American University of Sharjah Instructor: Arshi Faridi

College of Engineering Office: EB1-033

Department of Civil Engineering Phone: 971-6-5152949
P. O. Box 26666 Fax: 971-6-5152979
Sharjah, UAE E-mail: afaridi@aus.edu

General Guidelines for Report writing

WRITTEN REPORT
The written report should include (but not limited to) the following. The report must be
organized in the order listed below.

1. Title Page
2. Objective/s
3. Table of contents
4. List of Tables and List of Figures
5. Theory
6. List of Equipment
7. Procedure
8. Original Data
9. Sample calculations
10. Results
11. Discussion
12. Conclusions
13. Applications
14. Recommendations
15. References
16. Appendix A. Other calculations
17. Appendix B. Miscellaneous Figures and Tables.

Reports are to be written on 8 ½ x 11-inch un-ruled white paper. The main body of the
report shall be typed and pages shall be numbered. Only one side of the sheet is to be used.
Computer printouts and records shall be folded or sized to the same dimensions as the bulk
of the text. Margins are to be kept at a minimum one-inch side. Each section should begin
on a new page.

Technical style of writing is required. Personal pronouns as I, We, He….should be avoided

unless you are reflecting your opinion. Correct written English is required. Remember that
a technical report seeks to inform, instruct and often to persuade that its interpretation of
data is the correct one.

Plagiarisms are not permitted, always give references to the source of any information or
graphs you copy from the literature. Number your references at the end of your report just
before the indices.
The different sections of the report should include the following:

1.Title Page
Title page should include the title of the experiment, the name of the group leader, the
names of his assistants, the name of the professor to whom the report is submitted, and the
date that the reported is submitted.

2. Objective/s
It should briefly/precisely state the objective of the experiment.

3. Table of Contents
List every division and heading in the report and give the number of the page on which it
starts to appears.

4. List of Tables and List of Figures

List every drawing and graph with its title and give the number of page on which it
appears.

5. Theory
This section contains the background for the experimental calculations and the derivation
of the equations involved. Some introduction of the process being studied and the
development of the equations needed. Sources of equations and derivations should be
referenced and the equations must be numbered. Try to use your own words.

6.Equipment and Experimental setup

A description, together with a schematic diagram of the equipment are needed.

7.Procedure
A description, together with a schematic diagram of the equipment are needed.
The experimental procedure, in steps, is also included.

8. Original Data
The original data sheets used in the laboratory, with the title and the date of experiment,
should appear in this section. Instructor’s approval must appear on that sheet.

9. Sample Calculations
Complete step by step calculations using the data and showing the transformation of the
experimental data into calculated results.

10. Results
Results should be presented in neat tabular or graphical form. Each table or figure must be
self-explanatory and have sufficient information. Tables and graphs must have titles and
numbers. The numbers should be in the order of their appearance in the report. Curves
should be drawn such that they show the best average representation of data. If more than
one curve is plotted on the same graph, different symbols for data points can be used to
distinguish between them.
11. Discussion
Results must be discussed and compared with theory and literature. Each table or graph
should be explained in writing and the trends of curves must be justified. Sources of errors,
if any and their relation to the obtained data must be stated. Different paragraphs must me
used to discuss different tables or graphs. Always refer to figure number when discussing
this figure.

12. Conclusions
In this section, a summary of the results obtained is given. It should be written either in the
form of list or as a series of loosely related topic sentences. This section must not exceed one
page in length.

13. Applications
This section should discuss how the test results are applied in engineering practice.

14. Recommendations
If you have any suggestions or ideas to modify the procedure or the equipment in order to
improve the experiment, state them and explain why they should be done. Such
recommendations are encouraged.

15. References
All references cited in the report should be listed in order of their appearance in the report.

16. Appendices
Extra calculation, derivations, calibrations and methods of analysis should appear in these
sections.

17. Nomenclature
Symbols, subscripts, abbreviation, superscripts and letters written in alphabetical order
and their meanings as used in the text.