Woldia University Research Report Writing Guideline
Woldia University Research Report Writing Guideline
April 2024
Woldia, Ethiopia
Table of Contents
1. REPORT WRITING ..................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1. LAYOUT ............................................................................................................................................. 3
1.1.1. Margins and fonts .......................................................................................................................... 3
1.1.2. Starting on new pages.................................................................................................................... 3
1.1.3. Spacing and Indentation ................................................................................................................ 4
1.1.4. Page Numbering ............................................................................................................................ 4
1.1.5. Numbering and letter cases ........................................................................................................... 5
1.2. STRUCTURE ...................................................................................................................................... 7
1.2.1. Cover page .................................................................................................................................... 7
1.2.2. Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................................ 8
1.2.3. Abbreviation/Nomenclature .......................................................................................................... 8
1.2.4. Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 8
1.2.5. Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... 9
1.2.6. List of tables .................................................................................................................................. 9
1.2.7. List of figures ................................................................................................................................ 9
1.2.8. List of appendix tables .................................................................................................................. 9
1.2.9. List of appendix figures................................................................................................................. 9
1.2.10. Main text ..................................................................................................................................... 9
1.2.11. Appendices................................................................................................................................ 18
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1. REPORT WRITING
1.1. LAYOUT
“Layout” refers to the presentation format that the report should follow. There are many
reasons for adopting a standard layout at national and even at international levels let alone at a
university level. Thus, a layout standard ensures a consistent “look and feel” and maintains
corporate identity, ensures that the contents are not obscured or destroyed due to having to
trim the pages when the publication is bound.
The left margin should be 3.0 cm (1.2 inch) for binding purpose and all the other margins
(right, top and bottom) should be 2.5 cm (1.0 inch) each. The report should be printed on A4
paper size. The font size of 14 points (Times New Roman) is recommended for first order
(major titles), while all the remaining parts of the report including the text, sub-headings, sub-
division headings and the captions of the tables and figures must be written in 12 Points
“Times New Roman” font.
The “Appendix” section comes after the “Reference”, and the title: APPENDIX appears on
the center of a plain sheet of paper that has a page number on it and placed next to the last
page of the reference.
For better readability, the spacing between the lines in the text should be 1.5 and a free line
space is left between two paragraphs. A free line space is also required before and after
headings/sections and subheadings/subsections and between a figure and a figure caption.
Indenting the first line of a paragraph instead of leaving free line spacing between two
paragraphs is not acceptable.
a. Every page in a research report (perhaps except the “title Page”) should be
assigned a page number.
b. The use of two different series of page numbering is recommended. In the first
series, small Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, etc.) should be used for all the pages
starting from the page next to the “Title page” and ending on the last page
preceding the first page of the “Introduction”. In the second series, Arabic
numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) should be used from the first page of the “Introduction”
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and continued till the end of the Appendix section.
Headings/Sections
Each first heading of the research report should be assigned a number. For example, the 1.
INTRODUCTION” or the literature review 2. LITERATURE REVIEW”.
These styles are used as visual signals to indicate the different levels of headings. Avoid
having more than 3 levels (e.g. 4.4.1.1) as they can make the text messy especially when
referring to them. If you need to categorize further, the contents of a subheading/subsection,
use a different font style. Bold and underlined in text is a popular format.
Note that none of the titles of the preliminaries are numbered including in the “Table of
Contents”. To have a numbered sub-heading or division or sub-division heading, there must
be at least two sub-headings, or two divisions or sub-divisions discussed under the upper
division heading. All measurements should be given in SI (Metric) units. Scientific names in
any part of a research report must be written in Italics Font, the genus name starting with
capital whereas the species names in small letter (Eg. Trititucum aestivum). None English
terminologies (words, nouns, pronouns, etc.) shall be italicized.
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Figures
The word “Figure” is used generically to cover all illustrations, e.g. drawings, flow charts,
sketches, etc. All figures must be captioned and given a numerical index (with Arabic
numerals). Captions should appear below the figure, and should be sufficiently descriptive
without being too long. Simply state what the figure is showing and do any explanation in the
main text. Captions for figures have the format: “Figure-chapter number-figure number-
description”. Note the positions of the full stops. The numerical index is composed of the
chapter number, a full-stop, followed by the figure number (all with Arabic numerals),
terminated with another full stop. Thus, the third figure appearing in Chapter 4 would have
the caption: Figure 4.3. Schematic of control system for the methanol-water column
You may use the abbreviated form, “Fig.”, when referring to figures if the reference appears
in the middle of a sentence. For example: The control scheme, shown in Fig. 4.3, is quite
common. Otherwise, write the word “Figure” in full. For example: Figure 4.3 shows the
chemical composition of test feeds.
Abbreviations should not be used when referring to tables and lists - write out the word
“Table” in full, with a capital “T” and no terminal punctuation is used for the table headings
or after any title listed therein.
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1.2. STRUCTURE
Structure refers to the organization of the chapters or headings/sections that make up the
research report. Unlike layout, which is usually dictated by institutional requirements, strictly
speaking, there are no fixed rules governing the structure of a research report. However, it is
generally accepted that a research report should have cover page, acknowledgement
(optional), abbreviation/nomenclature, table of contents, lists of tables, list of figures, list of
appendix tables and figures, abstract. The structure of the main text consists of Introduction,
Objectives, Research questions, Literature review, Materials and Methods (Methodology may
be used if there is not any material used in the study), Results, Discussions, Conclusions (and
recommendations), References, and Appendices (pictures, ANOVA tables, questionnaire
climate data etc.).
Here you enter logo of Woldia University, name it as WOLDIA UNIVERSITY, name of the
college in block and capital, full title; the name/s of the researcher/s; the date of submission
and the place where the report is delivered. The title should answer the question “what is the
study about?” Most people find it easier to write the title after they write the first draft. The
final version of the title must help the reader and not you. Do not use trade names or jargon in
your title. The title should describe the main subject. It is the part of the research report that is
most often read by researchers when scanning the journals or when conducting a
computerized literature search. It is used in abstract journals, citation index journals and in
databases. Therefore, it is important to give it attention. A good title should be brief (less than
20 words), describe the contents of the papers accurately, avoid jargon and formulae and
contain key words for indexing and retrieval (Appendix 1).
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1.2.2. Acknowledgement
1.2.3. Abbreviation/Nomenclature
1.2.4. Abstract
The ABSTRACT is usually a maximum of one page summary of the objectives of the
research/purpose of the study; the general methodology used, the main findings, preferably
with quantitative data and significance of the findings and the main conclusions. It provides
the reader with a summary of the contents of the research report. It should therefore be brief
but contain sufficient detail -to be self- contained so that it reflects the whole research report.
The ABSTRACT is the “gateway” to the contents of the research report, and therefore it is
important that the ABSTRACT gives the reader a good initial impression. The abstract should
have objectives, year(s) when the experiment/research was executed, location where the
experiment/research was executed, materials and methods used in the experiment/research,
results obtained from the research, conclusion and recommendations.
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1.2.5. Table of Contents
The table of contents lists the headings/sections and subheadings/subsections with their
corresponding page numbers. When you compile the table of contents, include all
heading/section levels and their titles. This is another reason not to have more than 3
heading/section levels - the contents list becomes overly complex (Appendix 3).
Here the tables together with captions and their corresponding page numbers are listed
(Appendix 4).
Here the figures, diagrams and illustrations together with captions and their corresponding
page numbers are listed (Appendix 5).
Here the appendix tables together with captions and their corresponding page numbers are
listed (Appendix 6).
Here the appendix figures, diagrams and illustrations together with captions and their
corresponding page numbers are listed (Appendix 7).
The main text is divided into chapters, with appropriate chapter headings. In the traditional
(simple) type, it includes a chapter to introduce the research including the objectives; and to
provide an overview of the research report; a chapter reviewing the work that has been done
in the study area; a chapter to describe in detail the methodology adopted; a chapter to present
the main results of the work and to discuss what the findings mean; a concluding chapter that
summarizes the main findings of the research; statements about the main contributions of the
research and recommendations for implementation and further work.
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INTRODUCTION
The first chapter of a research report proper is normally given the title
INTRODUCTION, and it serves many purposes. It is the place where you should:
Discuss the general motivation for the work that is being reported
State and define the problem that the research report is trying to address or
solve
State the aims and objectives of the work
Give an indication of how the work will be progressed
Give a brief overview of the problem that you are tackling, and be specific about what the
work is trying to achieve, and what you did to meet these objectives. From an assessment
point of view, one of the measures of success is whether the objectives listed in this chapter
have been achieved. While a research project may start off with a set of objectives, it is often
the case that these will change as the project evolves. Such is the nature of research. You
should take this into consideration when stating the objectives of the project.
Like the ABSTRACT, the INTRODUCTION should be written to engage the interest of the
reader. Readers will first scan the figures and tables and read the ABSTRACT, then move to
the INTRODUCTION. Therefore, the INTRODUCTION must convince them to continue
reading. The INTRODUCTION answers the question „why did you do the work?‟ An
INTRODUCTION should be relatively short and should contain:
Information on what is already known or in use supported by references to the
most important publications on the subject.
The hypothesis.
Support for the arguments to do the research.
Experiments you intend to do to test the hypothesis.
Objectives
The objective part describes the measurable outputs of the research. It answers the question
„What is intended to achieve at the end?‟ or „What do you expect to discover?
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LITERATURE REVIEW
This is a chapter reviewing the work that has been done in the area of the study. The
LITERATURE REVIEW is there for you to:
Describe what others have done and hence sets a benchmark for the current
project
Provide details about the motivation for the project
State why the problem addressed by the research report is important
Set the scene for the work described in the research report
Justify the use of specific solution techniques or problem solving procedures in
your work.
A thorough literature review is essential because it shows that you have studied rigorously
what others have done. This lends credibility when you state the problem the research report
is addressing, and when you provide reasons as to why obtaining a solution is important.
Where applicable, you should also include a critique of the available solutions to the problem
that you are tackling. This would implicitly provide justifications for the study and, at the
same time, establish benchmarks against which your contributions can be assessed. Therefore,
make sure that you seek out the most recent information relating to your field of study. You
may, if you wish, include a discussion about your approach to the problem, and which of the
published work will form the basis of your investigations. It is recommended to use latest
references published not before the last ten years, and not more than 5-7 pages.
In the materials and methods section/methodology, you describe the method in a logical order
including the procedures and the experimental design used to do the research. Describe what
you did and how you did it. Give enough information for scientists to repeat your experiment
if they wish, or assess how reliable your methods are. If the methods are already published in
widely circulated journals, give the reference instead of repeating all the details. If you use a
new method or made changes to published methods describe it or indicate the changes you
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made. The geographical area where the research was done may also be of relevance. Use
generic names for chemicals and do not use trade or local names unless there is no generic
name for them. Use the full taxonomic names for animals, plants and micro-organisms. For
animals, give the age, sex and genetic and physiological status. State which statistical methods
you used. If you used complex statistical methods, explain them. Indicate which computer
program you used.
Generally, brief description of treatments, materials used, duration and location where the
experiment was conducted, experimental procedures (field, greenhouse or laboratory)
followed, experimental design, method of data collection, sampling technique, and statistical
analysis used, description of the study area (soil type, topography and climate) will be briefly
explained here. The material and methods part should be self-explanatory so that others could
follow the procedure and repeat the experiment. Generally, the materials and methods part
include all materials and method included in the research but the methods will be written in
passive voice.
Results
The results section answers the question „what did you find?‟ If the results and discussion
section are written separately write the results section so that it can stand on its own. Present
the results in a logical order. Reduce the massive amount of data you have collected to means
along with standard errors or standard deviations. Include results from controls as well as
treatments; include results relevant to your argument; these can agree or disagree with your
hypothesis. Suppressing negative results is unethical. A negative result is as important as a
positive one as it may direct the readers to new hypothesis. Generally, you are advised to use
well known statistical tests. State the number of measurements used to arrive at the mean. If
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data are from a skewed distribution, give the median and the range. Repeat in text only the
most important findings shown in tables and figures. Refer to every table and figure by
number in the text.
Discussion
A concluding part is required that summarizes the main findings of the research; statements
about the main contributions of the research and recommendations for future work. After
reading your ABSTRACT and INTRODUCTION, most readers will make a baseline for the
CONCLUSIONS (and RECOMMENDATIONS for further work) part. There are three
distinct parts to this, the last of the main chapters, and arguably the most important of the lot.
It is here where you wrap up the research report by providing:
Summary of the main findings of the research report with respect to the
objectives set.
List of the contributions of the work
Directions for further research
You need to indicate whether the study objectives have been achieved and whether the work
has contributed to knowledge. These are two of the most important criteria in judging the
research work. Therefore, when compiling this section, you should focus on answering these
questions.
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Any conclusions drawn should be those resulting from your own work. However, you should
not be discussing your results here. All statements should be concise, and should be written to
lead on to the contributions that you have made.
When writing the research report, you should be aware of the worth and relevance of your
work in relation to the current state-of-the-art (another reason for a rigorous LITERATURE
REVIEW). Your claims must be backed up by the results of your work.
The Recommendations for development intervention or further research are also important.
Research often exposes further problems and introduces more questions. Therefore, you will
be expected to make suggestions about how your work can be improved and, based on your
findings, whether there are areas that deserve further investigation. What you write in this
section will show whether you have a firm appreciation of your work, and whether you have
given sufficient thought to its implications, not only within the narrow confines of the
research topic, but to related fields. These reflect your ability for original thought, and your
potential to carry out original research; key issues in a research topic.
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REFERENCES
A. In-text Citations
For in-text citations, the author-date method is used. There are two possible ways of
in-text citation, namely, the subject-centered and author-centered citation. In the
subject-centered citation, the author‟s last name followed by a comma, a space, and
the year of publication are written in parenthesis usually at the end of the sentence. In
the author-centered citation, only the year of publication is placed in parenthesis.
Recognizing country tradition and culture, Ethiopian authors‟ names should be
presented as they appear in the publication.
Single Author
Subject-centered citation: (Armadeep, 2009)
Author-centered citation: Armadeep (2009)
Two Authors
Subject- centered citation: (Smith and Brown, 2010)
The reference list should start on a new page following the single numbered REFERENCE
page. Each listing should use the hanging indent method where all lines after the first one are
indented twelve spaces or one tab. The list should be in alphabetical order by the last name of
the author with first and middle names using initials.
Please note that for Ethiopian names, you are to write the full name of the author beginning with
his or her first name first. For example, Belay Tesfaye would be placed in alphabetical order in
the References chapter listing. There must be consistency in using italics and abbreviations for
journals in all lists of references. Be consistent in using issue number and doi also.
Note the use of spacing, periods, semi-colons, colons, backstrokes (/), the parenthesis, and
italicizing in the reference listings. These are all important to the proper presentation of the
references. Care should be conducted with each.
The internet is a powerful tool in conducting literature reviews and identifying and selecting
the most current citations and references. Authors should give attention to assure that internet
citations are both complete and correct. URL addresses are always in parenthesis. The date that
the student accessed the publication should be stated. Included below are the major types of on-
line citations.
Journal Article
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Proceedings
Papers presented at conferences/symposia/annual meetings of professional societies, etc. are
also common sources of research information. Use the format below when listing them:
Author(s). year. Article title, Name of conference/symposium/annual meeting, Location of
conference/symposium/annual meeting, page range.
Example:
Dore S.D., Perkins J.D. and Kershenbaum L.S. 1994. Application of geometric nonlinear
control in the process industries - a case study. Proc. IFAC Symposium,
ADCHEM '94, Kyoto, Japan, pp. 501-506.
Books
To list books, use the following format:
Author(s). year. Title of book, Edition number, Name of publisher, place of publication,
Pages of the book.
Example:
Turk C. and Kirkman J. 1996. Effective Writing - improving scientific, technical
and business communication. 2nd Edition, E & FN SPON, London, 567
pp.
John I. E. 2000. Dairy Cattle Management. The University of Free State,
Bloomfontein, 456p.
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Example:
Peel C. 1995. Aspects of Neural Networks for Modelling and Control. PhD Thesis,
University of Newcastle, UK, 105 pp.
Bloggs J. and Other A.N. 1998. The Effects of Vodbull on Class Attendance. Research
Report No. 123, Social Impact Research Group, Smirnoff Institute of Technology,
Vladistock, Russia, 104 pp.
1.2.11. Appendices
Appendices contain those parts of research report that are either well known or does not
contribute directly to the main text, but needs to be included for completeness. Examples are
sample calculations; derivation of a published result which forms the basis for the work;
background information: ANOVA table, questionnaires, meteorological data, etc.
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APPENDIX
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Appendix 1. A sample cover page for Research report
WOLDIA UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES
(Times new roman, 16 font size, center, and bold)
Title
(Times new roman, 14 font size, Capital case in each main word, center, and bold)
By
Sosina Abebe (PhD)
Kibret Alemu (MSc)
(Times new roman, 12 font size, and bold)
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Appendix 2. A sample Table of Contents
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Appendix 3. A sample Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS Page
1. INTRODUCTION 1
2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2
2.1. @@@@@@@@@@@@ 2
2.1.1. @@@@@@@@@ 3
2.1.2. @@@@@@@@@@ 4
2.1.3. @@@@@@@@@@@ 6
2.2. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 9
2.2.1. @@@@@@@@@@ 9
2.2.2. @@@@@@@@@@@ 10
2.2.3. @@@@@@@@@ 11
2.3. @@@@@@@@@@@@@ 12
2.3.1. @@@@@@@@@ 12
2.3.2. @@@@@@@@@ 13
2.3.3@@@@@@@@@ 13
3. MATERIALS AND METHODS 14
3.1. @@@@@@@@@ 14
3.2. @@@@@@@@@ 15
3.3. @@@@@@@@@ 16
3.3.1. @@@@@@@@@ 16
3.3.2. @@@@@@@@@ 17
3.3.3. @@@@@@@@@ 18
3.4. @@@@@@@@@ 20
3.4.1. @@@@@@@@@ 22
3.4.2. @@@@@@@@@ 25
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Appendix 4. List of Tables in research report
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1. @@@@@@@@@@@@ 18
2. @@@@@@@@@@@@ 25
3. @@@@@@@@@@@@ 30
4. @@@@@@@@@@@@ 36
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1. @@@@@@@@@@@@ 8
2. @@@@@@@@@@@@ 15
3. @@@@@@@@@@@@ 22
4. @@@@@@@@@@@@ 24
5. @@@@@@@@@@@@ 27
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Appendix 6. List of Appendix Tables in the research report
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