Seven Factors to be considered for writing report
1) Who is going to read the report?
2) What is the level of their current knowledge?
3) How much information is needed?
Dr. Adel Refky
4) What background information to include?
5) Why is the reader reading the report?
6) Is the document supposed to inform or convince?
7) How much time does the reader have to read it?
EXTERNAL STRUCTURE
Cover page or Title page
Preface or brief Introduction
Executive Summary/ Abstract
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Table of contents
List of tables
List of figures
Nomenclature (Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Initialisms)
Introductory chapter
Central chapter(s)
Conclusions
Tables
Figures
Appendices
References
Bibliography
Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Initialisms
Abbreviation:
 Arbitrary shortening of a word or words using more than one letter from
each word that can be pronounced as a letters or the original word
 (Television—TV, the German Elektrokardiogramm—EKG),
 by substituting letters with an apostrophe
 (received—rec’d),
 by cutting off letters from the end
 (General—Gen.)
 by cutting off letters from the middle
 (road—Rd.)
 by eliminating most vowels and some consonants
 (highway—Hwy, boulevard—Blvd).
Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Initialisms
Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Initialisms
Acronym:
Initialism (alphabetism):
 Formed by combining the first letters (initials) or syllables of all or select
 An acronym pronounced by reciting the individual letters or idiosyncratic
words in a series, resulting in a new grouping of letters that can be
pronounced as a word
pronunciation (N double A C P).
 British Broadcasting Corporation--BBC,
 Digital Video Disc--DVD,
 North Atlantic Treaty Organization—NATO,
 Portable Document Format--PDF,
 Mobile Army Surgical Hospital—MASH,
 Hypertext Markup Language—HTML,
 Hazardous Materials--HAZMAT).
 Modulator/Demodulator MODEM
 Magnetic Resonance Imaging—MRI,
 AutomaticTeller Machine--ATM),
 Note:
o all acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations, but not all abbreviations are
acronyms or initialisms.
o acronyms and initialisms differ only in the way they are pronounced.
Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Initialisms
Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Initialisms
Acronym-initialism hybrids:
Pseudo-acronym:
 Pronunciation includes a letter and acronym word
 Creating an acronym from other acronyms
 Joint Photographic Experts Group—JPEG,
 IT Acquisition Center—ITAC
 Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries— OPEC,
 Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network — C-SPAN.
Anacronym:
 Acronyms whose original word string has been widely forgotten
 Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus—scuba,
 Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation—laser,
 Radio Detecting and Ranging—radar,
 Mixing abbreviations and acronyms
 DeoxyriboNucleic Acid—DNA
 Ignoring words in a series just to make a pronounceable word
 Princeton University Institute for the Science and Technology of
Materials—PRISM
 Pronouncing vowels that are not there
 (Guantanamo—GTMO, pronounced Gitmo)
Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Initialisms
REFERENCE and BIBLIOGRAPHY
Symbols:
 An acronym exchanged for a picture

 contains numerals
 Y2K
REFERENCE
List of Primary Sources , that has
been referred
Only in-text citations, that have been
used in the assignment or project or
Dissertation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Listing out all the materials which has
been just consulted during the
research work.
Both Primary and Secondary Sources
Used in Journal Papers
 Purpose of branding
 (World Wide Web—www),
 trademarking
 (facsimile abbreviated to FACS and morphed into FAX
 Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company— 3M
 avoiding repetition
 Command, Control and Communications— C3
Arranged Alphabetically and
numerically
Arranged only numerically