parts of the report are often inferred, but it is always important to follow an order in which all the necessary information to be captured is grouped.
The main parts of a report/report
1- Preliminary pages
Although they are not necessary in all cases, if an academic report, focused on scientific research, is submitted to an institution, it probably requires preliminary pages within its style guidelines.
In addition to the indispensable cover where the name of the institution that performs it, to which it is presented or published, and the different subordinate organizations, the name of the author or authors, the date and the title of the work must be indicated; the institution may require the addition of some pages that show the approval of the previously submitted project.
2- Indices
All reports have a table of contents through which the information issued by the report at first is updated. This information is subsequently expanded thanks to the various means used to disseminate what is produced.
There are other indexes such as tables or figures. Also, if you have a significant number of attachments, you may need an attachment index.
3- Summary
Aimed especially at reports that are viewed as potential academic papers, reports may have a short summary of a long paragraph that can exceed ten lines.
It will include a brief description of the content of the report. Generally, the summary is made in the English language with the name of abstract and in the source language of the report.
4- Introduction
It is the essential part of a job, the reading of a report depends mainly on it. With it, Arabic numerals begin to be applied to the pages, since Roman numerals are used in the previous ones.
An introduction is that part that allows the reader to have a first approach to the subject and provide him with the knowledge that he must know to continue reading.
The purpose of the report must be implicit in the wording of the introduction, as well as the context of the situation in which the work was carried out. It must specify what are the limitations that the report had for the realization of its realization.
Finally, the work methodology used for the report must be clear in the introduction. Many recommend that the introduction be the last thing to be written in a report.
5- Discussion and analysis
Once the introductory part of the work is finished, the part of the development of the content begins immediately, in which what is proposed will be exposed through different methods and will be submitted to the discussion of the community in which it is proposed. This section consists of the method, results, discussion and conclusions:
methods
Whether it is a report whose investigation was entirely documentary or based on personal experiences, it is essential to clarify the methodology used to present the different postulates that are presented in the report.
The information concerning the methods must include the equipment that was used for the writing of the present investigation, as well as the explanation of the procedures carried out, references to inconveniences found and any type of related information.
Results
Through a report, a specific audience is informed about the results of a specific investigation or a survey of sources.
The results section usually reflects the results directly in the form of a graph or table so that they can be analyzed later in the discussion. However, there are authors who prefer that the results and the discussion occupy the same place.
Discussion
It is the central and determining part of the report. This section is never titled with the name Discussion or another similar one that is determined, but on the contrary, the title adapts to the type of work that is being carried out and the development that you want to make of the text.
If the report is the product of an investigation, it can be qualitative or quantitative, so the development of this section can be inductive or deductive. The language used in the text must correspond to the one handled by the audience.
This section consists of exposing what was previously stated in results and, if applicable, what was investigated. It is recommended to divide this section into multi-level subheadings so that it can broadly cover everything the author wants.
In addition, it is common to find suggestions referring to focusing on the content to be analyzed without wandering into theoretical content.
conclusions
This section can be titled as Conclusion, conclusions or even Final thoughts according to the methodological approach of the report. The conclusions turn out to be one of the most important sections of a report and on which its success depends.
The conclusion should be limited to the objectives of the report. In one or two pages maximum, it should be indicated if the objectives previously outlined by the author were achieved.
Additionally, in this final section the results of the analysis of the report discussion can be reflected and if they can contribute to the proposed discussion, regardless of the area in which it is generated.
One of the most important points to keep in mind when writing a conclusion is that it cannot contribute new material at any time. Everything exposed here should have been raised previously.
6- Bibliography or bibliographic references
It is probably the most cumbersome section and the one that should be paid the most attention, since an inadvertent citation error can be classified as plagiarism. To make a bibliography, it is imperative to choose a style manual with which to follow its parameters.
For example, in the American Psychological Association (APA) manual, the bibliographic references are only those that were mentioned in the body of the work, while the bibliography is any document or resource used to carry out the research. In this case, the author can choose which of the two types to use.
Regardless of the style manual that is chosen, the bibliography must strictly follow its rules, in addition to avoiding errors such as not adding documents that were cited in the text in this part.
The correct arrangement of all the references used in the text, as well as additional content, gives credibility to the report and allows readers to expand their knowledge in the areas that are of interest to them.
7- Annexes
Although optional, the annexes are always a useful complementary tool in the scheme made to develop a report.
They basically consist of additional information, generally photographs, text fragments, tables, video captures, maps, cartograms, drawings, among others.
This type of material serves to complement the information provided in the text, but which, for reasons of space, could not be incorporated directly.
Special care must be taken not to introduce new information in the annexes and that these are always only complementary and broaden the reader’s vision of certain matters to be dealt with.
Many manuals recommend that in the event that highly technical language is used, a glossary could be included in the annexes. Depending on the style manual that is used, it will be determined whether or not it is necessary to incorporate an index of annexes.
Themes of interest
7 main parts of a written work.
Investigation report.
Reading report.
References
Arias, F. (1999). The research project: introduction to the methodology scientific. Caracas, Venezuela: Editorial Episteme.
College of the North Atlantic (nd). Requirements for Preparing Your Work Term Report. Stephenville, Canada: College of the North Atlantic. Retrieved from cna.nl.ca
KU Leuven (s.f..). Report writing: structure and content. Leuven, Belgium: KU Leuven. Retrieved from eng.kuleuven.be.
Trias, S. (2009) Guide to writing in APA style, 6th edition. Caracas, Venezuela: Library of the Metropolitan University.
University of New South Wales. (nd). How to write a report: the four basic parts. Sydney, Australia: The Learning Centre, University of New South Wales. Retrieved from vaniercollege.qc.ca.
University of Otago. (nd). The key elements of a report. Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago. Retrieved from otago.ac.nz.
University of Surrey (nd). writing skills. Surrey, UK: University of Surrey. Retrieved from libweb.surrey.ac.uk.