Question

Report Guidelines

Please be aware that the deadline to submit your first report is March 19th

You should follow this outline when writing your report. Failing to adhere to these guidelines

will result in loss of marks in the respective sections.

Page setup and limits

- Layout on A4 paper with all margins 1 cm, use 12 points Times New Roman font unless

otherwise specified. Double space all your paragraphs. Please follow the instructions below to

set up your document.

Instructions for setting up Microsoft Word

 Choose Page Layout > Margins > Under the Margins tab set 1 inches for top, bottom, left

and right margins.

 Set Orientation to Portrait

 Under the size tab, set the paper size to A4

- The minimum contents for the report is four pages and the maximum is seven pages

(excluding the cover page, table of contents page, list of tables and list of figures page). This

means that the entire report content should not exceed ten pages.

Text direction: Please ensure that the text direction of all the paragraph is “left to right” and that

the paragraphs are aligned to the left.

Report Contents: Generally the report should contain the following components:-

1) Cover page: With the university logo, college and department name (if majored). It should

include the following:

1.1 Title: Bold, lower case with first letter of each word capitalized except "and", "for",

"the" and similar, font size 15 pt, alignment centered, no full stop at end of title.

1.2 Your name: Italic, with first letter of your name, middle name and family name

capitalized, initials first each, font size 13 pt, alignment centered.

2) Table of contents: This should be in a separate page. Font size 13 pt. It should include

the page number for all the headings and subheadings in your report.

3) List of Figures and/or List of Tables:

If you have tables and figures then prepare a list for tables and a list for figures separately. If

you only have one of them, then prepare a list for it. Here, you list the name of the table or figure

and page number where it is located in your report. Note that the list of tables and/figures should

be in one page.

4) Abstract (no more than 300 words):

Format: Double spaces between paragraphs and sentences (line spaces) and the start of each

paragraph should be tabbed 0.5cm. Justify all general text, 12 pt.

This should be a single paragraph. Here you write briefly the objectives, methodology, main

findings and a brief conclusion. It is recommended to write this after you have written your

report!

Remember: The abstract should reflect a holistic overview of the report and is often the first

thing to be read. Thus, you want to make it as concise as possible for potential readers. The

abstract should very concisely summarize the whole report: why it was written, what was

discovered or developed, and using what methods. Finally, it should describe what the

significance of the work is. The abstract does not include figures, tables or references, and only

the most significant numerical values or results should be given.

5) Detailed Introduction:

Format: Double spaces between paragraphs and sentences (line spaces) and the start of each

paragraph should be tabbed 0.5cm. Justify all general text, 12 pt.

In this part, you should provide a clear statement of the problem and why the problem is of

interest. You need to present background information so that the reader appreciates the

importance of the problem. The introduction summarizes the different existing approaches to

solve the problem and how the approach in the work at hand is unique.

6) The objective of the report:

Format: Double spaces between paragraphs and sentences (line spaces) and the start of each

paragraph should be tabbed 0.5cm. Justify all general text left, 12 pt.

In this section you describe clearly the objectives of your report in a minimum of one sentence

and a maximum of four sentences.

7) Materials and Methods:

Format: Double spaces between paragraphs and sentences (line spaces) and the start of each

paragraph should be tabbed 0.5cm. Justify all general text left, 12 pt.

The purpose of this part of your report is describe the materials, apparatus, and procedures used

to carry out the measurements in the literature you have read. Since you have not carried out an

experiment yourself just yet, this part is dedicated to train you on how to do so using existing

literature. Here you describe and discuss the way measurements were obtained and analyzed by

various authors if applicable.

8) Results and Discussion:

Format: Double spaces between paragraphs and sentences (line spaces) and the start of each

paragraph should be tabbed 0.5cm. Justify all general text, 12 pt.

In this part of your report, you should describe the research findings and provide your own point

of view on them. If the findings in different papers you read are different, discuss in your own

way why that is the case. Also, discuss at the points that various papers agree on in your

discussion. If they don’t agree on some conclusions, describe why that is the case. In this part,

you can also show the graphs and tables that the authors have used to describe and argue their

findings. In this part of your report include as many references to support your arguments.

9) Conclusion:

Format: Double spaces between paragraphs and sentences (line spaces) and the start of each

paragraph should be tabbed 0.5cm. Justify all general text, 12 pt.

The conclusion is typically short (6-12 sentences). It should summarize the main points in the

project and reinforce to the reader the value of work discussed. If the results were not definitive,

specific or if future work is needed in the problem that can be (briefly) described.

Figures requirements

Each figure should be embedded in the appropriate place within the report. The resource

where the figures were obtained from should be referenced in the figure caption after its title. For

example: Figure 1. The impact of fertilizers on wheat growth. (Luikart et al,. 1999). The figure

number and legend should be placed below the figure. Number the figure with an Arabic

numeral (e.g Figure 1) and provide a legend on the same line. The title should be

comprehensible and figure should be referenced in the text. The figure number and legend

should be in bold type, left justified, and should have no full stop at the end. Include a full stop

only if the legend has more than one sentence. The key to symbols used in the figure should

appear in the legend and not on the face of the figure. When figures are referred to in the text

they should be typed in full and in bold font (e.g Figure 1).

Tables’ requirements

Tables should be inserted in the appropriate place in the text. You should reference the resource

of your tables in the caption just like figures (see above). Each table should be numbered above

with an Arabic numeral (e.g Table 1.) and given a title on the same line. The title should be

comprehensible and table should be referenced in the text. The table number and title should be

in bold font, left justified, and should have no full stop at the end. There should be 1 line space

between the heading and the table. Only the first letter of the first word of each row or column

heading should be in capitals in the table. Do not enclose the table with a box. When tables are

referred to in the text they should be typed in full and in bold font (e.g Table 1).

10) References

Within text references should be restricted to the authors' names followed by the year of

publication e.g., (Allison, 2008) for single author papers. For a two authors paper you need to

mention both authors’ surnames e.g., (Norman and MacInnes, 2002). For multiple authors papers

use “et al.,” which the Latin abbreviation for “and others” for example (Luikart et al,. 1999)

means that Luikart and others did the work. A complete list of references cited in the text must

be arranged alphabetically at the end of the text separated by one line space. They should

conform to the following examples:

Luikart, G., M.P. Biju-Duval, O. Ertugrul, Y. Zagdsuren,C. Maudet, and P. Taberlet (1999).

Power of 22 microsatellite markers in fluorescent multiplexes for parentage testing in goats

(Capra hircus). Anim Genet. 30: 431-438.

Norman A. and M. MacInnes (2002). Genetic engineering of embryonic stem cells via site

directed DNA recombination. Reviews in Undergraduate Research. 1: 29-37.

Cheffins, R. and Hirst, D.J. (1990). Proc. Aust. Soc. Anim. Prod. 18: 172.

Entwhistle, K.W. (1984). University of Sydney Post-Graduate Foundation in Veterinary

Science Proceedings 68: 311.

Smith, R.A. (1970). Ph.D. Thesis, University of Melbourne.

Snedecor, G.W. (1956). “Statistical Methods”, 5th ed. (Iowa State University Press: Ames).