Middle East Technical University
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Guidelines for Writing Reports for
Basic Electrical Engineering (EE213) and Basic Electronics (EE214)
Laboratory Courses
under METU Electrical and Electronics Engineering
As prospective engineers, you will usually document your design, results of your research, field work,
a project proposal or other activities under your responsibility. The report is often the only concrete evidence
of your work and you will be required to write well either in industry or academia. Our main aim is to train you
to write well by the time you have passed these courses and eventually you have graduated.
EE213 – EE214 courses provide several occasions to gain experience on writing reports. There will be
three types of reports you are required to write during these courses:
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Pre-reports will present how well you are prepared for an experiment. You will be asked to answer
some background questions that are given in the experiment manual. In addition, you will simulate
some circuits that you will build during that experiment and present your results. The preliminary work
aims to ease your work during laboratory hours and reinforce what you are expected to learn from
that experiment. How you present your preliminary work is as important as how much effort you put
on it, so we expect your preliminary report to meet certain criteria that will be given in the following
sections of this guideline.
Laboratory reports will be written during experiments and must be submitted to your own assistant
at the end of that specific experiment. You are expected to present the results of the steps you
complete and interpret them and compare with the expected results. Reporting your results is also as
important as conducting the experiment and a sloppy report significantly deducts from the value of
the results. The format of the lab report and especially the rules you must obey for graphical results
will also be given in the following sections.
Project reports have a broad scope where you should explain your design for the course project with
background information, simulation and experimental results as well as the power and cost analysis.
As several figures, equations and tables will be included in project reports, knowing the general rules
for writing an engineering report is extremely important and useful.
This document is divided into four parts. The first part provides fundamental guidelines and tips for
writing reports, which apply to all three report formats. The second through fourth parts provide detailed
formatting and guidelines for each of the report types listed above.
A. FUNDAMENTALS
1. Tools
First of all, although there are no certain rules or predefined software packages you must use, you
need to know very well how to use
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a word processor
an equation editor
a drawing editor
some computer simulation packages.
You must become proficient at using you word processor so that you are able prepare a report with
proper page layout, page numbering, well-placed graphs, images and tables. In addition, you must be able to
use Greek symbols and superscripts/subscripts whenever necessary. Microsoft Office tools are available for
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Middle East Technical University
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
METU members so that you can use Microsoft Word as your word processor (Please check this link to see the
licensed software that are available to METU members). On the other hand, you are also highly encouraged
to learn and use Latex, which is a document preparation system for high-quality typesetting and very useful
for scientific document preparation.
You must use an equation editor to insert any formula into your report. Equations or formulas in the
form of included images are inacceptable. You may use the built-in equation editor in Word by using the
“insert” option.
When you need to include a circuit diagram or a flow chart, please use a drawing editor rather than
using the screenshot of the diagram in simulation software. You may use any drawing editor you are used to
or Microsoft Visio, which is also available in the given link.
You may use any simulation software for your preliminary works or project. We recommended LTSpice
IV in EE213 course since it is not only available for free on their website, but also used for the EE313 Analog
Electronics Laboratory course. The way you should present your simulation results will be covered in the
following sections.
2. Format
Every report should include an informative title, the name(s) and ID number(s) of the student(s) who
submit the report, name of the instructor and submission date.
Staple your reports in the upper left corner whenever applicable.
Reports will be written on A4 size papers with proper margins. The text should be evenly distributed
between the margins. If the report is supposed to be typed, use a sans-serif font (Times New Roman, Arial or
Calibri) with point size 11.
Although the documents are sometimes prepared single-sided and double-spaced in order to leave
enough space to get feedback, we expect double-sided and single spaced reports.
Page numbers should be placed at the bottom of the page on all pages except the cover page,
whenever applicable.
Equations should be centered and all of the equations in your report should be numbered. Equation
numbers should be placed in ( ) and right justified. All the variables used in the equation should be explained
in the text. Do the either of followings when referring to equations: “Equation (1) represents the Fourier
transform“, or “Fourier Transform of (1) is a complex-valued function of frequency“.
+∞
𝑋(𝑗𝜔) = ∫−∞ 𝑥(𝑡)𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡
(1)
Tables should be generated using the word processor and centered on the page. There must be a
heading and caption for each table with appropriate table number and they should be placed above each
table; for example, “Table 2: Quantity and cost of components used in the project”. All tables in the document
must be discussed inside the text including the observations and comments. When referring to a table, do the
following: “According to the Table 2, overall cost …”
Figures should also be accompanied by proper number and captions that are centered beneath the
figure. Similar to tables, you should also comment on the figures inside the text and referring to figures may
be achieved in the same way you do for tables. Do not forget to capitalize “Table” and “Figure” when they are
used with a specific table or figure number.
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Middle East Technical University
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Use a spreadsheet software or Matlab in order to plot graphs for your report. Do not forget to put
labels and units on the axes and, if appropriate, place the origin. Left justify the origin if the graph represents
the some measurements vs. time. If you graph discrete measurement data, use markers for the real
measurements onto the estimated lines. Include a legend and use different markers when plotting more than
one set of data.
If you need to insert a full page plot/graph/image/table, orient it so that they are read from the right
side of the page.
Use your word processor to insert subscripts, superscripts and Greek symbols for common engineering
quantities such as 𝛼, 𝛽, 𝛾, 𝜃, 𝜇, 𝜌, 𝜏, 𝜔. Spell out one digit numbers except when they are accompanied by units
of measure or refer to tables/figures/page numbers. Use numeral for numbers greater than 10 provided that
they do not begin a sentence. Do not forget to include a leading zero when number’s magnitude is less than
1, i.e., use 0.78 instead of .78 and throw away the insignificant digits. Put a space between numbers and
associated units. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard abbreviations for some units
are given in Table 1.
Table 1: Some abbreviations and unit symbols according to IEEE standards
Parameter
Abbreviation
volt
V
ampere
A
second (time)
s
farad
F
henry
H
pico (10-12)
p
-9
nano (10 )
n
micro (10-6)
µ
mili (10-3)
m
kilo (103)
k
mega (106)
M
3. Writing Style and Grammar
You should write in complete, grammatically correct sentences. Note that long sentences with a lot of
clauses confuse the reader; therefore, try to be concise.
Do not be colloquial and do not use jargon. Avoid emotionally loaded words such as wonderful, useless
and lovely. Since sentences in active voice are more concise, try to use active voice; however limit the use of
personal pronouns (I, you, we) and be objective.
Use past tense to describe a procedure/process that was implemented and use present tense for
analyzing the results and making conclusions.
Use technical terms correctly. Learn what they mean, how to use them and how to spell them.
Do not use contractions, such as it’s, isn’t, don’t, can’t and use a spell checker.
4. IEEE Reference Guideline
You must cite all the sources of your information in your report. The list of references should be
included at the end of your report according to IEEE standard. The list is supposed to be arranged in the order
they appear in the text. The number of the reference is put in square brackets when referring to a reference
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Middle East Technical University
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
in the text. In the reference list at the end of your document, the title of an article should be given in quotation
marks and the title of a journal or book in italics. Basic formats and examples are provided below for some
kind of sources and readers are referred to IEEE Citation Reference for further examples.
Books
Basic Format:
[1] J. K. Author, “Title of chapter in the book,” in Title of His Published Book, xth ed. City of Publisher, Country
if not USA: Abbrev. of Publisher, year, ch. x, sec. x, pp. xxx–xxx.
Examples:
[1] B. Klaus and P. Horn, Robot Vision. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1986.
[2] G. O. Young, “Synthetic structure of industrial plastics,” in Plastics, vol. 3, Polymers of Hexadromicon, J.
Peters, Ed., 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964, pp. 15-64.
Conference Technical Articles
Basic Format:
[1] J. K. Author, “Title of paper,” in Unabbreviated Name of Conf., City of Conf., Abbrev. State (if given), year,
pp.xxx-xxx.
Resources on web
Basic Format:
[1] J. K. Author. (year, month day). Title (edition) [Type of medium]. Available: http://www.(URL)
Example:
[1] J. Jones. (1991, May 10). Networks (2nd ed.) [Online]. Available: http://www.atm.com
B. PRELIMINARY REPORTS
Each experiment in both laboratory courses require preliminary work which consists of two parts:
background questions and simulation results. You are required to submit a preliminary report when you come
to the laboratory in order to be eligible to attend the experiment. As stated in laboratory regulations, the part
that presents your simulation results is mandatory and you will be given bonus points for the answers of
background questions and the way you present your work.
Each student must do the preliminary work on his/her own. Please note that studying together with
your partner and/or any other student taking this course does not mean submitting the same preliminary
report. You only deceive yourself by submitting the results of the simulation that is not realized by yourself. In
addition, any indication of cheating, such as the exactly same circuit schematics in simulation work, will be
severely punished.
The preliminary report must include
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The student name and ID on the upper left corner
The section and the submission date of the report, in other words, when the experiment will be done,
on the upper right corner,
The name of the teaching assistant on the upper left corner, beneath the student name,
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Middle East Technical University
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Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
The number and the title of the experiment in the center.
Whether you submit answers to background questions or not, your report must obey these rules.
If there will be any answers to background questions, it is not mandatory but strongly recommended
that you type your report, in which case you should definitely obey the rules given in the first part of the
guideline.
Moreover, simulation results in your preliminary report must meet certain criteria:
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Every simulation result must be accompanied by corresponding circuit schematic.
There must be no background color for both figures. You may use Tools
Color Preferences for
changing background, grid or track colors in LTSpice IV.
The axes on the figure where the simulation result is presented must be clearly visible.
You must add labels to the nodes from which you take measurements. In LTSpice IV, use Label Net
option to label the nodes as “Vin” or “Vout” or any other appropriate label.
Include your name, ID, experiment and question number on circuit schematic by the help of Add Text
button.
In LTSpice IV, you may export the selected window using Tools
Copy bitmap to Clipboard option.
Whether you include a screenshot or exported bitmap image, do not forget to number the figure(s)
with proper heading(s) and refer to the figures within the text.
Figure 1: Example preliminary report format
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Middle East Technical University
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
The illustrations for these options may be found in LTSpice tutorial available on EE213 website. An example
preliminary report is illustrated in Figure 1.
C. LABORATORY REPORTS
At the end of each experiment, each group of two students must submit one report that presents the
results of experimental procedure. The experiment reports must include
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Name and ID numbers of the students on the upper left corner,
The section and the date when the experiment is done on the upper right corner,
The name of the teaching assistant on the upper left corner, beneath the names of the students,
The number and the title of the experiment in the center.
The format of the experiment reports is illustrated in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Example experiment report format
There should be three main sections in experiment reports:
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Objectives should represent your understanding of the experiment with your own words in complete
sentences. Please do not directly copy the objective section of the experiment manual.
Results section should present the outcomes of the experiment in a way enhanced by plots and
tabulated data. You are expected to state principal results, compare the measured results with what
is expected form preliminary report and simulations and discuss any differences. It is strongly
recommended that you enrich your results with your comments.
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Middle East Technical University
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
When the results are supposed to be given as plots, suppose that you present them to someone who
do not know the experimental procedure and do not have the manual. Therefore, plots should be
explanatory as much as possible. Please,
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Put an explanatory title. Note that “Input and output voltage waveforms of half-wave rectifier
circuit” explains a lot more than “Vin and Vout vs t”.
Name the horizontal and vertical axes, put indicators corresponding to each unit on the axes
and write the proper units.
Indicate the origin clearly.
Indicate the critical values.
A “good” and a “bad” example for plots of the same data are given in Figure 3. Note that the plot in
Figure 3.b does not have title, axes units and the values corresponding to the units on axes.
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(a)
(b)
Figure 3:Two different representation of the same data
Another thing to note is that you do not have to center the origin on all your plots, rather, left justified
vertical axis is more appropriate to plot the measurements taken with respect to time.
If you are given a report template as in the most EE 214 experiment manuals, use the spaces provided
for your plots; otherwise, use graphical paper. When you use graphical paper, do not forget to label
figures in order to refer them within the text.
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Conclusion is the section where you should write what you observed and learned during that
experiment. Instead of only summarizing the experiment, compare the measured results with
expected one and discuss any difference. Comment on the applications areas of the components or
circuitry which is the focus of the experiment.
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Middle East Technical University
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
D. PROJECT REPORTS
For both EE213 and EE214 courses, a project work must be completed in order to pass these courses.
Project will cover what you are expected to learn throughout the semester and you will propose a solution to
the given engineering problem. Once you have a conceptual design, you are expected to realize simulations in
order to validate your design. Then you will build your design, realize tests and go for small revisions if needed.
You will document all this process and submit two reports. First report should include your conceptual design
with the background information it relies on and the simulation results. After realizing your design and
demonstrating your work, you are expected to submit a final report which presents your final design and
analyses of cost and power consumption.
Both of the reports should include
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A cover page with university and department name, course code and name, term, the name of the
project, name and ID number of students who submit the report, name of the teaching assistant to
whom the report is submitted and the submission date of the report,
A table of contents,
An introduction that provides the necessary background and motivations,
An overall block diagram which summarizes and visualizes your design at a glance,
Description of circuit operation where you explain the duty of each sub-circuit and support them with
theory, basic formulations and circuit schematics,
Simulation results,
Selection of equipment with a clear reasoning,
A conclusion that restates your main objectives, summarizes the laws/theory that your design relies
on and describes some applications of your design and
References if needed.
In addition to these, the final report of the project should also include
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A cost analysis where you tabulate the number of each different component used for the project with
their unit price,
A power analysis where you state the total power consumption by your design and
Illustrations of the finalized project.
In final report, you are expected to make a complete analysis and justify your design by proper reasoning
of each sub-block and the components used for it. Final report should include the actual values/behaviors and
the target ones so that you can comment on the possible differences.
Either staple your reports in the upper left corner or place them in a plastic binder. There is no need to file
each sheet of the reports separately by using sheet protectors.
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