The Mechanics of Writing a Research Report

machanics of report writing.

1. Mechanics of Report Writing By V.M.Vimal

2. Introduction Research is an art to present the views of a researcher to the readers Communication should be proper Report is not only meant for technical hands It should be free from prejudices and bias Research reports are the product of slow, accurate inductive works done with great care These reports should follow the mechanics strictly

3. Mechanics of Report Writing 1. S ize of physical design: Unruled paper 81/2*11 Blue or black Margins Double spaced 2.Layout: Well thought and appropriate Consider objective and nature of the problem

4. 3.Treatment of quotations: Quotation marks Double spaced If it is more than 4 or 5 lines, single spaced 4.Footnotes: Meant for cross references, citation of authorities and sources, acknowledgement and explanation of a view

5. Placed at the bottom of the page Numbered consecutively Single spaced 5.Documentation style: 1.Regarding the single-volume reference: 1. author’s name in normal order 2. title of the work, underlined to indicate italics 3. place and date of publication 4. pagination references

6. Eg.1 Kothari, C.R. Quantitative Techniques, New Delhi, Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., 1978, p995.

7. 2.Regarding multi- volumed reference: If it is multi volumed , number of the volume should be given after the publication Author’s name in the normal order; Title of work, underlined to indicate italics; Place and date of publication; Number of volume; Pagination references (The page number).

8. 3.Regarding works arranged alphabetically: No pagination is needed for alphabetically arranged works. Eg.2“Salamanca,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14 th Edition

9. 4.Regarding periodicals reference: If the reference is from periodicals, name of the periodical is given after the title . Name of the author in normal order; Title of article, in quotation marks; Name of periodical, underlined to indicate italics; Volume number; Date of issuance; Pagination.

10. 5.Regarding second-hand quotations reference: Original author and title; “quoted or cited in,”; Second author and work . Eg.3. J.F. Jones, Life in Ploynesia , p. 16, quoted in History of the Pacific Ocean area, by R.B. Abel, p. 191.

11. 6.Case of multiple authorship: In case of multiple authorship, et al or “and others ” should be used . Eg.4 . Hughes et al, “Science or Promotion” , SAGE Journals,2013,p.13.

12. 7.Punctuation: Author’s name should be followed by comma First word, proper nouns and adjectives should be capitalized Title is followed by comma Edition also ends with comma Place of publication may be mentioned in abbreviated form eg . Lond for London. If the date appears in the copyright notice it should be enclosed in square brackets. Eg [c 1978 ]

13. 8 . Use of statistics, charts and graphs: It is used in the form of tables, charts, bars, line graphs and pictograms. Neat and attractive 9 .Final drafts: Revising and rewriting the rough draft of the report Are the sentences clear? Grammatically correct? Whether it is logical?

14. 10.Bibliography: Prepared and appended to the research report 11.Preparation of the index: Index acts as a good guide for the report Two ways : subject index and author index Alphabetically arranged

15. T H A N k Y o u