Guidelines for Progress Seminar Report Writing

These are guidelines for Progress Seminar Report Writing. There will be some additional and also
different points in case of Final report (M Tech Project thesis) writing. In Final report,
UNDERTAKING , CERTIFICATES, ABSTRACT, List of Tables, List of figures, Notations, etc.
are required. These are not needed in Progress Seminar Report.

1. Title Page (First page of report)

 Provide page border of double line box style with ½ point width to title page only.
 Refer the font style and font size given in the format below to edit the title page of your report.
2. Content Page (Second page of Report)
 Provide the contents in the table format and hide the table borders as shown in the format
below.
 Section heading name should be in TIMES NEW ROMAN with font size of 12 point and in
UPPERCASE format.
 Sub-section heading name should be in times new roman with font size of 12 point and in Title
Case format.

CONTENTS

Sr. No. Title Page No.

1 INTRODUCTION (UPPER CASE) 01

2 LITURATURE REVIEW (UPPER CASE) 02

3 WORK DONE SO FAR (UPPER CASE)

3.1 Sub-Section Name (Title Case) 09

4 WORK TO BE DONE (UPPER CASE) 13

REFERENCES (UPPER CASE) 16

3. General
 Contents of the complete work will come under given section headings only.
1. INTRODUCTION
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
3. WORK DONE SO FAR
Report work done after the previous seminar. Once your work is getting piled up, you can
have many subsections here to report your work with clarity.
4. WORK TO BE DONE
5. REFERENCES
 Student can provide as many sub-sections required under abovementioned section headings.
 Page Size: The whole report must be on an A4 page size, and must be in a single, page-wide
column. Do not use two or more columns in your report.
 Each chapter must start at the top of a new page.
  Margins:
Left: 1.25 inches (32 mm) recommended for binding; 1 inch minimum
Right, top, and bottom: 1 inch recommended; 0.75 inches (19 mm) minimum
 Spacing: Lines of text must be 1.15 for complete report
 Page Numbering:
Preliminary Pages: This will include title page and content page only. There should not be any
page number given to these two pages. (This is for Progress Seminar Report. In case of Final
report, there will be more number of preliminary pages, like UNDERTAKING ,
CERTIFICATES, ABSTRACT, List of Tables, List of figures, Notations ).
Body of Report:
- This pages must be numbered in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.)
- The first page of the text is "1"
- Subsequent pages are numbered continuously throughout, including pages with tables and
figures, bibliographies, appendices, and index
- All the paragraphs in the report should be aligned justified
Whole Report:
- Every page except the title page must have a number on it
- There must be no blank pages in the report
- Page number sequence and completeness will be checked at final submission
Page Numbers:
- Page numbers must be placed at least .5 inches (12 mm) from the edge of the page
- Page numbers can be placed either in the lower centre or on the top or lower right of the page,
when the page is viewed in portrait view. Lower right is preferred.
 Landscape Pages: Landscape pages must be orientated in your report so that they are readable
without rotation. You do not need to change the location or orientation of the page number, but
may if you wish.
4. Guidelines for Tables
 All the tables should be numbered and are mentioned above the table.
 Consistency in format should be maintained while numbering the table.
 Numbering of tables should be continuous in a single Arabic number (e.g. 1, 2, 3 …), and should
not be given section wise.
 Table number and title should be written above the table.
 Alignment of tables must be kept as center aligned.
 Title of tables should be in “Title Case”.
 The table should be referred/discussed in the text.
  Units should be mentioned in Table title/ Table.
 Variables/symbols other than Greek symbols shall be italicized, if any are mentioned in the table.
 Table titles should begin with the boldface “Table” followed by a boldface Arabic number and
a period like “Table 1.” (12, Bold)
Table 1. Seismic Zone Factor (z)
Seismic Zone
II III IV V
Factor
z 0.10 0.16 0.24 0.36
 If tables from any source are referred in the body of report, then reference should be mentioned
along with the title of figure or table. For example:
Table 2. Torsional Behaviour of Regular and Step-back Building (Wang et al. 2018)

Building Δ max Δ min Δ𝑚𝑎𝑥

configuration (mm) (mm) Δ𝑚𝑖𝑛

Regular 122 110 1.11

Step-back 101 59 1.71

5. Guidelines for Figures

 All the figures should be numbered and are mentioned below the figure.
 Title of figures should be in “Title Case”.
 Consistency should be maintained while numbering figures. Example: Fig. or Figure should be
maintained throughout the report.
 Numbering of figures should be continuous in a single Arabic number (e.g. 1, 2, 3 …), and
should not be given section wise.
 Figure number and title should be written below the figures.
 The figure should be referred/discussed in the text.
 For Example: “Figure 1.” or “Fig. 1.” (12, Bold) as shown below.

Figure 1. Components of Intze Tank

  If figures from any source are referred in the body of report, then reference should be
mentioned along with the little of figure or table. For example:

Figure 2. Collapse of Intermediate Figure 3. Failure at Sixth Storey level of

Storeys of Dzongpo House (Wang et al. Ten Storey Hill Building (Shahrooz and
2018) Moehle 1990)

6. Guidelines for Equations

 Equations should not be in image format.
 Equations should be typed in Microsoft Equation Editor.
 Do not cut and paste from source.
 Every equation should be numbered.
 Every equation should be referred/discussed in the text.
 Variables in the equation should be italicized.
 Use proper symbols while writing the equation.
For example: for multiplication sign – Do not use “x” letter, use symbol “×”
 Numbering of equations should be continuous in a single Arabic number (e.g. 1, 2, 3, …), and
should not be given section wise.
For example:
True stress of the material is calculated as per Eq. (1), and plastic true strain is calculated as per
Eq. (2).
 true   nom 1   nom  (1)

 
 true  ln 1   nom    true 
p
(2)
 E 
7. Guidelines for References
It has two parts, a) Text citation and b) Reference list
a) Text citation
  The text citation appears where the material to be cited in the body of the report. The citation
refers readers to the source in the reference list.
 Every text citation must have a corresponding reference.
 For text citation use the author-date method.
 List the last names of the authors, then the year of publication.
 The author-date formats in body of report are:
One author (Topkaya 2007)
two authors (Shahrooz and Moehle 1990)
three or more authors (Wang et al. 2018)
 In most text citations, the author and date appear in parentheses with no comma between them.
For example:
Due to presence of these irregularities, such buildings undergo additional distress. Past
performance of the buildings on hilly region have suffered large damage due to presence
irregularity (Wang et al. 2018).
An analytical study explains the damage pattern is observed at uphill level and are most prone
to the damage during earthquake (Wang et al. 2018; Shahrooz and Moehle 1990).
If there are more than one text citation, then they should be separated by semicolon.
 For text citations when the researcher’s name is part of the sentence, the last name does not need
to be repeated.
For example: According to Cem (2007), no additional support is necessary.
 For text citations by the same author(s) published in the same year are designated with lowercase
letters: 2004a, 2004b.
For example: The results of numerous studies (Yam et al. 2007a, 2007b) show the effects of …
b) Reference list
 The reference list listing all the text citations appears at the end of the paper.
 Prepare a reference section listing all references alphabetically by last name of the first author
and then year of publication.
 Every reference must have a text citation.
 References should be numbered.
 For report writing, references must be written using ASCE format guidelines given in the link
below: https://ascelibrary.org/doi/pdf/10.1061/9780784479018.ch05
ASCE format
ASCE uses the author-date method for in-text references, whereby the citation reads as the last names
of the authors, then the year (e.g., Smith 2004, or Smith and Jones 2004). A References section must be
included that lists all references alphabetically by last name of the first author. References must be
published works only. Exceptions to this rule are theses, dissertations, and “forthcoming” articles, all of
which are allowed in the References list. References cited in text that are not found in the reference list
will be deleted but queried by the copyeditor. Likewise, all references included in the References section
must be cited in the text.
Examples of reference formatting follow:
Books: If a whole book is used (or pages here and there throughout the book), page numbers need
not be given. If no author is listed, titles should be alphabetized. If a specific chapter is being used, the
chapter title and inclusive page numbers should be included. Reports must include the full institution
name and location.
Evans, G. M., and J. C. Furlong. 2003. Environmental biotechnology: Theory and applications. Chichester,
UK: Wiley.
Moody’s municipal and government manual. 1988. New York: Moody’s Investors Service.
Building Codes and Provisions: Building codes, provisions, and standards should be listed
alphabetically by the abbreviated name of the promulgating institution.
ACI (American Concrete Institute). 1989. Building code requirement for reinforced concrete. ACI
318-89. Farmington Hills, MI: ACI.
BOCA (Building Officials and Code Administrators International). 1993. The BOCA national
building code. Country Club Hills, IL: BOCA.
CEN (European Committee for Standardization). 1992. Design of steel structures, part 1.1.
Eurocode 3, Brussels, Belgium: CEN.
Data Sets: References for data sets should include author name, year of publication, titles (followed
by edition or version number) in quotation marks, publisher or distributor, access date, and electronic
identifier (DOI or URL).
Ansolabehere, S., M. Palmer, and A. Lee. 2014. “Precinct-level election data. V1.” Harvard
Election Data Archive. Accessed January 20, 2017. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/YN4TLR.
Thernstrom, S. 1986. “Boston mobility study, 1880.” ICPSR 7550. Inter-university Consortium for
Political and Social Research. Accessed November 28, 2017. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07550.
Electronic Materials: CD-ROM - The section, chapter, and page numbers should be provided if
available:
Liggett, J. A., and D. A. Caughey. 1998. “Fluid statistics.” Sec. 7 in Fluid mechanics, 140–156.
Reston, VA: ASCE. CD-ROM.
Website - The following elements should be included: author’s name or owner of the website (if
known); year of publication or last revision (if available; use “n.d.” if no date is available); full title of the
specific page, in quotation marks; title of website (if applicable), in italics; the date of access, and the full
web address.
Arizona Dept. of Commerce. 2005. “Community profile: Hualapai Indian Reservation.” Accessed
March 17, 2014. http://www.azcommerce/com/doclib/commune/hualapai.pdf.
Foucher, J. 2017. “The role of construction companies before, during, and after disaster.”
Construct Connect (blog). Accessed October 11, 2017.
 https://www.constructconnect.com/blog/operating-insights/role-construction-companiesdisaster/.
Non-ASCE Journal Articles - The standard format for a paper published in a US journal is as follows:
Beskos, D. E. 1987. “Boundary element methods in dynamic analysis.” Appl. Mech. Rev., 40 (1),
1–23. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3149529.
ASCE Journal Articles - ASCE no longer uses page numbers and has adopted a new format for its
references (including those older papers that still contain page numbers). Use the following style for
citation to an ASCE journal:
Authors. Year of initial publication. “Title of paper.” Journal abbr. Volume (Issue): CID/page
range. DOI.
Irish, J. L., and D. T. Resio. 2013. “Method for estimating future hurricane flood probabilities and
associated uncertainty.” J. Waterway, Port, Coastal, Ocean Eng. 139 (2): 04013001.
https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WW.1943-5460.0000157.
ASCE Committee/Technical Reports - ASCE committees, task forces, etc. publish reports, proposed
codes and standards, commentaries on codes and standards, and so on. The committee is the author.
Technical Committee for the Underground Technology Research Council. 2007. Geotechnical
baseline reports for underground construction: Suggested guidelines. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Foreign Journals - Authors may want to give an English translation of a non-English-language title.
Some non-English-language journals also have titles and abstracts in English, with the research papers
being in the foreign language.
Glock, D. 1977. “Überkritisches Verhalten eines starr ummautelten Kreisrohres bei Wasserdruck
von aussen und Temperaturdehnung“ [Critical behavior of liners of rigid pipeline under external
water pressure and thermal expansion]. [In German.] Der Stahlbau 7, 212–217.
For journal articles written in a foreign language that uses the Latin alphabet, the English translation and
original language are optional. For journal articles written in a foreign language that does not use the
Latin alphabet, provide a translated title only and specify the language of publication in brackets
following the article title.
Forthcoming Articles - Articles that are “forthcoming” (i.e., those that have been accepted but have
not yet been published, sometimes known as “in press”) may be included in the References list. Authors
will be asked to review any “forthcoming” references during page proofs to make sure they are updated.
Do not include a date. ASCE journal articles that are “forthcoming” should include the article DOI.
Smith, D. O., J. E. Lee, and E. M. Kim. Forthcoming. “Influence of the geometric and material
characteristics on the strength of chestnut timber joints.” Mater. Des.
Han, C.-Y., J.-H. Wang, X.-H. Xia, and J.-J. Chen. Forthcoming. “Limit analysis for local and overall
stability of slurry trench in cohesive soil.” Int. J. Geomech.
https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0000268.
Maps - The following style is used for maps:
Brown, R. J. E., cartographer. 1967. Permafrost in Canada. Map 1246A. Ottawa: Geologic Survey
of Canada.
 Smith, R. L., R. A. Bailey, and C. A. Ross, cartographers. 1970. Geologic map of the Jemez
Mountains, New Mexico. USGS Misc. Invest. Map, I-571. Washington, DC: USGS.
Newspaper Articles - The article author (if known), year, title of the article in quotes, name of the
newspaper in italics, and date should be included for article citations:
Mossberg, W. S. 1993. “Word isn’t perfect but new WordPerfect is too much for words.” Wall
Street Journal, December 2, 1993.
Proceedings - Provide the name and location of the publisher. If there is no “publisher,” the name and
location of the conference sponsor are required. For sponsors that are virtual groups (without a physical
location), include the conference location instead of sponsor location and the URL for the group’s
website before the DOI (if provided).
The name of the sponsor or the location of the conference or symposium is sometimes part of the title
of a proceedings; if so, this information should remain in the title. If given, include the editor name(s),
volume number, URL, and/or DOI.
Eshenaur, S. R., J. M. Kulicki, and D. R. Mertz. 1991. “Retrofitting distortion-induced fatigue
cracking of noncomposite steel girder-floorbeam-stringer bridges.” In Proc., 8th Annual Int.
Bridge Conf., 380–388. Pittsburgh: Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania.
Tommelein, I. D., and S. Gholami. 2012. “Root causes of clashes in building information models
(BIM).” In Proc., 20th Annual Conf. Int. Group for Lean Construction, 121–130. San Diego:
International Group for Lean Construction. https://www.iglc.net.
https://doi.org/10.5642/jhummath.201102.05.
Karam, G. N. 1991. “Effect of fiber volume on the strength properties of short fiber reinforced
cements with application to bending strength of WFRC.” In Vol. 1 of Proc., 6th Technical. Conf. of
the American Society for Composites, edited by A. Smith, 548–557. Lancaster, PA: Technomics.
Unpublished Material - ASCE does not permit unpublished material to be included in the References
list (except for journal articles that are forthcoming). Unpublished material may be cited in the text in
the following forms:
…other researchers (Orton et al., unpublished data, 1992)…
In some cases (A. W. Pinter, personal communication, 1979)…
Cite unpublished working papers and submitted papers in text with a reference to the publisher as
follows:
(B. Smith, “Weldment design for RHS truss connections,” working paper, Salk Institute,
Pittsburgh)
(J. Brown, “Field-scale sprinkler irrigation system,” submitted, J. Eng. Mech., ASCE, Reston,
Virginia)
Unpublished reports should be cited in text according to one of the following formats:
(author name(s), name of report, presented at ___, year)
(author name(s), name of report, unpublished report)
A paper that has been presented at a conference or meeting but is otherwise unpublished should be
cited as an “unpublished report”:
 … in Chang and McTavish (unpublished report, 1991)…

Guidelines for Non-Plagiarism Certificate (only for final thesis)

 Plagiarism to be checked using TURNITIN software from departmental supervisor assigned.
 Prescribed limit is of 30%.
 Non-Plagiarism certificate should be attached before the abstract of report.
 First page of Plagiarism summary should be attached after Non-Plagiarism certificate.