Formal Reports

Formal Reports are longer than informal, WIDELY circulated, and important public documents. They often facilitate internal decision making processes and serve as a means of creating a public image of the company that spawned them. Frequently, this is the type of report that is given to prospective clients, stock holders, or contractors.

The elements of a Formal report fall into two patterns: Traditional and Administrative. Traditional Formal Reports lead the reader through the data to an inevitable conclusion. Administrative reports give the reader information they need to perform their role within the company. The elements of a formal report then are organized differently based on the style:

Remember, all formal reports should be covered by a Transmittal Letter (or memo if internal).

Here is a more detailed discussion of the components:

Title Page

• Name the Contents of the Report in the Title
• Set left hand margin at about 2 inches and flush all lines to the left margin
• Use all caps and bold print for title
• Include writer's name, Department, Date, Type of Report, and Report or Project Number (if appropriate).
• Also indicate recipient's name, department and position (address if external).

Table of Contents

• Present the name of each section in the same wording and format that it appears in the text.
• Don't use underlining in a T.O.C.
• Don't put "page" or "p." before page numbers
• List only the top two levels of heads
• Use a series of dots to connect words to page numbers.

List of Illustrations

• This includes all graphic material included in the work.
• Call it a "List of Illustrations" if it uses both tables and figures. Otherwise call it either a "List of Figures" or a "List of Tables."
• List the number, title, and page of each visual.
• Place this list either on or immediately after the T.O.C..

Summary

After reading the summary (or abstract) your reader should know the report's purpose and the problem it addresses, the conclusions, the major facts on which any conclusions are based, and the recommendations. Follow these suggestions:

• Be brief yet precise.
• Write the summary after you've written the rest of the report.
• Avoid jargon here.

Formal Introduction

This includes statements of scope, purpose, procedure, problem and background.

• purpose -- state the purpose clearly in the present tense.
• scope --reveals the topics covered in a report (criteria, main sections, boundaries or limits of your investigation).
• procedure - names the process you followed investigation the topic of the report (explain all the actions you took, how research was gathered, sources you consulted).
• Problem and background statements should give basic facts about the problem, specify causes or origin, explain significance (harms), and specify who is involved and to what capacity AND why you received the assignment.

Conclusions and Recommendations/Rationale

Conclusions must be based on material presented in the body. This is the most important part of the formal report.

• Relate each conclusion to specific data
• Use concise numbered conclusions
• Keep commentary brief
• Include page numbers for the data that you refer to so that the reader can quickly find the relevant material in the discussion section.

Recommendations and rationale sere to fulfill the purpose of the report (yet not all formal reports make a recommendation for policy).

• Number each Recommendation
• Make the solution the the problem the first recommendation
• If Rationale is brief keep it as a sub section...if it is long make it a separate section.

References

Use a standard list of references (bibliography) since this is field variant...be sure to check a style manual that is appropriate for your field.

Appendix

This information that supplements or clarifies materials in the body of the report. Refer to each item at the appropriate place in the report. Number illustrations in the sequence begun in the report's body.

Pagination

• Place numbers in either upper right corner or bottom middle. No punctuation.
• Use heads or footers to identify the topic of a page or a section.
• Consider the title page as page 1...BUT DON"T PUT A NUMBER ON IT.
• Give each full page visual a page number
• In very long reports, use roman numerals for all material before the discussion

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