2. Presentation: appearance and layout
2.1 General guidelines
Your report is a 'visiting card', both for yourself and for the faculty, and perhaps the host organization will also wish to show it to third parties. In addition to the content itself, the presentation and layout of your report should therefore meet certain requirements. Reports can help to confirm the corporate identity. They must be of 'recognizable' quality, both in terms of content and presentation. The writing style must be appropriate, the spelling faultless. Recognizability relies to a large extent on the presentation.
Paper: A4, printed on both sides.
Binding: glued between covers (a ring binding is also acceptable).
Printer: laser printer.
Line spacing: 1.2 - 1.5 (aim for approximately fifty lines a page).
Margins: include wide margins (approx. three centimetres) left and right, and top and bottom.
Page-numbering: all pages should be numbered in sequence, continuing throughout the appendices.
Lettertype: select an easy-to-read lettertype such as Arial (Helvetica family) or Times New Roman. The usual font size is 10 or 12 points.
2.2 Front cover
The front cover is an A4 cardboard sheet with a window through which the report title and author's name are visible.2.3 Other instructions
All main sections of the report (cover, title page, preface, summary, table of contents, the successive chapters) begin on a right-hand page.
The cover, title page, preface, summary and table of contents are not numbered.
All other pages, beginning with the introduction on page 1, are numbered.
Include a blank line before each new paragraph; do not indent paragraphs.
Avoid overly long paragraphs. Try to vary the length of the paragraphs.
Use a consistent typography for titles (and subtitles) at the same level.
Ensure that titles are not 'orphaned', i.e. they should not be on the last line of a page.
Indicate important words using bold type or italics.
Use footnotes as necessary to provide clarification.
Direct quotations should be in italics and should be indented. Use inverted commas and quote exactly from the source. Indicate any omissions with an ellipsis (three full stops) between square brackets.
Accentuate summaries and lists (such as this one) with bullet marks.
Leave two blank lines before a new paragraph, and one between the heading and the paragraph itself.
As already stated, the most important rule of all is that you are consistent, both in terms of content and presentation. Once you have presented the problem statement, do not paraphrase it elsewhere in the report (or if you do, explain why). Choose a certain style in which to present certain types of information, and stick to it. If you give a summary of items which you later examine in greater detail, ensure that you do so in the same order.
Some more tips:
Try to use the same verb tense throughout. In most forms of scientific report it is acceptable (and indeed customary) to use the present tense.
In formal writing in English, the pronoun 'we' refers to the author and the reader. Its use helps to promote reader inclusion. Avoid 'I' and 'me': refer to yourself as 'the author'. And be consistent in your choice of pronouns.
You should also be consistent in your typography, e.g. use the same style for chapter titles.
This also applies to summaries and lists; there are various options, but you should restrict yourself to a single style.
2.4 Notes
Notes are used:
To refer to a source.
To add something to the text.
There are two sorts of notes: footnotes and endnotes. Footnotes appear at the bottom of the relevant page, while endnotes appear at the end of the chapter, or perhaps even at the end of the report as a whole. Because the vast majority of readers never bother to read endnotes, it is preferable to avoid them. We may therefore state:
Use only foodnotes.
A footnote may refer to a specific source, whereby more information than merely the author's name and year is included. That source will not be included in the literature list.
A footnote can also be used to explain a term used in the text.
Footnotes may be numbered per page, or the sequence may continue throughout the chapter.
Use footnotes sparingly and keep them brief.
2.5 Figures, tables and formulae
Figures, tables and formulae are only to be included in the report if they serve a useful purpose. Often, the information included in a pie chart can just as easily be presented in one or two sentences. One option is to include only the most important illustrations in the body of the report, with all others 'relegated' to the appendices. Some instructions with regard to the use of illustrations are given below. (Here, 'illustration' refers to any form of visual representation: drawing, map, graph, bar chart, etc.)
There are three main ways in which illustrations can be produced: using a specific software program, by scanning from another source, or by cutting-and-pasting. In any event, they should be clear and easy-to-read.
Rules for figures:
Each figure is numbered in sequence (Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.).
Use any subdivision (Figures 1a, 1b, 1c, etc.) sparingly. Do so only if the figures concerned really are different but related versions of one and the same figure.
The sequence of numbers extends throughout the appendices.
Give each figure a relevant title.
Place the number and the title below the figure.
Insert two blank lines above the figure, and one below.
Do not place figures in a box or sidebar.
There should be at least one reference to each figure in the text.
This reference can be worded "As we see from Figure 1....".
Any source should be credited immediately below the title.
Rules for tables:
Each table is numbered in sequence (Table 1, Table 2).
Use any subdivision (Tables 1a, 1b, 1c, etc.) sparingly. Do so only if the tables concerned really are different but related versions of one and the same table.
The sequence of numbers extends throughout the appendices.
Give each table a relevant title.
Place the number and the title above the table.
The heading of the table provides information about the relevance of the values presented.
The heading is placed between two horizontal lines; the table is separated from the text below by a horizontal line.
Below the table, provide a key to any abbreviations used, between two horizontal lines.
The table itself does not include any vertical lines.
Insert two blank lines above the table and one below.
There should be at least one reference to the table within the text.
This reference can be worded '... as we see from Table 1".
Any source should be credited immediately below the table.
Rules for formulae:
Short formulae are presented in the centre of a line.
Longer (important) formulae are presented on a separate line.
Indent the line (left).
Use italics for the variables (but not for the symbols, figures or brackets) both in the text and in the formulae themselves.
Formulae to which you refer in the text are numbered sequentially, against the right-hand margin and between square brackets.
The sequence of numbers extends throughout the appendices.
Insert one blank line above the formula and one below.
The reference can be worded, "...as we see from Formula 1".
Any source should be credited below the formula.
NB When referring to a numbered table, figure, formula, etc. in a report written in English, use capital letters, e.g."see Table 1", "refer to Figure 3", etc.
October 2007
