Types of reports, Footnotes and Bibliography

Report writing is a formal style of writing elaborately on a topic. The tone of a report is always formal. The important section to focus on is the target audience. For example, report writing about a school event, report writing about a business case, etc.

A report is a document that presents information in an organized format for a specific audience and purpose. Although summaries of reports may be delivered orally, complete reports are almost always in the form of written documents.

Reports are written with much analysis. The purpose of report writing is essential to inform the reader about a topic, minus one’s opinion on the topic. It’s simply a portrayal of facts, as it is. Even if one gives inferences, solid analysis, charts, tables and data is provided. Mostly it is specified by the person who’s asked for the report whether they would like your take or not if that is the case.

Types of Reports

Short and Long Report Reports:

These kinds of reports are quite clear, as the name suggests. A two-page report or sometimes referred to as a memorandum is short, and a thirty-page report is absolutely long. But what makes a clear division of short reports or long reports? Well, usually, notice that longer reports are generally written in a formal manner.

Functional Reports:

This classification includes accounting reports, marketing reports, financial reports, and a variety of other reports that take their designation from the ultimate use of the report. Almost all reports could be included in most of these categories. And a single report could be included in several classifications.

Although authorities have not agreed on a universal report classification, these report categories are in common use and provide a nomenclature for the study (and use) of reports. Reports are also classified on the basis of their format. As you read the classification structure described below, bear in mind that it overlaps with the classification pattern described above.

• Preprinted Form:

Basically for “fill in the blank” reports. Most are relatively short (five or fewer pages) and deal with routine information, mainly numerical information. Use this format when it is requested by the person authorizing the report.

• Letter:

Common for reports of five or fewer pages that are directed to outsiders. These reports include all the normal parts of a letter, but they may also have headings, footnotes, tables, and figures. Personal pronouns are used in this type of report.

• Memo:

Common for short (fewer than ten pages) informal reports distributed within an organization. The memo format of “Date,” “To,” “From,” and “Subject” is used. Like longer reports, they often have internal headings and sometimes have visual aids. Memos exceeding ten pages are sometimes referred to as memo reports to distinguish them from shorter ones.

• Manuscript:

Common for reports that run from a few pages to several hundred pages and require a formal approach. As their length increases, reports in manuscript format require more elements before and after the text of the report. Now that we have surveyed the different types of reports and become familiar with the nomenclature, let us move on to the actual process of writing the report.

Periodic Reports:

Periodic reports are issued on regularly scheduled dates. They are generally upward directed and serve management control. Preprinted forms and computer-generated data contribute to uniformity of periodic reports.

Internal or External Reports:

Internal reports travel within the organization. External reports, such as annual reports of companies, are prepared for distribution outside the organization.

Lateral or Vertical Reports:

This classification refers to the direction a report travels. Reports that more upward or downward the hierarchy are referred to as vertical reports; such reports contribute to management control. Lateral reports, on the other hand, assist in coordination in the organization. A report traveling between units of the same organization level (production and finance departments) is lateral.

Proposal Report:

The proposal is a variation of problem-solving reports. A proposal is a document prepared to describe how one organization can meet the needs of another. Most governmental agencies advertise their needs by issuing “requests for proposal” or RFPs. The RFP specifies a need and potential suppliers prepare proposal reports telling how they can meet that need.

Analytical or Informational Reports:

Informational reports (annual reports, monthly financial reports, and reports on personnel absenteeism) carry objective information from one area of an organization to another. Analytical reports (scientific research, feasibility reports, and real-estate appraisals) present attempts to solve problems.

Informal or Formal Reports:

Formal reports are carefully structured; they stress objectivity and organization, contain much detail, and are written in a style that tends to eliminate such elements as personal pronouns. Informal reports are usually short messages with natural, casual use of language. The internal memorandum can generally be described as an informal report.

Footnotes

Footnotes are notes placed at the bottom of a page. They cite references or comment on a designated part of the text above it. For example, say you want to add an interesting comment to a sentence you have written, but the comment is not directly related to the argument of your paragraph. In this case, you could add the symbol for a footnote.

Importance of research paper footnotes

• Footnotes indicate the authenticity, originality and relevance of the research data.
• Footnotes give the reader an insight into the research undertaken by the writer and can enables them to further refer to the cited sources for more information.
• Research paper footnotes are important and helpful in supporting a particular claim maid in a text of a paper.
• Footnotes also illustrate to the tutor the extensiveness and the extent of research carried out by the writer.
• It is through the footnote citations that a tutor gets to assess the knowledge, skills and research abilities of a student.
• Footnotes have the same relevance as a research paper bibliography page. Both of these are vital parts of any research paper as it helps the writer’s form being charged with plagiarism.

Bibliography

A bibliography is a list of works (such as books and articles) written on a particular subject or by a particular author. Adjective: bibliographic.

Also known as a list of works cited, a bibliography may appear at the end of a book, report, online presentation, or research paper.

A bibliography is a list of all of the sources you have used (whether referenced or not) in the process of researching your work. In general, a bibliography should include:

• The authors’ names
• The titles of the works
• The names and locations of the companies that published your copies of the sources
• The dates your copies were published
• The page numbers of your sources (if they are part of multi-source volumes)