PART - 1

GUIDELINES FOR THE PREPARATION OF A PROJECT REPORT

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Project Report is one of the evaluation components in the Practice School

programme. After completing a project, the student submits a report on the project work
carried out by him. This report is usually termed as Project Report. The report is a formal
document. It should therefore be presented with a lot of care and thought.

Writing a report requires skills. It is a written presentation of the work which tells
about the project, methodology used, final findings and results, etc. It is not a document
which is meant only for the author. It is infact a valuable record which is often referred to by
various persons working in that area. It is written to inform the reader and to acquaint him
with the results arrived at and the conclusions reached. It is therefore essential to ensure that
the report is written, organised and presented in such a manner that a reader has no
difficulty in understanding it.

Having done a course on Report Writing the students doing PS are supposedly well-
versed in the art of writing reports. However it is still worthwhile to recapitulate the
important points regarding the layout, style and presentation techniques of a report. As we
all know a report is a formal piece of subject matter written for a specific purpose. It
conveys information in an impartial and objective manner. The objective is to convey ideas
and information and not to impress the reader.

The following section provides a format and certain guidelines on how to write a
report for a Practice School project. There are many forms of a report but we have chosen
the one which is usually called a 'formal' report having all the compulsory elements of a
technical report in it. It is therefore, expected that all the reports submitted by the PS
students conform to the suggested format and guidelines.

1.2 APPEARANCE

The size of the report should be such that it is easy to use and handle. For this
purpose, the following points are worth noting:

(a) Size: 9" X 11", is called the quarto size. It is commonly called the "thesis size".
(b) Writing of the Report: The report should be typed in double space on one side of the
sheet and the pages should be numbered serially.
(c) Margin: About 1" on all the four sides of the sheet.
(d) Number of Soft Copies: Two (one for the PS Division, one for the organisation) plus
one suggested for the author.

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1.3 ELEMENTS (Inner Matter)

A formal report usually contains the following elements:

(i) Cover
(ii) Title page
(iii) Acknowledgements
(iv) Abstract Sheet
(v) Table of Contents
(vi) Introduction
(vii) Main Text
(viii) Conclusions and/or Recommendations
(ix) Appendices
(x) References.
(xi) Glossary

We now elaborate these elements in some detail.

(i) Cover

The Cover is meant to protect the manuscript besides giving preliminary

information like (i) the title of the report; (ii) the Name & ID No. of the student; (iii) the
name of the organization; (iv) the date of submission, etc. (see appendix-A).

(ii) Title Page

This is the first page of the report. A PS report should contain the title of the report;
the Name(s), ID No(s) and Discipline(s) of the students; PS course No.; the name of the
organisation and the Institute. The format of this page is given in Appendix – B.

(iii) Acknowledgements

It is presented on the second page of report for thanking the persons who may have
helped students during the work carried out by them. Customarily, in PS reports, thanks are
given to the following in the order given below:

• Head of the organisation,

• Co-ordinator of the PS programme at the organisation,
• Professional Expert / Incharge of the project,
• PS Faculty,
• Other persons (from the organisation and /or outside the organisation, etc.)

(iv) Abstract Sheet

This is the third page of the report, and also one of the important pages. A reader, on

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going through it, should be able to know what the project is all about, like who did it and
under whose supervision. A format of this page is given in Appendix-C.

This page contains a brief abstract of the project work. The abstract is written to
enable the reader to know the kind of information given in the report and its key features. It
mentions what the report is about, what has been accomplished and what is the importance
and utility of the results. It is never intended as a substitute for the original document, but it
must contain sufficient information to allow a reader to sustain his interest. The abstract
should always be concise. It should not contain more than 200 words. The nomenclatures
used should be meaningful, i.e., only standard terminologies should be used.

This page also contains information about Project Area and Key Words. Project
Area is the name given to an area of specialization in a discipline. For example, in
Computer Science some project areas can be Networking, Database Management etc.
Keywords are the words or phrases which can be used to specifically locate a project report.
A report can have more than one keyword and project area.

(v) Table of Contents

The table of contents is in the same form as it is found in any book. The main
division as well as the sub-divisions are listed together with the number of the first page on
which it appears. The page numbers for the matter preceding the Introduction are given in
small Roman numerals i.e. (i), (ii), (iii) etc. and in Arabic numerals i.e. 1, 2, 3 etc. from
Introduction onwards.

For establishing a suitable relationship among topics and sub-topics one should
follow a single numbering scheme. Usually schemes like decimal numbering or letter
numbering are generally followed. The scheme of decimal numbering which is more
commonly used is as follows:

1.
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.3.1
1.3.2
1.3.3

1.3.3.1
1.3.3.2
1.3.3.3
The words, phrases and sentences used for writing the topics and sub-topics should

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have a parallel grammatical construction. For this an example is given below.
2. Causes of Food Problem
2.1 Defective Distribution System
2.2 Lack of Proper Storage Facilities
2.3 Hoarding
2.4 Natural Calamities
2.5 Floods
2.6 Drought

(vi) Introduction

In Introduction, the problem is defined and introduced. The Introduction therefore

contains the purpose of writing the report and sufficient background material, including the
literature surveyed to present the reader a clear picture of the project work. A paraphrased
outline of the work should also form a part of the Introduction. In the Introduction of a
report the author discusses the scope, and the limitations of his work. It is also required to
discuss the sources, methods and procedure employed in collecting and organising the data.
The author is also expected to highlight the value of his work besides indicating the need for
writing the report.
A proper and effective Introduction should include a brief history of the problem
under discussion, coupled with the statement of the immediate problem under examination,
the reasons for undertaking it and a discussion of the methodology adopted. Generally for
PS project report, an Introduction may not be more than a couple of pages.

(vii) Main Text

The actual work, the method of treatment and the results are presented in this part of
a report. It may run into many sections and sub-sections under different headings and
sub-headings. That should be numbered and phrased appropriately. In order to maintain
consistency, you are required to follow the same pattern as given in the Table of Contents of
your report.

The main text contains the discussion on the experimental work done or the data
collected, the survey done, a description of activities, analysis and the results obtained. It
also includes illustrations and interpretations. This is the main body of the report. All
illustrations (graphs, diagrams, tables, figures, etc.) should always be accompanied by a
number and an appropriate title. This helps the reader understand the illustration in a better
way. It also helps the writer to refer to these in the subsequent discussion.

Significant discrepancies in results should be called to the reader's attention, even

when it is admitted that no reasonable explanation can be offered. If the author himself
discovers these discrepancies and does not mention them, the technical credibility of the
report gets adversely affected.

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(viii) Conclusions and/or Recommendations

The conclusions and recommendations are derived from the discussions and
interpretations of the results obtained. It would be helpful to the reader if other possibilities
pertaining to the stated conclusions and recommendations are also discussed. The purpose
of the conclusions is to draw the attention of the reader to significant findings. Sometimes
conclusions contain a very brief summary of the main discussion. Recommendations
suggest ways and means of bringing about improvement.

(ix) Appendices

The contents of an appendix are essentially those which support or elaborate the
matter given in the main text. The matter, which is essential but will unnecessarily divert
the attention of the reader from the main problem, is generally placed in the Appendix. We
give below some items which normally form a part of the Appendix. These are:
(a)calculation sheets; (b) lengthy derivations of mathematical formulae; (if that is not the
project itself) (c) supplementary details of instructions; (d) flow charts; (e) computer
programmes; (f) questionnaires & interview sheets; (g) large maps; (h) the nomenclature;
etc.

If the project itself is about making of a computer programme of some problem,

then the flow chart and the computer programme have to be in the main body. It is for the
author to decide, what matter would be placed in the Appendices according to nature of the
project work and problem definition.

(x) References

All the references to books, journals, documents, web site links etc. should be given
in the section called References. Two examples of how to write a reference are given below:

Suppose you have referred to a paper entitled 'An Integral Equation Satisfied by the
Square of Weber's Parabolic Cylinder Function', whose author is S.C.Mitra, which
appeared in the Journal of London Mathematical Society whose volume number is 11, the
year of publication is 1936, and the article is published on pages 252 to 256; you would
write it as follows:

1. Mitra, S.C. , "An Integral Equation Satisfied by the Square of Weber's Parabolic
Cylinder Function" The Journal of London Mathematical Society, Volu. 11, 1936, pp.
252-256.

Again, in case you have referred to a book on An Introduction to Linear Algebra by

Dr. V. Krishnamurthy and others which was published by Affiliated East-West Press, New

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Delhi in the year 1976, the reference should be cited as given below:

2. Krishnamurthy, V. et al, "An Introduction to Linear Algebra," 1st edition, New Delhi;
Affliated East-West Press, 1976, p.25.

The serial number of the reference should correspond to the number of citation in
the text of the report.

(xi) Glossary

Glossary is the list of technical words and terms used by the author in his report. It
normally includes the meaning of the word / term and the page no(s) where it occurs in the
text of the report.

1.4 STYLE OF WRITING THE REPORT

Write the first draft. Take reasonable care in the choice of words and sentence
structure; choose simple and familiar words. Similarly, write smaller sentences instead of
long ones with a number of clauses.

In case the project work is undertaken by a group of students then different sections
of the report are drafted by different members of the group. This is acceptable but these
sections must then be integrated into a final report and can be done best by a single writer
who can easily spot repetition, redundancy, and omission to make sure that the message
flows smoothly. The integration of the sections and polishing of the style is essential.
Unnecessary words and phrases must be avoided. The draft of the report should be given to
the faculty and also to the expert, who in turn will return it to the authors after making the
necessary corrections and suggestions.

In the light of these corrections and suggestions, prepare your second draft and now
see that it is in the desired format and structure. Having done so, send it for typing. But
your responsibilities do not get over because you have to proof-read the typed sheets;
correct the spelling mistakes if any, and check its total presentation before submitting it.

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(Specimen of Cover) (Appendix -A)

A REPORT

ON

(Title of the Project in Capital Letters)

BY

Name(s) of the ID.No.(s)

Student(s)

____________ __________
____________ __________
____________ __________

AT

(Station Name and Centre)

A Practice School-I/II station of

BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE, PILANI

(Month, Year)

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(Specimen of Title Page) (Appendix-B)

A REPORT

ON

(Title of the Project in Capital Letters)

BY

Name(s) of the ID.No.(s) Discipline(s)

Student(s)

____________ __________ _____________

____________ __________ _____________
____________ __________ _____________

Prepared in partial fulfilment of the

Practice School-I/II Course

AT

(Station Name and Centre)

A Practice School-I/II station of

BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE, PILANI

(Month, Year)

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(Specimen of Abstract Sheet) (Appendix-C)

BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE

PILANI (RAJASTHAN)
Practice School Division

Station: …………………………….. Centre .......................…………………..

Duration ....................…………………… Date of Start.................…………………
Date of Submission ..................…………………………………………………………
Title of the Project:

ID No./Name(s)/
Discipline(s)/of
the student(s)

Name(s) and
designation(s)
of the expert(s):

Name(s) of the
PS Faculty:

Key Words:

Project Areas:

Abstract:

Signature(s) of Student(s) Signature of PS Faculty

Date Date