How to draw up an abstract, requirements for drawing up

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Usually, a report is not considered as significant as, for example, a term paper or a thesis. Quite often, students pay less attention to its formatting, forgetting about its uniqueness and general requirements.

However, it should not be forgotten that a report is created in order to study a topic in more detail and depth. Therefore, it should not fully copy information from books or any other sources. A report is not a summary; a report is a presentation of one’s own main ideas and a generalization of the topic.

That is why it is important to remember the main stages of writing and the standards for formatting a report in order to make it high-quality, unique, and interesting.

Structure of a Report

Title page — this is the first page, which contains all the information about the student, the instructor, the name of the institution, the topic of the report, and other mandatory elements of the title page.

Table of contents — this is a page that lists the titles and numbering of all chapters included in the report. The headings in the table of contents must exactly match the section headings in the text.

Introduction — this section defines the relevance of the chosen topic, the object of research, the purpose and objectives of the study, and reveals the structure and content of the work.

Main body — it is presented according to the previously compiled table of contents and contains all the information obtained during the study of the research object.

Conclusion — this section presents the results on the chosen topic, as well as the author’s own thoughts on the problem and possible ways to solve it.

List of references — this list is placed on a separate page and is compiled in alphabetical order.

How to Format the Title Page of a Report?

Why is it so important to correctly format the title page of a report? Incorrect formatting of the title page may lead to the instructor returning the work for revision without even reviewing the content of the main body.

All requirements for formatting the title page are clearly specified in the methodological guidelines of your institution. Nevertheless, before starting work, clarify with the instructor whether they have any specific formatting preferences. It is possible that your academic supervisor adheres to strict or individual requirements.

Elements of the title page that must be included:

• Name of the higher education institution;
• Full name of the department;
• Name of the discipline;
• Topic of the report;
• Student information (full name, year, group, form of study);
• Instructor information;
• City where the educational institution is located;
• Year the report was written.

It is also necessary to set the following margins: right — at least 1.5 cm; left — 3 cm; top and bottom — 2 cm each.

How to Format the Table of Contents of a Report?

A properly structured table of contents helps to immediately assess the structure of the work. It allows quick navigation to the required section and determines the page on which it is located.

The table of contents is traditionally placed on the second page, immediately after the title page. It is important to remember that page number “2” is not indicated in the table of contents. Page numbering begins with the introduction and continues throughout the entire text.

In any example of report formatting, you can see the heading “CONTENTS” or “TABLE OF CONTENTS”. It is written in capital letters and centered. Bold formatting is allowed. If you use bold for the table of contents heading, all other headings in the work should be formatted in the same style.

Below the heading is a list of all parts of the work. It usually includes:

• introduction;
• chapters and paragraphs of the main body;
• conclusion;
• list of references;
• appendices.

In some cases, an abstract is also added — a brief summary of the report’s content. This requirement is more common in scientific works, for example, when preparing for admission to postgraduate studies.

How to Format Chapter Titles in a Report?

Each chapter, section, and paragraph begins with a capital letter and is formatted on a new line. The table of contents indicates the page numbers corresponding to these chapters, sections, and paragraphs. To avoid manual data entry, it is recommended to use the automatic table of contents feature in Microsoft Word.

Page numbers in the table of contents are aligned to the right and placed on the same line as the title of the corresponding section or paragraph.

Chapter, section, and paragraph headings are sometimes allowed to be written in capital letters. Subsection titles are written in lowercase letters. Shortening, modifying, or rephrasing headings is prohibited. Chapter and paragraph titles should not repeat the topic of the report, so that the work contains issues to be explored. Similarly, paragraph titles should not duplicate chapter titles.

General Rules for Formatting a Report

• A report is always written in an academic style.
• The length of the work is 5–10 pages, and each page must be numbered.
• The text is written in the official language on white A4 paper, using Times New Roman font, size 14. The text must be justified, line spacing is 1.5, paragraph indentation is 1.25 cm, top and bottom margins are 2 cm, left margin is 3 cm, and right margin is 1 cm.
• Sections and subsections must have headings and strictly correspond to the content; section titles should be printed in capital letters.
• Illustrative material such as figures, graphs, and diagrams should be placed in the text after the first reference to them.
• When writing a report, sources should be used, with their number ranging from 10 to 15.

Formatting Requirements: What to Pay Attention To

Sometimes institutions introduce their own adjustments to report formatting, so it is worth familiarizing yourself with the institution’s requirements at an early stage, if they exist.

If the department has not provided specific rules for proper report formatting, it is recommended to adhere to standard formatting requirements. They will help make the work clear, high-quality, and achieve a good result.

Follow all the rules on how a report should be formatted, do not neglect fonts or margins. These details make your work neat. Maintain a clear structure of the report and do not skip chapters and sections listed in the table of contents, as the instructor will carefully review such work, and proper formatting will affect how often it is returned for revision.

Common Mistakes in Report Formatting

Some students treat reports lightly; although it is not a term paper or a thesis, all the nuances of writing should still be considered.

The first and most important thing to pay attention to when writing a report is its originality. You should not completely copy someone else’s work from the Internet. Although the requirements for reports are less strict, originality should still be 60–70%.

Therefore, it is important to formulate your own thoughts in the work, while referencing borrowed information and theses where appropriate.

Formatting Figures, Tables, and Graphs

Illustrative material is not a mandatory element of a report; however, tables, graphs, and figures help present information more accurately and clearly. If you use such material, it should be placed after the reference to it in the text. If such appendices do not fit on the page where the reference is made, they should be placed on a separate page of the report.