Task: 6,000-word report
ALL reports should include the following:
Abstract
Set out on a page
of its own immediately after the title page. The abstract is likely to be the
last section to be written. It is a short (200 words maximum.) summary of the
project (not an introduction) and should indicate the nature and scope of the
work, outlining the research problem, key issues, findings, how you obtained
your results and your conclusion/recommendations.
Table of Contents
An outline of the
whole project in list form, setting out the order of the sections, with page
numbers. It is conventional to number the preliminary pages (abstract, table of
contents) with lower case Roman numerals (i.e. (i), (ii), (iii) etc.) and the
main text pages (starting with the first chapter) in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3,
etc.) as shown below.
Contents Page
List of Tables
i
List of Figures
ii
List of Abbreviations
iii
Acknowledgements
iv
Chapter 1 (Title)
1
·
(First Section heading)
·
(Second etc.)
·
(Third)
Lists of tables and
figures
You should present
separate lists tables and figures you have included and their page numbers at
the beginning of your dissertation/project.
A table is a
presentation of data in tabular form; a figure is a diagrammatic representation
of data or other material. Tables and figures should be clearly and
consistently numbered, either above or below the table or figure. Each table
and figure should have a separate heading (caption). The reader should be able
to understand what the table or figure is about from this heading / caption
without referring to the text for explanations. Nevertheless, they need to be
discussed and analysed in the text. The numbers of the tables and the figures
you use in the text and in the lists at the beginning should correspond
exactly.
Main body of
document, appropriately structured (this structure may
vary depending on the nature of your dissertation.)
References
Appendices (these should only contain material which is genuinely supportive of the
argument in the main body of the dissertation).
Other notes on
recommended format:
·
Use A4 size paper only.
·
Use a sans-serif font such as Arial,
Calibri, Helvetica, etc
·
Type 1.5 or double-spaced.
·
Margins should be
approximately:
o
3 cms on left hand side of page to
allow for binding.
o
At least 1 cm on the
right-hand side
o
3 cms top and bottom
·
Pages should be
numbered in a single sequence from the contents page onwards.
·
Short quotations can run in the text
within single quotation marks (double quotation marks reserved for quotations
within quotations). Quotations longer than about 30 words should be set in from
the side of the page (normally the indent should be more than the paragraph
indent).
·
Always write in complete
sentences. Do not resort to note form.
·
Do not use abbreviations in the text
unless they are for an organisation’s documents etc which are
commonly initialised or referred to by acronyms e.g. BBC
·
All abbreviations must be explained
when they first appear and included in the front of the document following the
contents page and the list of tables and figures.
