THE FINAL YEAR REPORT TEMPLATE

AND GUIDELINES
by
ALI BIN ABU
Session 2012/2013

The project report is prepared for

Faculty of Engineering and Technology
Multimedia University
in partial fulfilment for
Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) Electronics
majoring in Telecommunications

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

MULTIMEDIA UNIVERSITY
April 2012

The copyright of this report belongs to the author under

the terms of the Copyright Act 1987 as qualified by Regulation
4(1) of the Multimedia University Intellectual Property
Regulations. Due acknowledgement shall always be made of
the use of any material contained in, or derived from, this
report.

DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this work has been done by myself and no portion of the work
contained in this report has been submitted in support of any application for any
other degree or qualification of this or any other university or institute of learning.
I also declare that pursuant to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1987, I have not
engaged in any unauthorised act of copying or reproducing or attempt to copy /
reproduce or cause to copy / reproduce or permit the copying / reproducing or the
sharing and / or downloading of any copyrighted material or an attempt to do so
whether by use of the Universitys facilities or outside networks / facilities whether
in hard copy or soft copy format, of any material protected under the provisions of
sections 3 and 7 of the Act whether for payment or otherwise save as specifically
provided for therein. This shall include but not be limited to any lecture notes, course
packs, thesis, text books, exam questions, any works of authorship fixed in any
tangible medium of expression whether provided by the University or otherwise.
I hereby further declare that in the event of any infringement of the provisions of the
Act whether knowingly or unknowingly the University shall not be liable for the
same in any manner whatsoever and undertake to indemnify and keep indemnified
the University against all such claims and actions.
Signature: __________________________
Name:
Student ID:
Date:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Insert acknowledgement here

ABSTRACT
Insert abstract here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Copyright
Declaration
Acknowledgement
Abstract
Table of Contents
....................................................................................................................................vii
List of Tables viii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.................................................................................1
CHAPTER 2: SPECIFICATIONS OF THE REPORT.................................................2
2.1

Number of Copies..........................................................................................2

2.2

Cover and Binding.........................................................................................2

2.2.1

Spine.......................................................................................................2

2.3

Language........................................................................................................3

2.4

Typeface and Font Size..................................................................................3

2.5

Paper and Printing..........................................................................................3

2.6

Margin and Spacing.......................................................................................3

2.7

Pagination.......................................................................................................4

CHAPTER 3: FORMAT OF THE REPORT................................................................5

3.1

Preliminary Pages...........................................................................................5

3.1.1

Title Page................................................................................................5

3.1.2

Acknowledgement..................................................................................5

3.1.3

Abstract...................................................................................................6

3.1.4

Table of Contents and List of Figures/Tables.........................................6

3.2

Main Text.......................................................................................................6

3.2.1

Introduction.............................................................................................7

3.2.2

Theoretical Background or Review of Literature...................................7

3.2.3

Method of Investigation or Details of the Design...................................7

3.2.4

Presentation of Data................................................................................8

3.2.5

Discussion on Findings...........................................................................8

3.2.6

Conclusions and Recommendations.......................................................8

3.3

Reference Material.........................................................................................9

3.3.1

Appendices..............................................................................................9

3.3.2

References...............................................................................................9

3.4

General Guidelines.......................................................................................10

3.5

Further Reading............................................................................................11

CHAPTER 4: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY..........................................................12

4.1

Plagiarism What is it?...............................................................................12

4.2

Plagiarism Check.........................................................................................12

CHAPTER 5: FORMATTING TIPS..........................................................................14

5.1

Preliminary Pages.........................................................................................14

5.2

Headers.........................................................................................................14

5.3

Captions........................................................................................................14

5.4

Citations and References..............................................................................16

REFERENCES...........................................................................................................18
APPENDIX A.............................................................................................................19

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 3-1: MMU tagline............................................................................................10
Figure 4-1: Class homepage at Turnitin.com..............................................................13
Figure 5-1: Dialog box for inserting captions.............................................................15
Figure 5-2: Referencing tables and figures.................................................................15
Figure 5-3: Dialog box for inserting citations............................................................16
Figure 5-4: Editing reference sources.........................................................................17

LIST OF TABLES
Table 2-1: Submission items.........................................................................................2
Table 2-2: Document margins.......................................................................................4

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
The skill to apply engineering knowledge is one of the most important aspects that an
engineering graduate must have acquired upon graduation. The only way to learn this
practical skill is to have a specific engineering problem to solve. One must learn to
use all applicable theories in analysing the problem systematically. Experimenting in
a laboratory is essential. The process of experimentation involves organisation,
observation, familiarisation with various pieces of equipment, working with others,
writing and communicating ideas and information. These are the skills required of an
engineer.
Report writing is one of the primary professional responsibilities of a practising
engineer. The final report of any project is not just a formality. It is a primary product
of the engineering efforts and is often the basis for evaluation of the engineers
professional abilities. The report is also a service to the engineering community who
needs the information. The report should stand on its own. It is subject to critical
analysis by a variety of readers.
A report should include all the necessary sections, targeting at a reader who does
not necessarily have any prior knowledge about the project. This guide is prepared to
help the students in preparing their reports. To ensure the reports are easy to read
with consistent format, it is important that students follow strictly the instructions
during report preparation.

CHAPTER 2: SPECIFICATIONS OF THE REPORT

Candidates intending to submit their report should comply with the following
procedures.
Table 2-1: Submission items
Items
Submission of softcover report (2 copies)
Submission of hardcover report (1 copy)
& softcopy of report (1 copy in CD)
2.1

Deadline
One week before first day
of presentation sessions
Two weeks after last day of
presentation sessions

Number of Copies

For Project II, three printed copies of the report are to be submitted to the Faculty:
a) Two copies shall be in softcover and submitted to the Faculty for examination.
The softcover copies must be bound using black comb binding. The cover may be
obtained from the Faculty office. One copy will be returned to the candidate later.
b) One final copy shall be in hardcover and bound using PVC or other equivalent
material. The sample of this cover is available at the library.
One softcopy of the report (including the material in the appendices) must also be
submitted in a CD along with the hardcover report. The CD label shall include the
project title, name of author and submission date.
2.2

Cover and Binding

The hardcover report shall be in maroon colour with gold lettering in the Arial
Narrow typeface. A blank sheet of paper should be inserted before the title page and
another blank paper should be attached before the back cover.
2.2.1

Spine

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The name of the candidate, project title and year of report submission shall be set in
uppercase, in the Arial Narrow typeface at font size 18. The direction of lettering
should run from the top to the bottom of the spine.
If the title of the report is too long to fit into the spine, ellipses should be inserted.
For instance, a title like EXERCISE MACHINE MOTIVATED BY INTEGRATED
VIDEO GAME: USB TO HARDWARE CONNECTION will not fit into the spine,
and so should be shortened to EXERCISE MACHINE MOTIVATED BY
INTEGRATED VIDEO for the spine only. The front cover should still have the
full title.
2.3

Language

The report must be written in English.

2.4

Typeface and Font Size

The Times New Roman typeface at font size 12 should be used in the main text
throughout the report (except in the Appendices). This includes the preliminary pages
(i.e., title page, declaration page, acknowledgement page, etc.) and the main body of
text (which covers also the headers, captions and footers). Italics should only be used
sparingly for emphasis.
2.5

Paper and Printing

High-quality 80gm A4-size papers shall be used. The paper should be white in colour
and acid-free. For printing, a laser or other high-quality printer is recommended.
2.6

Margin and Spacing

The margin of the document must adhere to specifications in Table 2-2. The main
text should be left-justified, with a line spacing of one and a half. For captions, single

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spacing may be used. A blank line should be placed between different

sections/subsections. The second paragraph and subsequent paragraphs should be
indented in the first line.
Table 2-2: Document margins
Position
Top
Bottom
Left
Right
2.7

Margin (in mm)

20
40
40
25

Pagination

Page numbers should be centered to the page, and placed at least 15 mm from the
bottom edge of the page. Every page except the title page must be numbered. The
preliminary pages (except the title page) are to be numbered in lower case Roman
numerals. The other pages are to be numbered in Arabic numerals. All pages must be
numbered consecutively and continuously.

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CHAPTER 3: FORMAT OF THE REPORT

A report shall normally have three sections, namely the preliminary pages (or the
front matter), the main text (or the body matter), and the reference material (or back
matter).
3.1

Preliminary Pages

The preliminary pages should include the following pages according to the given
order:

3.1.1

Title page
Copyright
Declaration
Dedication (optional)
Acknowledgement
Abstract
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Title Page

The title shall be capitalised. The title page number is not to be printed. The
submission month/year should be the month/year corresponding to the submission
deadline of the softcover report.
3.1.2

Acknowledgement

This section contains a brief acknowledgement of the support and assistance given to
the candidate throughout his/her work.
3.1.3

Abstract

13

An abstract is the summary of the report which contains the statement of what was
done, how it was done, the results and the conclusions drawn. It should not be used
to define the purpose of the experiment or to give a general introduction. It should be
short and concise, containing only the most critical information meant for the readers
who have limited time to read the full report. Very often, technical professionals only
read the abstract and will continue reading the entire report only if the abstract
attracts their interest. It is normally limited to 300 words.
3.1.4

Table of Contents and List of Figures/Tables

A Table of Contents is a list of the parts of a book or document organized in the order
in which the parts appear. The Table of Contents should include the titles of the first-,
second- and third-level headers (i.e., chapter, section and subsection titles). The Table
of Contents helps orient the reader toward specific parts of the document, as well as
providing the reader an idea of the scope of the document. With a similar purpose as
the Table of Contents, the List of Figures/Tables helps readers locate the illustrations,
diagrams, charts, and tables in the report. Figures and tables must be numbered
consecutively in their order of appearance, and the numbering should be reset for
each chapter.
3.2

Main Text

The main text normally comprises the following chapters1:

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Theoretical Background or Review of Literature
Chapter 3: Method of Investigation or Details of the Design
Chapter 4: Presentation of Data
Chapter 5: Discussions on Findings
Chapter 6: Conclusions and Recommendations

Typical length of the main text should be around 50 to 100 pages.

1
The list of chapters given here is just an example, and need not be strictly followed.

14

3.2.1

Introduction

An introduction is necessary to give an overview of the overall work and the purpose
of the report. The general motivation behind the work should also be included. The
content of the introduction should be general enough to introduce the reader to the
subject matter.
3.2.2

Theoretical Background or Review of Literature

This section discusses the theoretical aspects leading to the implementation of the
project. Typically, this involves the historical background of the theories published in
the literature and the gaps of knowledge or ambiguities that arose in these works.
Citations for the sources of information should be given in the standard bibliographic
formats (using square brackets with the corresponding number [1] that points to a
particular item in the References). Avoid reporting irrelevant issues here. Depending
on the length and complexity of the subject, the introduction and the theoretical
background may be combined into one introductory chapter.
3.2.3

Method of Investigation or Details of the Design

The project may generally be grouped into one of the following nature:
a) Experimental research
b) Design synthesis of hardware/software
c) Development and application of theory
For experimental research, explanations shall be given with regard to the
equipment used to conduct the experiment, the function of each apparatus, the
configurations in performing a particular measurement, sources of errors and how to
minimise them, the material and the ways to produce the sample. For design
synthesis of hardware/software, the detailed descriptions of the techniques used shall
be given. For development and application of theory, the detailed descriptions of the
techniques used shall also be given. Mathematical derivations that are too lengthy

15

shall be given in the appendices. Experiments conducted to verify the theory shall
also be clearly documented.
Depending on the nature of the project, this section may be divided into one or
more chapters.
3.2.4

Presentation of Data

The data should be organised and presented using graphs, charts, or tables in this
section, without interpretative discussion. Raw data which may take up a few pages,
and most probably do not interest any readers, can be placed in the appendices.
3.2.5

Discussion on Findings

The interpretation of the data gathered should be discussed in this section. Sample
calculations may be included to show the correlation between the theory and the
measurement results. If there is any discrepancy between the theoretical and
experimental results, an analysis or discussion should follow to explain the possible
sources of error. In some cases, the presentation of data and discussions may also be
combined into a single chapter.
3.2.6

Conclusions and Recommendations

The conclusion section closes the report by providing a summary of content of the
report. It should highlight the main contributions of the work and its significance,
and the advantages and limitations of the information presented. Additional
discussion should not be added. The potential applications of the results and
recommendations for future work may be included.
3.3

Reference Material

The reference material typically consists of:

16

Appendices
References

3.3.1

Appendices

This section contains the lengthy material which is not appropriate for inclusion in
the main text. Typical examples include raw data, programme code scripts, and
equipment/device specifications sheet. The appendices should be set in the Times
New Roman typeface at font size 10.
3.3.2

References

Every reference quoted or cited in the report must be included in the References, and
numbered accordingly. Citation is normally required for statements which express a
fact that goes beyond the common knowledge of the art. The items in the References
should be numbered according to the order in which they are cited in the text, and the
numberings should be placed within square brackets. Refer to IEEE citation
reference for the complete reference style2. Some examples are also given in the
References section at the end of this document for books [1] [2], theses [3], journal
articles [4] [5], and conference proceedings [6] [7].
Avoid URL references. If you must refer to websites, refer only to authoritative
websites like the official websites of professional bodies or governments, or websites
of companies describing their products, or online technical papers. Examples of nonauthoritative websites include Wikipedia and blogs.
3.4

General Guidelines

A report should be written according to the intended group of readers in mind. It

should have a logical flow with strong explanation to convince the reader on the
2
The IEEE citation reference is available online at
http://www.ieee.org/documents/ieeecitationref.pdf.

17

conclusions of the report. It should be well-written and should provide easy

understanding. Excessive use of technical jargons and slang should be avoided.
As far as possible, statements should be supported by relevant and accurate facts,
data and numbers.
Symbols or nomenclature used shall be defined. Standard symbols or acronym
normally accepted in engineering field can be used. International System Unit
(S.I.) shall be used.
Equations should be typed clearly using the built-in equation editor, and
sequentially numbered within the chapter. An example is below3:
3

[ ]

x3
26
x
dx=
=

3 1 3
1
2

(3.1)

Every figure should be sequentially numbered, and the numbering should be reset
for each chapter. Every figure should also carry a relevant caption that appears
below the figure. An example is below:

Figure 3-1: MMU tagline

Like figures, tables should be sequentially numbered within the chapter, and
labelled with a relevant caption. Unlike figure caption, table caption should
appear above the table.
3.5

Further Reading

3
The table border lines are grayed out to show that a table has been used as a
placeholder of the equation and the equation numbering. The border lines should be
removed entirely before printing the report.

18

More guides and information in preparing engineering reports as well as other

technical documents may be found in [8] [9].

19

CHAPTER 4: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

The candidate must adhere to the provisions of the Intellectual Property Regulations
of the University.
4.1

Plagiarism What is it?

Proper acknowledgement must be made to the work of others. Plagiarism includes:

a) Unauthorized act of copying/reproducing or attempt to copy an idea, writing or
invention of another person
b) Extraction of academic data which are the results of research undertaken by
another person, such as laboratory findings, data obtained, whether published or
unpublished, without giving due acknowledgement to the original source
c) Transcription of the ideas of others which are kept in whatever form
d) Unauthorized translation of the writing of another person from one language to
another whether wholly or partly
4.2

Plagiarism Check

The candidate shall be required to submit their report to Turnitin.com (at

http://www.turnitin.com/), and submit the generated originality report and the
Similarity Index Form to the supervisor for endorsement. Both these documents are
to be submitted separately with the softcover report during examination.
An email invitation will be sent to you to log into Turnitin.com. Once logged in,
click on the class enrolled to open the class homepage (see screenshot of Figure 4-2).
Here, you will be able to submit your report, by the chapter, by clicking on the
Submit button. Once the report is processed, the similarity index (in percentage)
would appear. Clicking on these scores would open the originality report, detailing
the similarity percentages by the sources, and highlighting also the portions of the
report coinciding with these sources. The percentages should be recorded in the
Similarity Index Form, and justifications must be provided for similarity index above
10%.

20

Figure 4-2: Class homepage at Turnitin.com

21

CHAPTER 5: FORMATTING TIPS

5.1

Preliminary Pages

The preliminary pages have been set properly for your use, and only those parts
highlighted in yellow should be amended. The rest should be left as it is.
5.2

Headers

To insert a chapter header, simply create one, and apply the Heading 1 style of the
Styles gallery in the Home tab. This will set the text in bold. For section headers,
use Heading 2 instead, whereas for subsections, choose Heading 3. The header
numberings will be generated automatically. For the headers to appear in the Table of
Contents, select the Table of Contents and click on Update Table (under Table of
Contents) in the References tab.
5.3

Captions

To insert a caption in a figure or table, select the item, and click Insert Caption
under the References tab. This will open a dialog box (see Figure 5-3), in which
you may choose the position of the caption. Figure captions should appear below the
figure, whereas table captions should appear above the table. Click OK and the
caption will appear at the chosen position. Like headers, caption numberings are
generated automatically. Lastly, insert the text, and then center the caption to the
page. For captions to appear in the List of Figures or List of Tables, select the
respective list and click on Update Table (under Captions) in the References
tab.

22

Figure 5-3: Dialog box for inserting captions

To reference to a particular figure or table, place the cursor on where you want
the reference label to appear. Then, click Cross-reference under the References
tab. In the dialog box that appears (see Figure 5-4), choose the appropriate
Reference type. For figures and tables, pick Only label and number for the
Insert reference to option.

Figure 5-4: Referencing tables and figures

23

5.4

Citations and References

To insert a citation to a new source, place the cursor on where you want the citation
to appear in the main text. Then, click Insert Citation under the References tab,
and choose Add New Source. A dialog box will appear as in Figure 5-5. Pick
the appropriate Type of Source, and tick the Show All Bibliography Fields
checkbox. Fill in all related information in their respective fields. Click OK and the
citation will appear. For the references to appear in References, select References and
click Update Citations and Bibliography.

Figure 5-5: Dialog box for inserting citations

At any time if you need to edit the source, you may click Manage Sources to
do so (see Figure 5-6).

24

Figure 5-6: Editing reference sources

25

REFERENCES
[1] L. R. Rabiner and B.-H. Juang, Fundamentals of Speech Recognition, PrenticeHall, 1993.
[2] G. H. Golub and C. F. Van Loan, Matrix Computations, 3rd ed., The John
Hopkins University Press, 1996.
[3] P. S. K. Hansen, "Signal subspace methods for speech enhancement," Ph.D.
dissertation, Technical University of Denmark, 1997.
[4] J. Rissanen, "Modeling by shortest data description," Automatica, vol. 14, no. 5,
pp. 465-471, 1978.
[5] S. H. Jensen, P. C. Hansen, S. D. Hansen and J. A. Srensen, "Reduction of
broad-band noise in speech by truncated QSVD," IEEE Trans. Speech and Audio
Processing, vol. 3, no. 6, pp. 439-448, 1995.
[6] K. Hermus and P. Wambacq, "Assessment of signal subspace based speech
enhancement for noise robust speech recognition," in IEEE International
Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, Montreal, 2004.
[7] T. Takiguchi, J. Adachi and Y. Ariki, "Audio-based video editing with twochannel microphone," in International Conference on Multimedia and
Ubiquitous Engineering, Busan, 2008.
[8] D. Beer and D. McMurrey, A Guide To Writing As An Engineer, John Wiley &
Sons, 1997.
[9] J. Lannon, Technical Writing, 6th ed., HarperCollins College Publishers, 1993.

26

APPENDIX A
Sample of spine and front cover of the report

27