TIPS ON WRITING A RESEARCH REPORT

Before writing a research report one must understand first what are the characteristic of a good
research report.

Characteristics of an Effective Research Report An effective research report has—at least—the following
four characteristics:

• Focus.

• Accuracy

• Clarity

• Conciseness

Terminology, Notation, and Writing Style

Terminology
>Know your audience and what terms they understand.
>Don’t refer to the same thing by two or more different names.
> Avoid unfamiliar abbreviations.
>Be careful when you make up a new abbreviation

Notation
>Don’t change notation.
> Avoid new uses for symbols that have traditional meanings for your readers.

Writing style
>Avoid long sentences.
>First-person pronouns such as I and we are now allowable in scholarly writing
Correct: We reviewed the literature.
Incorrect: The authors reviewed the literature.

DEFINITION OF CITATION
A citation is a formal reference to a published or unpublished source that you consulted and obtained
information from while writing your research paper. The way in which you document your sources
depends on the writing style manual your professor wants you to use for the class [e.g., APA, MLA,
Chicago, Turabian, etc.].

WHY DO WE NEED TO PROPER CITATION?

FIRST REASON: citation is your best defense against allegations of plagiarism.

other purposes:
>Proper citation allows readers to locate the materials you used
>Other researcher's ideas can be used to reinforce your arguments
>The ideas of other researchers can be used to explain reasons for alternative approaches.
>Ideas are considered intellectual property and there can be serious repercussions if you
fail to cite where you got an idea from.

Note that : In any academic writing, you are required to identify for your reader which ideas,
facts, theories, concepts, etc., are yours and which are derived from the research and
thoughts of others.