Dear Students,
Writing reports/papers may well be an opportunity for you to learn more about the subject you are
studying than any other aspect of a course. It is worth doing well. You not only learn more, but also
think more deeply about a topic when you have to put words on paper. Finally, good grades depend on
good reports/papers.
An internship report commonly consists of 50 to 60 pages or maximum 20,000 words. Structure of an
internship report becomes too easy as soon as you get precise and clear guidelines on it. Here you will
find all the necessary steps which you need to understand about the structure of an internship report.
Generally, an internship report should maintain the following sequence:
1.
Title Page
2.
Letter of Submission
3.
Acknowledgements
4.
Executive Summary
5.
Table of Contents
6.
Introduction
7.
Objectives
8.
Research Methods
9.
Results/Findings
10.
Discussions
11.
Limitations
12.
Conclusions and Recommendations
12.
References (APA style)
13.
Appendices (if any)
GUIDELINES:
1. Length of paper: Reports should be type-written (1.5 spaced) and should be within 20,000 words
(excluding references).
2. Title page: The title page is the first page of a report. It is not numbered. It contains the following:

title of the report

submitted to (supervisor’s name and address)

submitted by (student's name and address)

date of submission

word count
3. Table of contents:
 Include all pertinent sections in the table of contents (i.e. Introduction, Research Methods,
Results, Discussions, Conclusion, References, Appendix)
 Number your table of contents
 Include page numbers
 Use sub-points and indent these
 Use explicit but brief titles and sub-titles
 Structure your paper according to your focus of interest.
4. Introduction: The introduction follows the table of contents and is the first page of the project
which is numbered. In the introduction of your report, you are supposed to state the following points:

A brief explanation of the problem

Aim of your study

What questions will be answered in the report

A brief outline of current research

Relevance of the term paper title

The research process
The introduction aims to make the readers familiar with the title of the report and create interest in
reading your report further. It gives hints to the readers about further content of your report.
5. Research Methods:
The method employed in the report/paper should be explicitly detailed. Write about your sources of
data i.e. primary or secondary or both.
6. Results:
Results should be presented in a reader-friendly manner. The use of tables and graphs is recommended.
Tables and graphs should be either included in the main text, or alternatively (if they are large in
number) included in an appendix. In the latter case, however, the appendix must be referenced (i.e. cf.
Appendix 1) otherwise the reader will not know to look there).
As well as presenting the results, it is also your task to guide the reader through the results in a clear
and logical manner. This by no means that every detail included in the table/ graph should be
commented on, but it does mean that the most interesting results should be highlighted for the reader.
7. Discussion:
The discussion section either follows the results or may alternatively be integrated in the results
section. This is a matter of style although the former style tends to be easier for the writer and clearer
for the reader and is, thus, recommended. The section should consist of a discussion of the results of
the study focusing on the question posed in the research paper. In addition, it should serve to compare
your results to previous research findings.
8. Limitations: You should also demonstrate an awareness of the limitations of your study in this
section.
9. Conclusion: In the conclusion of your term paper, state the problem you posed and explain the
results you found from your research. You need to give a summary of the observations and
interpretations. You should also explain the strengths and limitations of your research. Besides this,
you can make suggestion for future work as well if you have any.
10. References: In the bibliography of your term paper, you have to list all the information sources in
a required citation style. You should follow the APA (American Psychological Association) style of
referencing. Here is an attachment for your convenience.
11. Appendix: Appendices are the list of complete information of the survey forms, maps, graphs,
figures, statistics, questioners, charts, etc. you used in your term paper but not included in the main text
due to their subsidiary nature or to space constraints in the main text. They are not included in actual
word count of your term paper.
12. Comments on plagiarism
What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism is when you knowingly use the intellectual work of others without acknowledgement. It can
take the form of direct copying from the writings of others or the presentation of the ideas of others in
a paraphrased form - without acknowledgement.
If you like the ideas of a researcher, you may of course refer to these ideas or indeed quote from the
writings of this person as long as you formally acknowledge their work but you may not simply adopt
his/ her ideas as your own. This also applies to works written in a different language. Translation of
ideas or writings is also plagiarism if the original author is not acknowledged.
13. Assessment sheet :

The following is the assessment sheet:

Names:
Title:
Length of paper:
Appearance of paper:
Typing errors, etc.:
Language/ style:
Title:
Focus of paper:
Table of contents/ structure:
Introduction:
Conclusion:
Referencing:
Choice of literature:
Method of citation:
Integration of literature:
Method:
Analysis/ discussion:
Final overall comment

Date:
Grade:
14. Others: You should follow the below instructions:

Use font: Times new roman, Size: 12,

Use space between lines: 1.5,

Use margin: left- 3.5cm, right-3.0cm, top-3.0cm, bottom-3.0cm,

Word count should be maximum 20,000 words (excluding references or appendices),

Report binding: book/tape binding
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Please read the following book for further understanding:
Zikmund, Babin, Carr, & Griffin (2010). Business research methods. 8th Edition. South
Western/Cengage. Singapore (chapter 25, report format)
Good luck.
----------Md Sahidur Rahman
Professor
Department of Management Studies
University of Chittagong
Chittagong.
Cell: 01979244387