PARTS OF A FORMAL REPORT
Outside Jacket
This is the cover of the report and its style and use of color reflect the company’s image. The jacket should
state the report’s title and the name of originating company or author.
Title Page
This is the first page of the report. The title of the report, name of addressee or recipient, author’s name and
company, date and sometimes a report number should be stated on the title page.
Summary
A summary is an abridged version of the whole report, written in non-technical terms. It should be a short,
informative description of the salient features of the report that draw a main conclusion and make a
recommendation. This summary is always written last after the remainder of the report has been written.
Table of Contents
The contents and arrangement of the report are shown in the table of contents and indicated by page
numbers. It could include a list of appendices, tables, or figures.
Introduction
With the introduction the reader is prepared for the discussion to come. It indicates the purpose and scope
of the report and provides background information so that the reader can read the discussion intelligently.
Discussion
A narrative that provides all the details, evidence and data needed by the reader to understand what has
taken place, what is happening, what was decided, what was discovered and what should be done next.
Conclusions
The major conclusions reached in the discussion are written here. The conclusions reflect only opinions of
the author and therefore never advocate action.
Recommendations
The recommendations state what must be done if the discussion and conclusions suggest that specific
action needs to be taken.
Bibliography References
This is a list of documents used by the author to write the report. It contains sufficient information for the
reader to correctly identify and order the documents.