Structuring a report
The fixed structure of an internship or project report: front matter, a four-step introduction, body, conclusion, bibliography and appendices, with numbered headings and captioned figures.
- 30 cards
- 5 topics
- Free
The outline, topic by topic
Each topic is weighted the way the exam weighs it.
- Concepts
- Questions
- Sort and link
- Scenarios
- Understand
A few cards from the deck
Front matter: what is it?
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The pages placed before the introduction: cover, acknowledgements, abstract, contents, and any lists of figures and glossary.
They orient the reader before reading: title, abstract, then the contents to find one's way. The text proper starts at the introduction.
In an internship report, where does the presentation of the company (size, activity, organisation) go?
- At the start of the body, with the host organisation
- In an appendix, because it has no direct link with the mission
- In the conclusion, as part of the assessment of the internship
- In the acknowledgements, with the names of the people met
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At the start of the body, with the host organisation
The reader needs to know the organisation before understanding the mission: it is the first point of the body. The appendix is for what is not needed for reading, the conclusion for the assessment, and the acknowledgements do not present the company.
The introduction runs from the context to the … of the mission, the … and then the ….
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The introduction runs from the context to the subject of the mission, the research question and then the outline.
It goes from broad to precise, and the outline closes the introduction: the reader knows what is coming.
Contents (short list): what is it?
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A short list of the report's main parts with their page, placed at the start, before the introduction.
It gives the map of the report at a glance. The detail of every heading level belongs to the full table of contents.
The jury reads your report and says “I cannot see your point”. Your introduction starts with two pages on the company's history. What fix?
- Add a list of figures to guide the reader through the front matter
- Move the introduction after the body so the point finally appears
- Summarise the whole company history in the abstract of the report
- Cut the context to a few lines, then mission, research question and outline
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Cut the context to a few lines, then mission, research question and outline
The introduction leads quickly to the research question; the history, if useful, belongs in the presentation of the host organisation in the body. The other answers do not change where the point must appear.