Report writing is an essential skill in many disciplines. You should develop effective report writing skills because it’s highly likely you’ll be writing reports in the workplace.

A report is a formal written document used to provide concise information on a specific subject. It can be used to communicate the results of an experiment, inform on the progress of a project or to make recommendations.

An effective report is an accurate presentation of information. It should be objective, concise and structured to guide the reader through the main points.

The task instructions usually specify what sections need to be included in your report. However, a report often has the following sections:

  • Title page and acknowledgements—include the title of the report, who commissioned it (or for assessment include your lecturer, course code, and student number) and the date.
  • Executive summary or abstract—provide a summary of the report's main points. It briefly covers the aims, objectives, research methods and the findings. It identifies what action is required. Although the abstract is located at the beginning of the report, it is usually written last as it is a summary of the whole report.
  • Table of contents—outline the structure of the report.
  • Introduction—state the aims and objectives of the report, the problem or situation that prompted the report and identify what the report intends to achieve. Include definitions, research methods and background history (if relevant).
  • Methodology—explain what you did and how you did it. For instance, the materials used in an experiment, the subjects involved in a survey or the steps you took in a project.
  • Results or findings—detail the findings from the experiment, survey or research project.
  • Discussion—present and discuss the facts or evidence.
  • Conclusions—provide implications from the content of the report.
  • Recommendations—describe a clear course of action. Demonstrate your professional competence in a specific situation that clearly aligns with the conclusions.
  • References—acknowledge all the sources used in the report. Learn more about referencing.
  • Appendices—contains additional graphical, statistical or other supplementary material. Each item should be clearly labelled (for example, Appendix 1) and referred to in the report.