FINAL-YEAR PROJECT REPORT WRITING GUIDELINES

Expected Content ................................................................................................................ 2

Content summary ................................................................................................................ 4

Example Layout .................................................................................................................. 5

Report Format ..................................................................................................................... 6

Stylistic And Grammar Advice........................................................................................... 9

Useful Web Based Resources ........................................................................................... 10

FINAL-YEAR PROJECT REPORT WRITING GUIDELINES

The final year report is an important undertaking and should use the structural

guidelines outlined below. Examiners are very interested in the process that was

used during the final year project . The mechanism for detailing the process is

the final year project report.

EXPECTED CONTENT

Title Page

This should contain the following information:

o Title,

o Full name of author,

o Degree that it contributes towards,

o Industrial or other collaboration if appropriate,

o Month and year of submission.

Note that the title page should not show a page number.

Abstract

This should be not more than one page in length. The abstract should allow the reader

who is unfamiliar with the work to gain a swift and accurate impression of what the

project is about, how it arose and what has been achieved.

Contents List

This should give a complete list of what the report contains starting with the

abstract (the title page is not included in the contents list).

List of Tables/Figures

If the report contains figures or tables a list of these should be provided. The listshould

give the table or figure number, the title of the table or figure and the page number. If

only a few tables and figures are present, they may be treated on onepage. Remember that

all figures and tables used must be referred to in the text. For example “The class diagram

shown in Figure 2.1 ....”

Acknowledgements

It is normal to thank those who have given help and support (typically your

supervisor). Keep acknowledgements short and business-like.

Introduction/Background

This section introduces the reader to the subject area in the project. It may

include such things as:

o how the need for the system etc was identified,

o the nature of the

o application area, he relationship with any industrial partner and so on.

A brief outline of the project work should also be included. Some evidence of

reading around the area is expected. This reading could be outlined in either a

References Section or a Bibliography Section. A plan of organization for the

project should be stated in the introduction section.

Methodology (Main Body of the Report)

This section should/could be divided into a number of chapters and sub-chapters.

Each of these should contain a reasonably separate topic of discussion and be

arranged in a logical sequence. The linkage between chapters should be stated

clearly at the beginning and/or the end of each chapter to show the relationships

between chapters.

Conclusion

The conclusion chapter should state briefly the achievements of the project, the

conclusions and suggestions for further work.

Appendices

These should be used for reference material, such as selected pieces of

research data and other information which is too bulky, or would detract from the

flow of the text, if included in the main body of the document. Try to make

reference material that will be consulted from many different places in the

document and appendix. Otherwise, put the information into a figure or table and

keep it close to the text that refers to it.

References1 and Bibliography2

There should always be a list of all books, articles and technical resources

consulted. The use of all source material should be explicit in the report. This

means that normally ever item in the reference list will be referred to in the report

and every item mentioned in the report will have an entry in the reference list.

1 The reference in the text could appear as “.. the best system [23]..” and the Reference Section would have:

[23] “ Is Linux the best “ , Linux World, John Waters, Dec 02 , pp 23 –45.

2 The Bibliography contains details of books, articles etc that are not referenced directly in the text but were

read by the author and were used during the project as significant information sources.

CONTENT SUMMARY

Content Advice

Abstract

The whole project in miniature.

♦ State main objectives – What did you

investigate and why?

♦ Describe methods – What did you do?

♦ Summarize important results – What did

you find out?

♦ State main conclusions – what do your

results mean?

.

Do not include, references to

figures, etc., information in the

report, background information.

Extract key points and condense

material

Introduction

♦ Describe the problem investigated.

♦ Summarize relevant research to provide

context, key terms, and concept so the

reader can understand the experiment.

♦ Review relevant past research to

provide

rational for your work.

♦ Briefly describe your research – design,

research, hypothesis, etc.

Move from general to specific –

relate problems in the real world

to your research. Make clear links

between the problem and the

solution. Be selective in choosing

studies to cite.

Methodology

♦ How you studied the problem and what

you used – materials, subjects and

equipment.

♦ How you performed the research –

methods and procedure.

Provide enough detail for

replication of your work. Order

procedures chronologically.

Use past tense to describe what

you did. Don’t mix results with

procedure.

Conclusions

Outline the success of your project when

compared to the objectives that were set.

♦ Suggest further work for your research

area.

♦ Summarise the most important findings.

Make explanations complete.

Avoid speculation that cannot be

tested in the foreseeable future.

Discuss possible reasons for

expected or unexpected findings.

EXAMPLE LAYOUT

The previous pages could be interpreted and a report laid out in the

following fashion

♦ Abstract

♦ Chapter 1: Introduction

- Motivation

- Problem description

- Objectives of the work

- Organisation of the report

♦ Chapter 2: Background

- Details of relevant theory

- Review of past/reported work

- Brief introduction of the proposed work/solution

♦ Chapter 3: (Appropriate title related to research)

- Main work, e.g., solution approach, theory, simulation software, circuit design, etc.

♦ Chapter 4: (Appropriate title related to research)

- Results and findings based on the method described in Chapter 3

♦ Chapter 5: Evaluation

- This could be optional, depending on the content of the research. This chapter

provides an objective evaluation/comparison of the student's work with others.

♦ Chapter 6: Conclusion

- Review of the project and reiteration of important findings

- Suggestion for future work

♦ Appendices

♦ References

♦ Bibliography

Introduction

Methodology

Conclusions

REPORT FORMAT

The information in this section explains how the report should look. Set them up

on a word processor and use them throughout the preparation of the document

than to attempt a major rearrangement of material at the last minute.

Length

There is no hard rule about overall length because this will vary with each project

depending on the nature of the work. For a B.Eng. report, approximately 120

pages, including tables and appendices is an acceptable upper limit. Ask advice

from your supervisor and remember, quantity is no substitute for quality.

Paper

The entire report must be submitted on A4 size paper.

Printing

The report should be printed on one side of each page only. The print quality

should be dark and clear.

Margins

Left margin 25mm. Top, bottom and right margins 20mm.

Justification

Right and left margins should be justified (giving a straight edge to the text on

both sides).

Font size

Use a Times New Roman or similar style font, point size 12 for most of the

document.

Pagination

The report must carry sequential pagination throughout, including appendices.

The page number should be on the top right margin of each page. The title page

is counted in the numbering, but bears no page number.

Page Breaks

Try to ensure that these occur in sensible places. There is no need to take a new

page for each main section heading but you should do so for new chapters.

Never let a page break separate the last line of a paragraph. Try to ensure that,

if possible, enumerated lists (a, b, c, etc) are not split across pages.

Header

A header should be placed at the top of each page apart from the title page. In

addition to the page number, the document header should include the

candidate’s name, qualification sought and calendar year.

Paragraphs

These should be blocked (no indentation on the first line) and separated by a

single blank line ( this blank line is double-spaced).

Citations

Where a sizeable chunk (around 30 words or more) is quoted from the work of

another author, the quotation should be blocked and indented 0.5” from the left

and right margin. It should also be separated from the preceding and following

text by a blank line. There is no need to use quotation marks.

If this was an extract from a publication about report writing that I

wanted to include, it would be set in this way to distinguish it from

my own words. When quoting direct from a source it is essential

to provide a full reference, including page number, so that readers

can locate the passage if they so desire. (Author, date, page

number or a unique number)

This authors name would appear in the references. If the quotation omits some

material between the source’s start and end points, this is indicated by dots as

follows:

If this was an extract from a … it would be set this way. (Author,

date, pg.)

When quoting small amounts, the quotation can be incorporated in the text,

without the need to offset it. In this case quotation marks are used to delineate

the words copied. For example, according to Chan (1999) “it is of paramount

importance to acknowledge the work of others”.

A further way to cite from another author’s work is to refer to it, but not quote

from it. The next sentence gives an example. According to Chan (1999) the use

of formal methods has little to offer.

Care to acknowledge the work of others is of paramount importance. Use of work

of others without attribution is tantamount to stealing.

Line Spacing

The text of the document should be double-spaced.

Headings and Legends

Section and subsection headings should be emboldened. Major Headings should

be printed in point size 14. Legends (these are the figure and table

identifications) should be emboldened and centred, but not enlarged.

Sectioning

Sections and subsections are used to organise the document into cohesive

chunks for the reader. Give them meaningful headings. Never subdivide beyond

three levels e.g. 3.1.1.2 is too much.

Below is an example of the numbering system:

1 Chapter 1

1.1 Section 1 of Chapter 1

1.1.1 Sub-Section 1 of Section 1

A Division A of Sub-section 1

i.) Sub-Division i.) of Division A

ii.) Sub-Division ii.) of Division A

B Division B of Sub-Section 1

1.1.2 Sub-section 2 of Section 1

1.2 Section 2 of Chapter 1

2 Chapter 2

Tables and figures

These should each be sequentially (and separately) numbered throughout the

document. They should be centred and labelled with identification number and

title. What the table and figure is intended to show should be clear. If a graphical

representation is used, axes must be clearly labelled. It is common to include a

line or two under the table identifier to clarify contents. If necessary to fit the

contents of a table on one page, 10-point font size may be used; alternatively the

page may be printed in landscape mode.

Appendices

These should be sequentially numbered starting with Appendix 1. Pagination

continues form the main body of the document through the appendices.

References

There are a variety of ways to reference material used in a report. Below is just

one example. If there is a lengthy list (several pages), use 10-point font size,

otherwise use 12 point. References can be given in the following format. (

Books (notice that it is the book title that is italicised).

Bloggs, J. 1981. Advances in Computing. London: Academic Press.

Book Chapters (this is to cite a chapter in an edited book)

Bloggs, J. 1981. The intelligent machine. In B.F.Black (Ed), The Future of

Computing. Edinburgh: Napier university Press.

Journal Article (notice, in the first example, the journal article title is italicised,

the figure following is the volume number (normally emboldened), with the

issue number after the oblique and then the page numbers)

Bloggs, J. 1981. The evaluation of the interface design, Journal of man-

Machine Studies, 4/1, 99-150

STYLISTIC AND GRAMMAR ADVICE

Apostrophes

One of the most common mistakes in student writing is incorrect use of the

apostrophe (‘), as in PC’s to mean a number of PCs. It is used in English to form

contractions such as didn’t (did not), can’t (cannot) and it’s (it is). These uses

should be avoided in academic writing and the words written out in full. The

apostrophe is also used to denote possessive case, as in the dog’s bone or the

student’s assignment. The rule here is that of the intended noun is singular (one

dog) the apostrophe is placed before the s. The examples above refer to a single

dog and a single student respectively. If the intended noun is plural and regularly

formed, theapostrophe is placed before the s as in dogs’ (of the dogs). However

if the noun has an irregular plural, e.g. child – children, the apostrophe is placed

before the s as inchildren’s.

Acronyms

Computing/engineering are fields in which acronyms are heavily used to avoid

repetition of long technical terms, e.g. RAM, LAN, VDU. Terms like VDU are now

so commonly used by the population at large that it is rapidly becoming

admissible to use them without explanation. However, most acronyms are

familiar only to specialists within sub-fields of computing/engineering. When

using an acronym for the first time, always precede it with the expanded version.

Colloquialisms

These are chatty, idiomatic or slang expressions that are appropriate in informal

conversion but have no place in your report. For example;

Once Pat pulled his finger out, the team started to come together better and

eventually we managed to hand something in that is pretty reasonable

considering we didn’t know each other much before this report.

A related point is that in academic and technical writing the use of the first person

‘I’ is avoided as much as possible. In similar way, avoid referring to the reader

as ‘you’.

Grammar

Do be careful to write in full sentences and to proof read the document to ensure

not only that the text is grammatically sound, but also that it means exactly what

was intended.

Jargon

Try to strike a good balance between use of jargon and appropriate use of

technical terms. There is no merit in using so much obscure terminology that the

document is virtually unreadable, but on the other hand, failure to use key words

properly can lead to unnecessary wordiness and tends to give an

unprofessional impression. It is important to be consistent in the use of terms, to

define them if necessary and to use the same term for the same concept

throughout.

Spelling

There should be no excuse for spelling mistakes in a word processed document.

Spelling errors create a bad impression. Always use a spell checker, they are

invaluable for picking up typographical errors as well as genuine spelling

mistakes. Note, however, that spelling checkers cannot detect cases where the

wrong word happens to be a real word e.g. from – form. So a careful proof read

is necessary.

USEFUL WEB BASED RESOURCES

o Electrical Engineering Final-Year Project Report Guidelines:

o http://www.engl.polyu.edu.hk/EECTR/eehandbook/home.htm

o Final Year Projects

o http://final-year-projects.com/index.htm

o Final year Project report sample

o http://www.comp.brad.ac.uk/intranet/modules/PROJ/proj%20info/sampleo

ne.doc

o Guidlines for the Projects Reports

o http://igor.gold.ac.uk/~mas01fl/teaching/projects/projectsreports.

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