Report writing A means to convey some information to others. Report is a comprehensive document and covers all aspects of the subject matter of study.

1. REPORT WRITING
Dr Lipilekha Patnaik
Professor, Community Medicine
Institute of Medical Sciences & SUM Hospital
Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhandeemed to be University
Bhubaneswar, ODISHA, INDIA
E mail– drlipilekha@yahoo.co.in

2. OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION
•What is report writing
•Types of report
•Structure of report
•Citation in report
•Snapshot of a report
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3. WHAT IS A REPORT WRITING
•A means to convey some information to others.
•An organized, factual, objective presentation of
information.
•‘Organized’since it follows a systematic pattern.
•‘Objective' means it should not be influenced by our
personal feelings.
•Report is a comprehensive document and covers all
aspects of the subject matter of study.
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4. •Presents information, not an argument
•Is meant to be read quicklyby the reader
•Uses numbered headings and sub-headings
•Uses short, conciseparagraphs and dot-pointswhere applicable
•Uses graphics whereverpossible(tables, graphs etc.)
•May need an abstract (also called an executive summary)
•Does not always need references and bibliography
Is often followed by recommendations and/or appendices
A REPORT:
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5. TYPES OF REPORTS :
•Provides basic information
•Very short
•Report writing on monthly budgets, staff absentees
and so on.
1. Information only Reports
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6. 2. Research reports
•Most widely used report
•Important for university level
•Includes R&D subjects.
•Writing a MD, PHD theses report
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7. 3. Case study analysis reports
•Hypothetical research reports.
•Includes real life examples
•Submit a report based on a case given to you
•Widely used in university level competitions.
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8. To write a good report you should know:
oWhy are we writing the report
oWhat needs to go into the report
oExtent of the report should be clear.
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9. Features of a well written report:
•A good report has a clarity of thought
•A good report is complete and self-explanatory
•A good report is comprehensive but compact
•A good report has a proper date and signature
•A good report is presented in a lucid style
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10. REPORT STRUCTURE
•Title page
•Abstract/ executive summary
•Main body – introduction, body of article,
results, discussion and conclusions
•Acknowledgements (may be before
executive summary)
•References
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11. Title page –
•Article title
•Investigators names & institutional affiliations
• Corresponding author
• Sources of support
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12. Title –
•Title – it determines whether the paper will be read or not.
•So it should be descriptive and specific. Abbreviations
and roman numerals should be avoided.
•Running head – it is the caption or title that is repeated
across the top of each page.
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15. Abstract/ executive summary
•It is the summary of manuscript (200-300 words).
•By reading the abstract, others decide whether to go
into the main paper or not.
•May be structured containing background, methods,
results and conclusion or unstructured (only the
summary).
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16. Abstract
Objective: this paper reviews available literature on nutritional status of indian school
children 6-18 years from middle and high socio economic status (MHSES). Methods:
literature search was conducted using medline literature database search, followed by
review of full-length journal papers and unpublished materials such as research reports.
Results: studies showed that anemia prevalence (hemoglobin concentration <120 g/L)
ranged from 19-88% across five different cities in india. Other micronutrient deficiencies
including, folate, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin C, vitamin A, and vitamin B12 were also
present based on biochemical parameters in one study and clinical signs of deficiency
in three other studies. Overweight and obesity were prevalent among 8.5-29.0% and
1.5-7.4% respectively among school children, as indicated by 11 studies. Predominant
components in children’s diet were cereals and pulses, followed by milk and milk
products; the fruits and vegetables component was comparatively lower. Conclusion:
nutritional status of MHSES children in india needs attention especially with respect to
the high prevalence of anemia, overweight and obesity. There are indications that
micronutrient deficiencies exist, but sufficient data are lacking, in particular biochemical
data. A current estimate, using well designed methodologies, of prevalence of
micronutrient deficiencies and information on the etiology of anemia among children of
MHSES groups would be valuable to help understand the nutritional status and extent
of micronutrient malnutrition.
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18. MAIN BODY (IMRaD format)
Ø Introduction
Ø Methods
Ø Results
and
Ø Discussion
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19. Introduction
General aspects of the topic
Specific information
about your topic
Statement
of purpose
Rationale
for the
approach
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20. Should answer
•What was I studying?
•Why was it an important question?
•How will this study advance our knowledge?
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23. Materials and Methods
• How was the study conducted?
• Can others replicate your study?
• Include
Study design
Sampling technique
subject recruitment/selection
Ethical statements
Field site description,
Description of equipment and its use,
data collection protocol, data analysis techniques,
any computer programs used etc.
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25. Results
•An objective summary of data
•It is the only place where new data should be
presented.
•Short description of selected tables and
figures
• No discussion or interpretation of data done.
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26. Figures and tables:
Guidelines for figures and tables-
• High resolution
• Neat, legible labels
• Simple, clearly formatted
• Detailed captions
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27. Developing tables
• Must bear a serial number
• Simple tables are always better.
• All tables should be self explanatory.
• Title should be clear and concise – what, when and where
• Rows and columns properly labelled
• Units of measurement spelled out
• Total must be shown
• Codes, abbreviation and symbols, if any, must be in footnotes
• If reproduced from other source (i.E. Secondary data), source must
be shown in footnotes.
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29. • Figures visual representation of results or illustration of
concepts/methods (graphs, images, diagrams, etc.)
Plotting a graph/ chart
• Keep them simple.
• Make it self-explanatory (should have enough information to be
clear without further clarification).
• Put a clear title along with a graph number.
• Axis should be clearly labelled.
• Units on each axis clearly specified.
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30. P
r
e
v
a
l
e
n
c
e
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31. Discussion
•Interpretation of results
•Summary of the key findings
•Strength and weaknesses of the study
•Any difference of results compared to similar
study
•Possible implications
•Unanswered questions and future research
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32. Citing in the text
•A number is allocated to a source in the order in which
it is cited in the text.
•If the source is referred to again, the same number is
used.
•References should be numbered using Arabic numerals
in box parentheses eg [1] in the order of appearance in
the text as a superscript.
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34. Conclusion
Conclusions drawn from the findings
Generalizability of results
Policy directions
Future research directions
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35. Recommendations
•Things that should be done as a result
•Policy directions
•Future research directions
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36. Acknowledgement
To the individuals who made essential
contributions in the research.
eg. Statistician, sponsors, funding sources etc.
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37. References
•Specific referencing style
• One should refer peer-reviewed journal articles,
abstracts, books.
• Type of reference is mainly of vancouver style and it
should match the numbers in the text.
•Previously harvard style was used.
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49. Sections of the report
Parts of the report Contents Functions Typesof
writing
Language characteristics
Title page Name of the report,date To inform Discursive Factual
Table of contents What you find in yourreport To inform Discursive Factual
Summary A summary of the report To inform Discursive Factual,impersonal use of3rd person
pronouns,passive verbs
Introduction Background,problem,approach,
definitionofspecial wordsused
To inform Discursive Same as the above
Methods Methodsorprocedureswhich
lead to the findings
To inform Discursive Same as the above
Findings Resultsofinvestigation,
research,and calculation
To inform Discursive Sa as the above
Discussion Comparring the resultswith
otherresearchers
To convince Argument It seems that …./ The result indicates
tthat … / It is probable that…
Conclusion Conclusionsdrawn fromthe
findings
To convince Argument It seems that …./ The result indicates
tthat … / It is probable that…
Recommendation Thingsthat should be done asa
result
To persuade
reason
Argument,
persuasive
Personal use of “I” and “We”
Bibliography Books,articles,magazines,
reports, any documentsthat has
used for reference
To inform
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50. Thank you50