What is a report?

In technical terms, the definition of a report is pretty vague: any account, spoken or written, of
the matters concerning a particular topic. This could refer to anything from a courtroom
testimony to a grade schooler’s book report.

Really, when people talk about “reports,” they’re usually referring to official documents
outlining the facts of a topic, typically written by an expert on the subject or someone assigned to
investigate it. There are different types of reports, explained in the next section, but they mostly
fit this description.

What kind of information is shared in reports? Although all facts are welcome, reports, in
particular, tend to feature these types of content:

 Details of an event or situation

 The consequences or ongoing effect of an event or situation
 Evaluation of statistical data or analytics
 Interpretations from the information in the report
 Predictions or recommendations based on the information in the report
 How the information relates to other events or reports

Reports are closely related to essay writing, although there are some clear distinctions. While
both rely on facts, essays add the personal opinions and arguments of the authors. Reports
typically stick only to the facts, although they may include some of the author’s interpretation of
these facts, most likely in the conclusion.

Moreover, reports are heavily organized, commonly with tables of contents and copious headings
and subheadings. This makes it easier for readers to scan reports for the information they’re
looking for. Essays, on the other hand, are meant to be read start to finish, not browsed for
specific insights.

Types of reports
There are a few different types of reports, depending on the purpose and to whom you present
your report. Here’s a quick list of the common types of reports:

 Academic report: Tests a student’s comprehension of the subject matter, such as book
reports, reports on historical events, and biographies
 Business reports: Identifies information useful in business strategy, such as marketing
reports, internal memos, SWOT analysis, and feasibility reports
 Scientific reports: Shares research findings, such as research papers and case studies,
typically in science journals

Reports can be further divided into categories based on how they are written. For example, a
report could be formal or informal, short or long, and internal or external. In business, a vertical
report shares information with people on different levels of the hierarchy (i.e., people who work
above you and below you), while a lateral report is for people on the author’s same level, but in
different departments.

What is the structure of a report?

The structure of a report depends on the type of report and the requirements of the assignment.
While reports can use their own unique structure, most follow this basic template:

 Executive summary: Just like an abstract in an academic paper, an executive summary

is a standalone section that summarizes the findings in your report so readers know what
to expect. These are mostly for official reports and less so for school reports.
 Introduction: Setting up the body of the report, your introduction explains the overall
topic that you’re about to discuss, with your thesis statement and any need-to-know
background information before you get into your own findings.
 Body: The body of the report explains all your major discoveries, broken up into
headings and subheadings. The body makes up the majority of the entire report; whereas
the introduction and conclusion are just a few paragraphs each, the body can go on for
pages.
 Conclusion: The conclusion is where you bring together all the information in your
report and come to a definitive interpretation or judgment. This is usually where the
author inputs their own personal opinions or inferences.

If you’re familiar with how to write a research paper, you’ll notice that report writing follows the
same introduction-body-conclusion structure, sometimes adding an executive summary. Reports
usually have their own additional requirements as well, such as title pages and tables of content,
which we explain in the next section.

What should be included in a report?

There are no firm requirements for what’s included in a report. Every school, company,
laboratory, task manager, and teacher can make their own format, depending on their unique
needs. In general, though, be on the lookout for these particular requirements—they tend to crop
up a lot:

 Title page: Official reports often use a title page to keep things organized; if a person has
to read multiple reports, title pages make them easier to keep track of.
 Table of contents: Just like in books, the table of contents helps readers go directly to
the section they’re interested in, allowing for faster browsing.
 Page numbering: A common courtesy if you’re writing a longer report, page numbering
makes sure the pages are in order in the case of mix-ups or misprints.
 Headings and subheadings: Reports are typically broken up into sections, divided by
headings and subheadings, to facilitate browsing and scanning.
 Citations: If you’re citing information from another source, the citations guidelines tell
you the recommended format.
  Works cited page: A bibliography at the end of the report lists credits and the legal
information for the other sources you got information from.

As always, refer to the assignment for the specific guidelines on each of these. The people who
read the report should tell you which style guides or formatting they require.

How to write a report in 7 steps

Now let’s get into the specifics of how to write a report. Follow the seven steps on report writing
below to take you from an idea to a completed paper.

1 Choose a topic based on the assignment

Before you start writing, you need to pick the topic of your report. Often, the topic is assigned
for you, as with most business reports, or predetermined by the nature of your work, as with
scientific reports. If that’s the case, you can ignore this step and move on.

If you’re in charge of choosing your own topic, as with a lot of academic reports, then this is one
of the most important steps in the whole writing process. Try to pick a topic that fits these two
criteria:

 There’s adequate information: Choose a topic that’s not too general but not too
specific, with enough information to fill your report without padding, but not too much
that you can’t cover everything.
 It’s something you’re interested in: Although this isn’t a strict requirement, it does help
the quality of a report if you’re engaged by the subject matter.

Of course, don’t forget the instructions of the assignment, including length, so keep those in the
back of your head when deciding.

2 Conduct research

With business and scientific reports, the research is usually your own or provided by the
company—although there’s still plenty of digging for external sources in both.

For academic papers, you’re largely on your own for research, unless you’re required to use class
materials. That’s one of the reasons why choosing the right topic is so crucial; you won’t go far
if the topic you picked doesn’t have enough available research.

The key is to search only for reputable sources: official documents, other reports, research
papers, case studies, books from respected authors, etc. Feel free to use research cited in other
similar reports. You can often find a lot of information online through search engines, but a
quick trip to the library can also help in a pinch.

3 Write a thesis statement

Before you go any further, write a thesis statement to help you conceptualize the main theme of
your report. Just like the topic sentence of a paragraph, the thesis statement summarizes the main
point of your writing, in this case, the report.

Once you’ve collected enough research, you should notice some trends and patterns in the
information. If these patterns all infer or lead up to a bigger, overarching point, that’s your thesis
statement.

For example, if you were writing a report on the wages of fast-food employees, your thesis might
be something like, “Although wages used to be commensurate with living expenses, after years
of stagnation they are no longer adequate.” From there, the rest of your report will elaborate on
that thesis, with ample evidence and supporting arguments.

It’s good to include your thesis statement in both the executive summary and introduction of
your report, but you still want to figure it out early so you know which direction to go when you
work on your outline next.

4 Prepare an outline

Writing an outline is recommended for all kinds of writing, but it’s especially useful for reports
given their emphasis on organization. Because reports are often separated by headings and
subheadings, a solid outline makes sure you stay on track while writing without missing
anything.

Really, you should start thinking about your outline during the research phase, when you start to
notice patterns and trends. If you’re stuck, try making a list of all the key points, details, and
evidence you want to mention. See if you can fit them into general and specific categories, which
you can turn into headings and subheadings respectively.

5 Write a rough draft

Actually writing the rough draft, or first draft, is usually the most time-consuming step. Here’s
where you take all the information from your research and put it into words. To avoid getting
overwhelmed, simply follow your outline step by step to make sure you don’t accidentally leave
out anything.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes; that’s the number one rule for writing a rough draft. Expecting
your first draft to be perfect adds a lot of pressure. Instead, write in a natural and relaxed way,
and worry about the specific details like word choice and correcting mistakes later. That’s what
the last two steps are for, anyway.

6 Revise and edit your report

Once your rough draft is finished, it’s time to go back and start fixing the mistakes you ignored
the first time around. (Before you dive right back in, though, it helps to sleep on it to start editing
fresh, or at least take a small break to unwind from writing the rough draft.)
We recommend first rereading your report for any major issues, such as cutting or moving
around entire sentences and paragraphs. Sometimes you’ll find your data doesn’t line up, or that
you misinterpreted a key piece of evidence. This is the right time to fix the “big picture”
mistakes and rewrite any longer sections as needed.

If you’re unfamiliar with what to look for when editing, you can read our previous guide with
some more advanced self-editing tips.

7 Proofread and check for mistakes

Last, it pays to go over your report one final time, just to optimize your wording and check for
grammatical or spelling mistakes. In the previous step you checked for “big picture” mistakes,
but here you’re looking for specific, even nitpicky problems.

A writing assistant like Grammarly flags those issues for you. Grammarly’s free version points
out any spelling and grammatical mistakes while you write, with suggestions to improve your
writing that you can apply with just one click. The Premium version offers even more advanced
features, such as tone adjustments and word choice recommendations for taking your writing to
the next level.

Report for the press about traffic congestion in which you and many others were stranded
for several hours.

TRAFFIC CONGESTION: A DAIlY OBSTRUCTION

-Payal Sharma,

30th October 2021

Yesterday, on 29th October 2021, the main highway connecting our city’s two major suburbs
had huge traffic congestion that stranded thousands of commuters for many hours.

Around 5 p.m., people were coming back from the crowded road, including office workers,
school buses from different schools, and shop owners. The traffic was moving nicely when, all of
a sudden, the cars came to a complete stop. All of them were completely perplexed. There was
no movement in the traffic at all. Many people were quickly enraged. People’s patience started to
wear thin, and there was arguing, loud talking, and even a few angry people getting out of their
cars. Everyone was fuming because they couldn’t figure out what had caused the traffic
congestion. People were rushing to get where they needed to go, yet there was not a single traffic
cop in sight.

Then a group of ecstatic kids rushed in and began cleaning the area. They arrived at the starting
point of the stop. In a wrecked automobile, a severely injured individual was discovered
unconscious. Onlookers quickly recognized the situation and dispatched an ambulance. The
ambulance arrived shortly after, followed by the cops. The traffic was cleared in two hours. But,
eventually, the injured individual was transported to the hospital in an ambulance, the police
picked up the wrecked automobile, and the traffic flowed again.

How to Write an Article Review?

Students often find writing an article review for the very first time daunting. Thus, it is best to
start with a few preparatory steps.

The following is a complete step-by-step guide to write an effective article review in no time

1. The Pre-Writing Process

First, you need to know the type of review you are writing as it will help while reading an article.
Here are some of the main stages of this process to help you get started.

 Summarize the article by listing all the main points, ideas, insight observations, and
general information presented in the article.
 Identify the strong claims that the author has made.
 Identify any possible contradictions and gaps in the article and evaluate if the writer has
used sufficient arguments and findings to support the ideas.
 Determine if there are any questions left unanswered by the author.
 Read the article fully.
 Evaluate the title, abstract, introduction, headings, subheadings, opening sentences, and
conclusion of the article.

After this process, you can begin writing your own review.

2. Write the Title

First, write a title that reflects the main focus of your research work. It can be either
interrogative, descriptive, or declarative.

3. Cite the Article

Next, add the citation for the article that you have reviewed. Consider the style of citation
specified by your instructor. For example, if you were using MLA style, the citation would look
like this:

Author’s last and first name. “The title of the article.” Journal’s title and issue(publication date):
page(s). Print

Abraham John. “The World of Dreams.” Virginia Quarterly 60.2(1991): 125-67. Print.
4. Article Identification

After citing the article properly, include the identification of the reviewed article. All the
information given below must be included in the first paragraph.

 Title of the article

 Author
 Title of the journal
 Year of publication

For Example

The report, “Poverty increases school drop-outs,” was written by Brian Faith – a Health officer –
in 2000.

5. Introduction

Before you start to write, you must organize your thoughts. You can use an article review
template or outline of your assignment before you start. However, if you are wondering how to
start an article review, always start with writing an introduction. It should contain the following
things:


o Thesis of your review
o Summary of the key points of the article
o Positive aspects and facts presented in the research study
o Critique of the publication including contradictions, gaps, and unanswered
questions

6. Summarize the Article

Write the summary of the article and discuss the central arguments presented by the author. Also,
make a list of relevant facts and findings and include the author's conclusion.

7. Critique It

Here, state the author’s contribution and present the strengths and weaknesses that you have
found in the article. Also, make a list of research gaps and see if the facts and theories support
the arguments.

8. Draft a Conclusion

This section will sum up the critical points, findings, and your critique of the article. Here, the
writer should also state the accuracy and validity of the review by presenting suggestions for
future research work.
9. Revise and Proofread

The last step before submitting your article review is revising and proofreading. It is an essential
part of the writing process, so make sure to do it right. For this, read the review aloud to identify
any spelling, grammar, punctuation, and structure mistakes.