Chapter Ten

Developing the Main Elements of

Reports
 Main Elements of Reports
 Prefatory Elements (Elements that show what the
document discusses and tells how it approaches the
topic. All long reports require these elements)
 Letter of Transmittal

 Title Page

 Submission Page

 Table of Contents

 List of Illustrations

 Glossary and List of Symbols

 Main Elements of Reports
 Abstracts and Summaries
 Informative Abstract
 Descriptive Abstract
 Summary
 Discussion or body of the report, including
conclusions and recommendations
 Appendixes
 Letter of Transmittal
 Addressed to the individual who will initially
receive the report
 Should include the following:
 Statement of transmittal
 Reason for the report
 Statement of subject and purpose of the report
 Letter of Transmittal
 May include the following:
 Background material
 Mention of earlier reports
 Information that may be of special significance to the
reader
 Specific conclusions/recommendations that might be of
special interest
 Financial implications
 Acknowledgments
 Title Page
 Provide critical identifying matter about the report,
shows what makes it different from other reports
in similar field)
 The following often appear:
 Name of the company or individual(s) preparing the report
 Name of the company for which the report is prepared
 Title and subtitle of the report
 Date of submission
 Code number of the report
 Title Page
 The following often appear:
 Contract numbers under which the work was
performed
 Company or agency logo
 Propriety and security notices
 Names of contact/responsible individuals
 Descriptive abstract
 Table of Contents
The table of contents should
 Indicate the page on which each major topic
begins, but not the page on which it ends
 Contain all of the report’s major headings
 Be designed with the appropriate level of
detail for the way your audience will use it
 Include appendixes listed by title and
designation (e.g. Appendix A: Survey
Questions)
 Table of Contents
The table of contents should
 Be carefully proofread. This is the prefatory
element on which the most pointless errors
occur, and errors on a TOC are serious
because they compromise the usefulness of
the TOC and make it nearly impossible for a
reader to use.
 Table of Contents
The table of contents should
 Exactly match the headings and
subheadings in the body of the report
 Contain only headings that actually appear in
the body of the text
Abstracts and summaries.
 Abstracts and summaries most important
prefatory elements in a report.
 Title page, table of contents, abstract and
summary may be the only parts of reports an
individual may read.
 All prefatory elements must be carefully planned.
 Abstracts and summaries provide: Topic,
purpose, results, conclusions recommendations.
 Often abstracts follows the title page.
Summaries may also follow title page. Both
contain similar information but summary
provides more extensive information than
abstract.
 Summary may be written for a decision maker
whose needs may differ from someone who just
wants to know what the report is about.
 The Informative Abstract
The informative abstract should
 Identify the topics of the report and briefly summarize
what the report says about them (a miniature version
of the full report)
 Include the following as necessary:
 Research objectives
 Research methods
 Findings of the report
 Principle results and conclusions
 Recommendations (if made)
 The Informative Abstract
The informative abstract should
 Serve as a substitute for the report
 Use/list keywords if appropriate
 Range from 50-500 words, depending on the length of
the report and/or the requirements of the organization
disseminating the report

Note: Today, the differences between the types of abstracts

are tending to disappear with many abstracts having
characteristics of both types.
 The Descriptive Abstract
The descriptive abstract should
 Identify the topics of the report, but not discuss
what the report says about them (the table of
contents version of the report)
 Include the purpose and the major topics
 Not include results, conclusions, or
recommendations
 Not serve as a substitute for the report
 The Descriptive Abstract
The descriptive abstract should
 Use/list keywords if appropriate
 Typically be fewer than 100 words

Note: Today, the differences between the types of

abstracts are tending to disappear with many
abstracts having characteristics of both types.
 Summary (Executive Summary)
The summary should
 Target decision makers or readers who do
not have time to read the full report
 Target a non-technical audience, if
necessary
 Provide a more in-depth discussion of the
report than an abstract
 Summary (Executive Summary)
The summary should
 Be longer than an abstract, sometimes
several pages in length
 Focus on conclusions, recommendations
and financial implications of the report
 Summary (Executive Summary)
When planning the summary, consider the
following:
 Subject and purpose of the project
 Research approach used
 Topics covered
 Essential background
 Summary (Executive Summary)
When planning the summary, consider the
following:
 Results
 Conclusions
 Cost
 Anticipated implementation problems
 The Introduction
 Anticipate your readers as you plan
 Include the report’s subject, purpose, and
plan of development
 If readers expect the report, you may use a
short introduction
 If the report will be archived, provide a
longer, more informative introduction
 The Introduction
 If your introduction is long, consider the following
sections:
 Subject
 Purpose
 Scope*
 Background
 Plan of development

*Some reports place the background and scope in separate

sections that follow the introduction