Obj. 3.01
Business Documents:
Research Report
and
Table of Contents
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Research Report
What is a Research Report?
 It is a multi-page document that
usually contains several sub-topics of
information related to one main topic.
 All margins should be set to 1 inch
2
Research Report Style

MLA
Modern Language Association
 Used within Liberal Arts and
Humanities
 Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic


Language, Literature, Philosophy, History,
Mathematics, Psychology, Science
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Research Report Components



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

Title Page
Title
Header
Body
Parenthetical Citations
Endnotes/Footnotes
Works Cited
Notes Page
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Research Report:
Components (Continued)
The Title of a report is required.
The Title includes the identifying
information and is keyed in the
top left margin of the Report.
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Title Page




Center the title in the top third portion of the page
Double space the writer’s name and professor’s
name and center the two lines in the middle of the
page
Center the date in the bottom third portion of the
page
Include email address and phone number (optional)
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Title

Key the following at the top left margin
of the first page in double space mode



Writers name
Teacher/professor’s name
Course name
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Research Report:
Components (Continued)
A Header is placed on every page of the
report and includes:
 writer’s last name
 page number
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Header

Formatted to include the writer’s last
name followed by one space and the
page number in .5 inch top right margin
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Research Report:
Components (Continued)
The Body of the Report is the content
(the paragraphs).
Parenthetical citations are reference
notes keyed in the body of the report.
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Body





Double-space all lines
Use a legible font size
Leave only one space after periods or
other punctuation marks
Indent the first line of a paragraph .5”
from the left margin
Use either italics or underlining for the
titles of longer works
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Body (con’t)



Double space after the title line and
center the title of the report
Key the title in Title Case (initial caps),
not in all capital letters
Double space between the title and the
first line of the text
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Parenthetical Citations


Keyed immediately following a quote or
referenced source in the body of a
report
Includes the author’s name and page
number

Example


(Lowery 45)
The complete reference is keyed in the
works cited section of the report
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Research Report:
Components (Continued)
Endnotes/Footnotes:
 Endnotes and Footnotes



used only when necessary to add commentary or
to clarify.
used to add commentary
References are used to cite a source
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Endnotes/Footnotes


Should be used only sparingly and for
necessary clarifying commentary
Indicated by a superscript within the
report body and keyed after any
punctuation in the reference to which it
refers (with the exception of a dash or
hyphen)
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Endnotes/Footnotes (con’t)


Footnotes (notes that appear at the
bottom of the page of the body of the
report) should be keyed in single space,
first line indent format with a double
space separating each additional
footnote
When endnotes/footnotes are used,
they must be referenced separately on
a notes page
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Research Report:
Components (Continued)
A Works Cited is:


complete listing of references cited parenthetically
keyed on a separate page
Notes (Page):


a complete list of resources and references used to
accompany endnotes
keyed on a separate page
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Works Cited




Accompany parenthetical citations
Keyed on separate page
Includes header (last name, page number)
Titled Works Cited



center the title at the top 2” margin of the page
Keyed in hanging indent format and double
spaced
Listed in alphabetical order by author’s last
name
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Notes Page



List of resources and references when footnotes or
endnotes are used
Keyed on separate
Includes header




last name, page number
Titled Notes
 Title centered at the top 2” margin of the page
Keyed in hanging indent format and double spaced
Listed in chronological order by superscript number
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Table of Contents (TOC)
A Table of Contents is:


accompany a report, document, or manuscript
to list the topics and sub-topics in the order in which
they occur.
Example:

Chronological listing with page numbers of
contents of an accompanying research report
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Table of Contents (TOC)
(continued)

a.
b.
c.
Components (in order)
Title (Table of Contents)
List of topics and subtopics and
their respective page numbers
Page number - in Roman Numeral
style at the bottom of the page
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Report Vocabulary
Term
Definition
Hanging indent
A temporary left margin that indents all lines but the first line of the text.
Reference list/
Works cited/
Bibliography
A list of all references used in a report. This allows the writer to give credit
to the author of the material used in the report.
Body
The main text of a personal letter, business letter, memo, email, or report.
Unbound report
Double space
Short reports that are prepared without binders or covers.
Pressing the enter key twice (2) leaving one blank line. This can also refer
to line spacing using the word processing feature to leave one blank line
between each line of text.
Side heading
Left bound
Headings used to separate the report into sections.
Longer reports prepared with binders. Left margin is wider (1.5”) to
accommodate binding along the left margin.
Top margin is wider (1.5”) to accommodate binding along the top margin.
Top bound
Title Page
The title page is the first page of a report. It gives the title of the report, the
name of the writer, the name of the school or class, and the date.
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