Report Writing

The Process

You will need to undertake all the following tasks, although the process may not be entirely linear. 

Get clarity

Begin by checking the assignment brief and assessment criteria, to check you are clear about your expected purpose, role, and audience, and what you will be assessed for.  See more about purpose and principles in the next section. 

Research and notetaking

Then start to undertake your research. Use the relevant subject guide for your topic area to find recommended academic journals and database sources in which to search.  

However, for a report you might also use data sources which are less typical. For example, you may collect sector statistics or industry information using grey literature - material which may not have been published academically, such as annual reports, marketing plans, policy documents, implementation guidance, consumer research, and product information.

Make sure that you take a systematic approach to notetaking, keeping a careful note of sources for your referencing, and adding your critical evaluation of the material.

Evaluate your evidence

Depending on the type of report you are creating, it is often appropriate to justify your choices of evidence.  For a more creative report, you might explain why you were inspired by other examples. 
You can then continue by analysing what the evidence tells you about the topic you are researching, and evaluating the robustness and relevance of the evidence itself.

Plan your structure

Plan a structure out using any guidance in the assignment brief. Keep your audience in mind as you consider appropriate sections.

For example, if your project is titled ‘An investigation into the fast fashion economy – including ethical and climate change considerations’, then you could map your ideas out visually:

Then you can turn your ideas into a structured outline - see some examples in the Structures section below. 

Clarify conclusions

Consider the conclusions you intend to present:  These should include: 

• A summary of your findings or what you’ve achieved.
• The limitations of your work, such as any issues, caveats, or restrictions in scope, and any risks you may anticipate, such as any problems foreseeable with implementation.
• Any implications, solutions to problems, or recommendations arising for you, or your specific audience, or within the wider sector.

Professional design

Don’t go overboard on design if that’s not a big component of the assessment criteria but do allow some time for this aspect if you are wanting to learn some new skills.  There is further information on this in our section on Design and Formatting

Final polishing

Make sure you allow enough time for any final proof reading and polishing!