Types of reports

Reports are written for different purposes. They therefore contain different information and structures, including headings and subheadings, and these form the outline of the report. The table below shows the sections commonly found in these types of reports.

Common report structures

Short report

Title page
Introduction
Discussion
Recommendations
References

Science report

Title page
Introduction
Method & materials
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Appendices
References

Business report

Title page
Executive summary
Table of contents
Introduction
Discussion
Conclusion
Recommendations
Appendices
References

Engineering report

Title page
Executive summary (optional)
Introduction
Objectives
Analysis
Discussion
Recommendations & action plan
Conclusion
Appendices
References

Research report

Title page
Executive summary
Introduction
Method / methodology
Results / findings
Discussion
Conclusions
Recommendations
Appendices
Bibliography

The research report

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Types of reports

Common report structures

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