SCHOOLOFCOMPUTERSCIENCES

SEMESTERI,ACADEMICSESSION2012/2013

CAT300GROUPINNOVATIONPROJECT
INTERIMREPORTWRITINGGUIDELINES

REPORTOUTLINE

Abstract
Thissectionshouldbenotmorethanonepageinlength.Theabstractshouldallowthe
readerwhoisunfamiliarwiththeworktogainaswiftandaccurateimpressionofwhat
theprojectisabout,howitaroseandwhathasbeenachieved.

Acknowledgements
Itisnormaltothankthosewhohavegivenhelpandsupport(typicallyyoursupervisor).
Keepacknowledgementsshortandbusinesslike.

TablesofContents
This should give a complete list of what the report contains starting with the abstract
(thetitlepageisnotincludedinthetableofcontents).

Abstract
............................
i
Acknowledgement ..
ii
ListofTables
iii
ListofFigures .
iv
ListofTables
v
1.0Chapter1 .
1
1.1Section1ofChapter1
2

1.1.1 SubSection1ofSection1.
3

1.1.2Subsection2ofSection1
1.2Section2ofChapter1
2.0Chapter2
.
.
.

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ListofTables/Figures
Ifthereportcontainsfiguresortables,alistoftheseshouldbeprovided.Thelistshould
givethetableorfigurenumber,thetitleofthetableorfigureandthepagenumber.If
onlyafewtablesandfiguresarepresent,theymaybetreatedononepage.

Introduction
Thissectionintroducesthereadertothesubjectareaintheproject.Itmayincludesuch
thingsas:
howtheneedforthesystemwasidentified
thenatureofthesystem
motivationandobjectives
proposedsolutionandexpectedresult

Aplanoforganizationfortheprojectshouldbestatedintheintroductionsection.

BackgroundStudy
Abriefoutlineoftheprojectworkshouldalso beincluded.Someevidenceofreading
aroundtheareaisexpected.ThisreadingcouldbeoutlinedinaReferencesSection.

Methodology(MainBodyoftheReport)
This section should be divided into a number of chapters and subchapters. Each of
these should contain a reasonably separate topic of discussion and be arranged in a
logical sequence. The linkage between chapters should be stated clearly at the
beginningand/ortheendofeachchaptertoshowtherelationshipsbetweenchapters.

Conclusion
The conclusion chapter should state briefly the achievements of the project, the
conclusionsandsuggestionsforfurtherwork.

Appendices
These should be used for reference material,such as selected piecesof researchdata
andotherinformationwhichistoobulky,orwoulddetractfromtheflowofthetext,if
includedinthemainbodyofthedocument.Trytomakereferencematerialthatwillbe
consulted from many different places in the document and appendix. Otherwise, put
theinformationintoafigureortableandkeepitclosetothetextthatreferstoit.

References
Thereshouldalwaysbealistofallbooks,articlesandtechnicalresourcesconsulted.The
useofallsourcematerialshouldbeexplicitinthereport.Thismeansthatnormallyever
iteminthereferencelistwillbereferredtointhereportandeveryitemmentionedin
thereportwillhaveanentryinthereferencelist.

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REPORTFORMAT

Theinformationinthissectionexplainshowthereportshouldlook.Setthemupona
word processor and use them throughout the preparation of the document than to
attemptamajorrearrangementofmaterialatthelastminute.

CoverPage
Yellowcolour,andshouldcontainthefollowinginformation:
CourseCodeandCourseTitle
ProjectTitle
GroupmembersFullnameofeachmember,metricnumbers,specialization
Fullnameofsupervisor
Fullnameofcoursecoordinator
Dateofsubmission

Notethatthecoverpageshouldnotshowapagenumber.

Length
There is no hard rule about overall length because this will vary with each project
dependingonthenatureofthework.
Maximumnumberofpageis25(notincludingappendices).

Paper
TheentirereportmustbesubmittedonA4sizepaper.

Printing
Thereportshouldbeprintedononesideofeachpageonly.Theprintqualityshouldbe
darkandclear.

Justification
Right and left margins should be justified (giving a straight edge to the text on both
sides).

Fontsize
UseaTimesNewRomanorsimilarstylefont,pointsize12formostofthedocument.

Pagination
The report must carry sequential pagination throughout, including appendices. The
pagenumbershouldbeonthebottomrightmarginofeachpage.

PageBreaks
Trytoensurethattheseoccurinsensibleplaces.Thereisnoneedtotakeanewpage
foreachmainsectionheadingbutyoushoulddosofornewchapters.Neverletapage
breakseparatethelastlineofaparagraph.

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Paragraphs
These should be blocked (no indentation on the first line) and separated by a single
blankline(thisblanklineisdoublespaced).

LineSpacing
Thetextofthedocumentshouldbedoublespaced.

HeadingsandLegends
Section and subsection headings should be emboldened. Major Headings should be
printedinpointsize14.Legends(thesearethefigureandtableidentifications)should
beemboldenedandcentred,butnotenlarged.

Sectioning
Sections and subsections are used to organise the document into cohesive chunks for
the reader. Give them meaningful headings. Never subdivide beyond three levels e.g.
3.1.1.2istoomuch.
Belowisanexampleofthenumberingsystem/sectioning:
1.0Chapter1
1.1Section1ofChapter1
1.2Section2ofChapter1
2.0Chapter2
2.1Section1ofChapter2

2.1.1 SubSection1ofSection1

ADivisionAofSubsection1

i.)SubDivisioni.)ofDivisionA

ii.)SubDivisionii.)ofDivisionA

BDivisionBofSubSection1

2.1.2Subsection2ofSection2
2.2Section2ofChapter1

Tablesandfigures
These should each be sequentially (and separately) numbered throughout the
document. They should be centered and labeled with identification number and title.
What the table and figure is intended to show should be clear. If a graphical
representationisused, axesmustbeclearlylabeled.Itiscommontoincludealineor
two under the table identifier to clarify contents. If necessary to fit the contents of a
table on one page, 10point font size may be used; alternatively the page may be
printedinlandscapemode.Rememberthatallfiguresandtablesusedmustbereferred
tointhetext.ForexampleTheclassdiagramshowninFigure2.1.....

Appendices
TheseshouldbesequentiallynumberedstartingwithAppendix1.Paginationcontinues
fromthemainbodyofthedocumentthroughtheappendices.

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References
Listdownallthereferencesfrombooks,journals,proceedings,websites,manualetc.
There are a variety of ways to reference material used in a report. Below is just one
example.
ReferenceStyle:APAORHarvardORIEEE.

[1]MillerR.A.,Pople,H.E.,&Myers,J.D.,2010.WellnessManagementthroughWeb
basedProgrammes.JournalofTelemedicineandTelecare,Vol11,No2,pp820.

[2]KameasP.,CloudComputing:AReview,2012.
Availableat:http://cs.usm.my/lecturenotes_compSciences/031r.html
[Accessed1Nov2013]

Spelling
Thereshouldbenoexcuseforspellingmistakesinawordprocesseddocument.Spelling
errors create a bad impression. Always use a spell checker; they are invaluable for
pickinguptypographicalerrorsaswellasgenuinespellingmistakes.Note,however,that
spellingcheckerscannotdetectcaseswherethewrongwordhappenstobearealword
e.g.fromform.Soacarefulproofreadisnecessary.

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EXAMPLELAYOUTFORINTERIMREPORT(max25pages)
Abstract(pagei)
Thewholeprojectinminiature
ProblemstatementIdentifyproblems
KeyRequirements
StatemainobjectivesWhatdidyouinvestigateandwhy?
DescribemethodsWhatdidyoudo?
Abriefhowtosolvetheidentifiedproblems
Identifyexpectedresults
[1page]
Acknowledgement(pageii)
[1page]
TableofContents(pageiii)
[1page]
ListofTablesandFigures(pageiv)
[1page]

Chapter1:Introduction(StartwithPage1)
Backgroundgeneralbackgroundoftheenvironment
ProblemdescriptionDescribetheproblemswithintheenvironment
Motivation(reasonwhythestudywascarriesout)
Systemobjectives
Proposedsolutionsystemfunctionalitiesandfeatures.
Describebenefitorimpactoftheproposedsolution
Uniquenessofproposedsolution(innovationornovelty)
OrganizationofthereportAbriefoverviewoftherestofthechaptersinthereport
(aguidetothereaderoftheoverallstructureofthereport)

Note: Move from general to specific relate problems in the real world to your

proposedsystem.Makeclearlinksbetweentheproblemandthesolution.

[23pages]

Chapter2:BackgroundStudy
Reviewrelevantpastsystemstoproviderationalforyourwork.
Summarize existing systems to provide context, key terms, and concept so the
readercanunderstandthestudy.
Describeexistingsystemorapplicationarchitecture.
Describealgorithms/theories/modelsofexistingsystems.
Generaldescriptionoftheexistingsystem(problems,weaknesses,opportunities)
Criticizestrengthandweaknessesofexistingsystems.
Providebriefintroductionoftheproposedsystem.
[24pages]

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Chapter3:SystemAnalysis(RequirementAnalysis)
Identifyprojectscope,systemcapabilitiesandsystemlimitation.
ProjectManagement:
[a]WorkBreakdownStructureWBS
[b]WorkScheduleGANTTchartandmilestonetimeline
[c]SWOTAnalysis

FeasibilityAssessment(NPVandROI)ifapplicable,andEnablingtechnology.
DevelopmentMethodologySpiral,PrototypeorAgile.
Detail requirements of new system (information gathering, detail requirements
modelingfunctionalandnonfunctionalrequirements).
Analysisofthenewsystemusingappropriatediagrams:
[a] ISE/SE/Multimedia Computing using UML diagrams which include use case
diagram,usecasedescriptions,classdiagram,systemsequencediagramandstate
chartdiagrams)
[b] Network Computing, Distributed System and Security, Intelligent System: Flow
Chart,Pseudocode

(The detail of usecase descriptions, system sequence diagrams and state chart
diagramsshouldappearintheappendix)
[57pages]

Chapter4:SystemDesign
DesignStrategy
[a]Highleveldesign(e.g.overviewofthenetwork)
[b]Hardware
[c] Software Development tools, OS (development PC, Server and mobile) and
programminglanguages.
ProposedSystem/ApplicationArchitecturebrieflydescribeeachcomponents
[57pages]

Chapter5:DiscussionandConclusion
Discussiononthegroupachievements.
Plan for Completing Detailed schedule of tasks that still must be done (with
deadline,namesofwhoisresponsibleforeachtaskandtowhatextent).

[12pages]

Note:Differenttypeofprojectsmayrequiredifferentapproachofreportwriting.
Pleaseconsultyoursupervisoronthereportwritingrequirement.

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CoverPage

SCHOOLOFCOMPUTERSCIENCES
UNIVERSITISAINSMALAYSIA

SEMESTERI,ACADEMICSESSION2012/2013

CAT300GROUPINNOVATIONPROJECT

PROJECTTITLE:

GroupMembers:

1.Name1

MetricNo.
Specialization
2.Name2.

.
3.Name3
.

Supervisor:
CourseCoordinator:
DateofSubmission:15Oct2012

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