Zaheer Ahmed Swati

COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad

Department of Management Sciences
Instructions for Students!
"riting Style # S$ill
%rammar, &unctuation!
Certain 'asic (eatures of a %ood )eport*
+, Clarity
-, Conciseness
., Coherence
/, Right emphasis on important aspects
0, Meaningful organization of paragraphs
1, Smooth transition from one topic to the next, one chapter to another.
2, Appropriate heading and subheading
3, Introduction and conclusion of each chapter
4anguage Style* One of the issues hen riting report is hether to employ first person
or third person or rather more formal is the passi!e !oice in academic riting.
56amples
(irst person* I " e started this research because I " e interested in the sub#ect of
student achie!ement.
Third person* $he researcher decided to start this research because of an interest in the
sub#ect of student achie!ement.
&assi7e* It as decided to start this research because of an interest in the sub#ect of
student achie!ement. %Student should use passi!e !oice &
%'lease see the sample pro!ided& (
Zaheer Ahmed Swati
%ender8neutral language* )hen riting report it is !ery important to select
terminology that treats both genders e*ually. In discussion of general research issues,
gender + neutral language should be used in the report as gi!en in the folloing example,
56ample* In a report concerning school management, student may rite in the
introduction that -the head teacher has an increasingly complex role. his duties, for
instance, may in!ol!e complicated financial issues./
$here is no need to include 0his1 in the abo!e sentence. It can easily be ritten as -the
head teacher has an increasingly complex role, in!ol!ing complicated financial issues./
Another ay is to employ plural. 2or example, -03ead teachers ha!e an increasingly
complex role. their duties for instance, may in!ol!e complicated financial issues.1/
"hen reporting empirical data in a report hoe!er, there may often be instances here
it is necessary to refer to the gender of a respondent.
9on85nglish Terms and 56pressions* 4on56nglish ords, hich are necessary to be
included in the report, should be italicized ith 6nglish expression.
2or example, a ord pucca house should be ritten in report as, pucca house(cemented
house&
5nglish and American spellings* $his issue is !ery common in academic riting. One
style should be used.
:se of Abbre7iations*
.
Sometimes long names, needs to be repeated ith great fre*uency throughout the
report. )hen inserted in the text to a great extent, they ha!e the effect of brea7ing
up the text, and ma7e it more difficult to read. 2or example, the term 0computer
based education and training1 if repeated many times in report, ill result boring
to read. In such situation the abbre!iation C86$ may be used.
It is also necessary to de!elop a list of abbre!iations in the beginning of the
report, #ust before the -e6ecuti7e summary; . %'lease see the sample pro!ided&
%'lease see the sample pro!ided& 9
Zaheer Ahmed Swati
:se of hyphens, dashes and numerals
<yphen* )hen to ords are treated as single concept, then they are normally
hyphenated. 2or example. 3ypothetico5deducti!e.
Short dash* $he short dash is e*ui!alent in length to a double hyphen and has no spaces
at beginning or end. It is used to sho a connection beteen to terms as in 0the
ethnograpraphic5interactionist approach to research1.
4ong dash* $he long dash is used to indicate an additional inclusion in sentence such as,
$he positi!ist approach to research + relying as it does upon *uantitati!e data.
$he use of either commas or brac7ets may be more appropriate techni*ue instead of long
dash. $he long dash has the same length as the short dash but has a space at the beginning
and end.
9umber indicating* Indicating page numbers from :;9 to :<; ill be as :;95<;
Dates indicating* =ates are normally printed in the format, >uly (:, 9??@.
Centuries indicating* Centuries are normally ritten in the form 0the nineteenth
century1.
%'lease see the sample pro!ided& ;