Practical guidelines for writing a
technical or scientific report
J. De Schutter, K.U.Leuven/PMA

How important are written and oral
reporting for an engineer, and why are they
important ?

What is the most important basic principle
of good reporting ?
Overview
Introduction
 General remarks
 Guidelines for contents
 How to structure thoughts ?
 Guidelines for style
 Examples
 Conclusion
 Epilogue: guidelines for oral presentations

Introduction

Objective
–
Improve the quality of reports
 Reports
of project works 1st+2nd+3rd ir.
 Reports of design project 2nd ir.
 Thesis 3rd ir. + postgraduate programs
 Technical report
 Publication (journal or conference paper ...)
General remarks (1)
Reporting is an essential part of any
technical or scientific activity
(... 15 % ...)
 Basic principle: Make it as simple as
possible for the reader !!

–
–
–
 “Guide” the reader
 Give a clear message
 Be concise
General remarks (2)

And, furthermore:
–
–
–
Report is your “name card”
Proper reporting requires special effort
Writing down brings about better understanding
Guidelines for contents (1)

Title
–
–
Aim: give reader exact idea of contents
 should cover contents as specifically as
possible:
 as
specific as possible
 every word is important
–
–
 is decided at the very last moment !
Example:
“Detector of air bubbles”
 GOOD: “Design of an ultrasonic detector of air
bubbles for blood lines”
 BAD:
Guidelines for contents (2)

Abstract
–
Aim:
 indicates
clearly own contributions
 helps reader to decide whether report is of interest
to him
–
–
 Only summarises conclusions, no
explanation
 Is written at the last moment !
Guidelines for contents (3)

Table of contents
–
Aim:
 allows
to jump to specific part of the text
 reveals structure of report
–
 structure should be logical and transparant !
Guidelines for contents (4)

Introduction
–
–
–
–
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Situate problem or assignment
Give relation with literature/previous work
( references !)
Give short description of activities/procedures
followed
Summarise most important conclusions
Give structure of report (refer to different parts)
Guidelines for contents (5)

Chapters/Sections
–
–
–
Logical/transparant structure and sequence
Equilibrated sections (approx. same length)
Limited subdivisions
 three
for thesis: e.g. 3.5.1
 two for publication or short report: e.g. 3.5
–
Usual order: theory/experimental set-up/ results
+ discussion
Guidelines for contents (6)

Chapters/Sections (continued)
–
Contents of chapters of thesis:
 Introduction:
–
–
–
Short description of activity + procedure
Conclusions of chapter
Structure of chapter
 Sections
 Conclusion
Guidelines for contents (7)

(General) Conclusion
–
–
–

Recaps most important conclusions
Gives suggestions for further study/research
BAD: situate problem, explain, motivate, etc.
References: complete and systematic !!
–
–
–
chronological
order of appearance
alphabetical
Guidelines for contents (8)

Appendices
–
Non-essential details that harm readability
 Long
proofs
 Long calculations
 Extensive experimental results
 Deviations from main line of thought
How to structure thoughts ? (1)

Rule 1: Treat all necessary topics
–
Example: cycle of combustion engine
How to structure thoughts ? (2)
–
–
–
A. Intake stroke
• 1. Increase of volume
• 2. Decrease of pressure
• 3. Inflow of gas mixture
• 4. Closing of intake valve
B. Compression stroke
• 1. Decrease of volume
• 2. Increase of temperature
C. Power stroke
• 1. Increase of volume
• 2. Evolution of pressure
• 3. Opening of exhaust valve
• 4. Outflow of combustion gases
How to structure thoughts ? (3)

Rule 2: Omit all unnecessary (irrelevant)
topics
–
–
Example: cycle of combustion engine: no
description of carburetter
How do irrelevant topics sneak in ?
 We
work hard on something we are interested in ...
 Some subject is very close to our subject ...
 After some time we find out that the original scope
was too wide and we have to narrow down.
How to structure thoughts ? (4)

Regel 3: With a top-down procedure: divide
each topic in all its sub-topics
–
–
Every sub-topic can only belong to one subtopic of a higher level (‘father’)
Every sub-topic should be at the same level
with at least one other sub-topic
How to structure thoughts ? (5)

Regel 4: Order each group of sub-topics in a
good way
–
–
Avoid cross division: use unique criterion !
Example:
 A.
–
Machines
1. Pumps
• a. Principle pumps
• b. Secondary pumps
• c. Tertiary pumps
• d. Centrifugal pumps
• ...
How to structure thoughts ? (6)
–
–
Avoid cross division: use unique criterion !
Example:
 I.
Shoes
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
1. Leather
2. Wood
3. Textile
4. Cardboard
5. Safety shoes
6. Health shoes
7. Child shoes
How to structure thoughts ? (7)

Rule 5: Use as much as possible parallel
treatment and parallel structure
–
Example:
 BAD:
–
–
–
I. How heat is generated
II. Measurement of heat
III. Heat transfer
How to structure thoughts ? (8)
 GOOD:
–
–
–
–
–
–
I. Generation of heat
II. Measurement of heat
III. Transfer of heat
I. Heat generation
II. Heat measurement
III. Heat transfer
How to structure thoughts ? (9)
–
Questionnaire
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–
–
–
–
–
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Does the table of contents express a certain objective ?
Does the table of contents contain the essentials of the
subject ?
Does the table of contents include the whole subject ?
Is the table of contents clear ? Do the topic headings make
sense ?
Is every topic sufficiently divided in sub-topics ?
Are the chosen headings the most appropriate ones (for
your objectives) ?
Are all superfluous topics omitted ?
How to structure thoughts ? (10)
–
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–
–
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Do the groups of headings express the relative length of all
parts of the finished report ?
Does the table of contents a feeling of unity, rather than a
simple collection of headings ?
Does every heading, if it is subdivided, have at least two
sub-headings ?
Are there less than six sub-headings ?
(If not: check if all sub-headings are indeed at the same
level)
Is every sub-heading placed under the right heading ?
Is every group of sub-headings free of cross division
If advisable, is parallel treatment and parallel wording
being used ?
Guidelines for style (1)

General
–
Conciseness
 Delete
all meaningless words, sentences, ...
 Avoid repetition
–
Guide the reader
 Use
introductory sentences and refer later on
 Define all concepts !!
 Never leave the reader with questions
 Do not try out the reader’s curiosity
Guidelines for style (2)

Paragraph
–
–
‘Topic sentence’: sentence around which the
other sentences of the paragraph are being
developed
Methods to develop the paragraph ?
 from
general to detail
 from physical cause to consequence
 order according to space or time
 by analogy
 by example
Guidelines for style (3)
 by
comparison or contrast
 by explanation of a definition
 from simple to complex
 by proof (induction or deduction)
 by order of importance
 ...
Guidelines for style (4)

Sentence
–
–
–
–
Use short, simple sentences
Introduce only one new idea per sentence
Make the most important element subject and
place it in front
Avoid the use of we/I/one
“In this chapter we describe how we have
extended the 2D system to a 3D system”
 BAD:
Guidelines for style (5)

Sentence (continued)
–
Indicate clearly relation with previous sentence
 use
–
–
–
reference words
conjunctions
prepositions
demonstrative pronouns
 punctuation
marks (between parts of compound
sentence)
–
Use parallel wording for parallel constructions
Guidelines for style (6)

Verbs
–
Active: prefer active form over passive form
“In this chapter it is described how the 2Dsystem is extended to a 3D-system.”
 GOOD: “This chapter describes the extension from
a 2D-system to a 3D-system.”
 BAD: “Following results are obtained in this
experiment: ...”
 GOOD: “This experiment yields following results:
...”
 BAD:
Guidelines for style (7)

Verbs (continued)
–
Active: replace noun by verb
 BAD:
–
Title:
“Control of heavy machines … for … in ...”
 GOOD: Title:
–
–
–
“Controlling heavy machines … for … in …”
Simplicity: use as much as possible present
tense
Direct: avoid verbs like
would/should/can/could/may/...
Guidelines for style (8)

Choice of words
–
As specific as possible
“a transducer”
 GOOD: “a strain gauge”
 BAD: “is obtained”
 GOOD: “is measured”
or: “is calculated”
 BAD:
–
No poetic descriptions
 Always
use same word for same concept
 Choose simplest expression
Guidelines for style (9)

Formulas and symbols
–
–
–
–
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Use standard symbols and notations
Avoid double use of symbols
Define symbols where they appear first
Insert short formulas in text
Write longer formulas on separate line
Use punctuation marks, for example:
“This yields
y = ax2 + bx + c ,
where a, b and c result from (3.23).”
Guidelines for style (10)

Figures and tables
–
–
–
–
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Sufficiently large and clear
Label axes + units + scales
Show most significant results
Refer to figure or table in text
Add explanatory caption to figure or table
Guidelines for style (11)

Appendices
–
Add necessary explanation !
Examples (1a)

Both methods are applicable to systems that
can be considered single degree of freedom
and few restrictions are imposed upon the
type of nonlinearity. The methods are selfconsistent in the sense that no apriori
knowledge about the nonlinear system
characteristics is required and no initial
estimates or approximative functions have
to be provided. (54 words)
Examples (1b)

Both methods apply only to single degree of
freedom systems, however with few
restrictions imposed upon the type of
nonlinearity. They require no prior
knowledge about the type of nonlinearity:
no initial estimates or approximate
functions are needed. (38 words)
Examples (2a+b)
De wagen met zijn weggedrag dat bepaald
is door de stuurgeometrie en de ophanging,
afvering, demping en belading, is wat ze is.
(22 woorden)
 De stuurgeometrie, de ophanging (vering en
demping) en de belading bepalen het
weggedrag van de wagen. Zij worden
gegeven verondersteld. (20 woorden)

Examples (3a)

Indien niet de ideale overbrengverhouding
No, maar een andere overbrengverhouding
N, gekozen wordt voor de gegeven inerties
en de andere gegevens, dan definieert men
een energiefaktor rho die de verhouding is
van de energiedissipatie bij de gekozen
overbrengverhouding N tot de ideale
overbrengverhouding No. (44 woorden)
Examples (3b)

De energiefactor  wordt gedefinieerd als
de verhouding van de gedissipeerde energie
bij de gekozen overbrengingsverhouding N
tot de gedissipeerde energie bij de ideale
overbrengingsverhouding No. (26 woorden)
Examples (4a+b)
A self-calibration procedure will deduce the
systematic errors of the CMM’s and this
information can be used in an on-line error
correction of single measurements by the
CMM. (28 words)
 A calibration procedure determines the
systematic errors of the CMM. These are
then used for on-line error correction. (18
words)

Examples (5a)
–
Als er een goede instelling voor de PIDregelaar zou bestaan, dan kunnen we ons
voorstellen dat bij uitval van de koppelsensor er
wordt overgegaan op een algoritme dat het
gemeten koppel aan het stuur vervangt door het
berekende T_in_experimenteel. We hebben dan
dus een regeling zonder koppelsensor die toch
koppelgevoelig is. Evenwel is het
adaptatievermogen van de nieuwe regeling zero
geworden. (62 woorden)
Examples (5b)
–
Bij uitval van de koppelsensor kan het koppel
Tin,experimenteel, berekend door een goed
ingestelde PID-regelaar, het gemeten koppel
aan het stuur vervangen. Zo ontstaat een
regeling zonder koppelsensor, die toch
koppelgevoelig is. Deze regeling is echter niet
adaptief. (38 woorden)
Conclusion
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–
–
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Reporting is important; it is an essential part of
the work
Reporting requires special effort and critical
attitude
Basic principle: make it as simple as possible
Practical guidelines for
 Structure
of contents
 Style
–
Reports of project works, design projects, thesis
projects are very good exercise !
Epilogue: guidelines for oral
presentations (1)
Same as report: guide listener, give clear
message, be concise
 Slides:

–
–
–
–
–
characters big enough
not too much information on one slide
start with overview + end with conclusion
use pointer
no ‘strip-tease’
Epilogue: guidelines for oral
presentations (2)

Guidelines for speaking:
–
–
–
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speak loud enough
face the audience
do not use stopgaps
respect time limit
prepare very well and practise !