Report Writing Guidelines
Report Writing Guidelines
Report Writing Guidelines
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9 ELEMENTZ SCIENCE RESEARCH CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION
General
1. The report must be of A4 size, securely bounded and typed in Arial font 12 with double
line spacings.
2. Supporting tables, graphs, charts, diagrams, pictures or photos, etc. should be properly
labelled in sequential order and captioned. For example,
• Table 1, 2, 3 etc.
• Figure 1, 2, 3, etc.
• Diagram 1, 2, 3, etc.
• Chart 1, 2, 3, etc.
4. Fanciful decoration of the report should be avoided – whatever graphics or colours used
should support the contents of the report rather than for purely decorative purposes.
5. Each Project Team must submit a printed Report in simple, clear English describing
their projects and findings. This report should not exceed
(i) 2000 words for Upper Secondary level projects
(ii) 3000 words for Pre-University level projects
6. The report should be organised for easy reading. It should be concise and direct (to
the point). All diagrams, pictures and photographs should be clear and sharp.
7. Three hardcopies and 1 soft copy of the project report must be submitted to Dr
Sarasa at Elementz, NZ Centre of Excellence for Science by Monday, 24 March
2008.
Project Title
The project title should throw light on your investigation. It should not be an advertisement-
type of slogan.
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Organisation of Report
Cover Page
Please refer to the sample shown on page 11. The cover page should be kept neat
and simple. Any cover design should be relevant to the project.
Contents Page
The contents page should list the sections in the report with page numbers.
Abstract
The abstract is a one-page summary of the whole project, stating its purpose, method, main
findings and conclusion(s).
Introduction
• What the project is all about?
• Why it is chosen?
• Why it is important, significant or interesting?
• What you hope to achieve from your investigation?
Resources
• What resources (human, physical and time) have been utilised in the project?
• How have they been procured?
Methodology / Procedure
• Describe in detail the steps in your study or investigation, including timeframe,
repetitions, and changes made to original plans.
• How does your method lead towards answering the key question(s) in your study?
Findings
• What data is collected from the study?
• Your data must be organised and presented in a reader-friendly format.
Analysis of Findings
• How is the analysis of the data collected conducted?
• Why is the data analysed the way you did?
• Present your analysis in a way that makes for easy interpretation by the reader.
• The use of tools, such as tables, graphs, charts will improve your presentation.
• The tables, graphs, etc. have to be interpreted. i.e. what do they mean?
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Relevance to Practical Application
• What are the practical applications of the project and the results obtained?
• Highlight the feasibility, advantages and relevance of any ideas proposed in the
course of the research.
Conclusion
• What significant conclusions can you make from the analysis of the findings?
• Do the conclusions fit your initial assumptions or hypotheses?
• If they do not, can you explain the cause of any deviations?
• Can you explain any interesting or unexpected results of your investigations?
• Are your research questions sufficiently answered by your investigation?
• What further investigations can your team or other investigators do as a follow-up?
References
• List your references in alphabetical order of family names of author.
• The list should include the author’s name, year of publication, title of publication,
relevant chapters and pages (if applicable), and publisher. E.g.:
• References can either be from printed or non-printed media. State the type of media,
if non-printed.
Acknowledgement
List those who have assisted the team in one way or another in the process of the
investigation and report writing. The more significant persons should be listed first.
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Sample of Project Report Cover Page
Ismail b Abdullah
Teacher(s)/Resource:
Mentors : Mr Patrick Sung
Mdm Chan Geok Choo
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