Report

Writing Guide for Civil

Engineering Students

Department of Civil Engineering

1/1/2014

ProfMarionSinclair

CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Overview 1
1.2 Whatmakesagoodreport? 1
1.2.1 Clarity 2
1.2.2 Appropriatestyleandlanguage 2
1.2.3 Accuracy 3

2. REPORTSTRUCTURE 4
2.1 TheBeginnings 4
2.1.1 General 4
2.1.2 Purposeofyourresearch 4
2.1.3 Structureofthereport 5
2.2 Themiddlesections 5
2.2.1 General 5
2.2.2 Content 6
2.3 Endings 6
2.3.1 General 6
2.3.2 Proof 7
2.4 Structuringyourreport 8
2.4.1 Reportstructure 8
2.4.2 Headingsandnumbering 8
2.4.3 Exceptionstothisnumberingconvention 9
2.5 Introducingandsummarizingsections 11

3. REPORTWRITING 12
3.1 TheDepartmentsexpectations 12
3.2 Theimportanceofplanningyourreport 12
3.3 Usingparagraphs 13
3.4 Sentenceconstruction 13
3.5 Useofwords 14
3.5.1 Keepthewordnumbersdown 14
3.5.2 Theuseofformallanguage 14
3.5.3 Passive/ActiveVoiceandtheuseoftheThirdPerson 15
3.5.4 Overworkedwords 15
3.5.5 Woolyqualifiers 16
3.5.6 Emotionalorleadingwords 16
3.5.7 Spelling 16
3.5.8 Tenses 17
3.6 Punctuation 18
3.6.1 Useofcommas,dashes,colonsandsemicolons 18
3.6.2 Useofotherpeopleswordsorideas 19
3.6.3 Commonmistakes 19


4. ILLUSTRATIONS:DIAGRAMS,PHOTOGRAPHS,GRAPHSANDTABLES 22
4.1 Commonrequirements 22
4.2 Numberingandheadings(captions) 23
4.3 Sizingofillustrations 23

5.FURTHERREFERENCES 24
5.1 Books 24
5.2 Internetsources 24

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Overview

AsastudentinthisDepartment,andatmanytimesinyourfuturecareer,youwillbecalledonto
write and submit reports. The purpose of each report will differ from case to case, as will your
audience.Asastudentyouwillberequiredtowritereportssummarisingyourcontributiontogroup
work projects, to explain the tasks and achievements you reach during your vac work, and to
completeafullresearchthesis(skripsie)amongothers.Inallcasestheaudiencewillbetheacademic
staffofthedepartment.Asanewprofessionalyoumaybeaskedtowriteasitevisitreport,orto
assess the viability of different structural interventions; to summarise the results of a geotech lab
analysisonsoilsoreventotakeminutesofameetingwithyourcompanysclients.Inallcasesyou
will need to know how to begin this exercise. The good news is that while these reports have
different audiences and different contents, the bare structure that you need to build on is almost
alwaysthesame.

Thisshortdocumenthelpsyoubecomefamiliarwithreportstructuring.Italsoguidesyouonreport
contentintermsofthelanguage,styletouse,andsteersyouawayfromanumberofpitfalls.

Thegeneralstructureofthisreportisasfollows:

Welookfirstatthecoursestructureofreportsthatarecommontoall,
Welookatsomeoptionsregardingstyleandlanguage
Andwefinallyaddresssomeissuesaroundtheillustrationofreports.

This report is written for you as a student in Civil Engineering, and tries to distil a lot of other
information, available elsewhere, into a single resource. However it is not the only resource
available to you, and you are encouraged to look beyond this report to find out more. A list of
resourcesisgiveninthefinalsection.Theprimarygoalofthisdocumentistoprovideanaccessible
easytoreadandeasytouseresourceforyoutouseinfuturelife.Forthisreasonitiswrittenina
fairlyinformalstyle.

1.2 Whatmakesagoodreport?

Beforewegetintoanyguidelinesweneedtodefinewhatwearetryingtoachieve.Quitefrankly,
anyonewhohasmadeittouniversityshouldbeabletoputtogetherareportofsomequality.With
yourpastexperienceatschoolyoucanprobablyworkthisoutforyourselfandsubmitareporton
yourchosentopicthatisadequate.Butinanincreasinglycompetitiveworld,adequateisnolonger
enough.Tobeseen,andtobesuccessful,youneedtobenoticedforalltherightreasons.Report
writingissomethingthatyouwilldoregularly,probablyforyourentireprofessionalcareer.Ouraim
istohelpyouwritegood,evenexcellent,reports.

So,whatmakesagoodreport?Howdoesitdifferfromareportthatismerelyadequate?

There are a number of elements to a good report but one of the simplest answers is that a good
reportiseffortlesstoread.Thiscanbecalledthereportsreadabilitylevel.

Thisseemslikeanunlikelyplacetostart,butasanyonewhohasreadhundredsofreportsoverthe
yearswilltellyou,thereportsthataremostpleasingtoreadarethosethatrequireverylittleeffort

on the readers part to understand or make sense of them. They are, in fact, a pleasure to read
becausetheyarecharacterisedbyasmallnumberoffeatures.

1.2.1. Clarity

Clarity is simply another word for clearness. In a report, clarity is achieved through two things:
firstlyastructurewheresectionsareorganisedlogically(nosurprisesintermsofthesequencesof
theirsections),sothatthereadercaneasilynavigatearoundthedocument;andsecondlylanguage
that is clear, concise and considered. In terms of the first, youshould feel free to incorporate any
methodsthatyoufeelwillhelpthereaderunderstandandfollowyourreportsstructure.Youcould,
for example, provide a written breakdown of the report structure in your introduction. Flow
diagramsareanothersimplebuteffectivewayofshowingyourreaderthepathaheadofthem.

1.2.2 Appropriatestyleandlanguage

WhenIfeelcomfortableasareaderitisbecausethewriterismeetingmyexpectationsintermsof
styleandlanguage.Ifyouarestillreadingthisdocumentitismostlikelythatyouarecomfortable
withhowithasbeenwritten,withyouinmind.

If I am expecting a report that is written as a fairly informal account of a meeting between the
contractorsovertheirevaluationofanewpieceofequipment,forexample,Iamcomfortablewith
thereportusingthetermsI/they/him,asinthefollowingexample:

E.g.WhenIaskedMrLombardiwhethertheyhadhadanyproblemswiththenewvalve,he
repliedthatallhadbeenworkingfinesofar.

IfthatwasthelevelofformalityIwasexpecting,thenIwouldfindittickstheboxofeasytoread.If
I had been expecting it to be more formal, however, I would have expected the report to say
somethinglike:

When asked about the experience of any problems with the valves, Mr Lombardi
confirmedthatallwascurrentlyrunningproblemfree.

Asyoucanseefromthisshortexample,therearedifferentwaysofrecordingevenasingleevent,
depending on who your audience is. Knowing the primary reader of your report is key in deciding
what level of formality you should aim for in your report. Once you have identified the level of
formality, the writing style will fall quite naturally into place. It can take a little bit of practice to
movefromwritinginthefirstperson(asinthefirstexample),tothethirdperson(inthesecond),
andsometimes,atfirst,itwillfeelalittlestuffytoyouusingamoreformaltone.Butwithpractice
thiswillcomemoreeasily.

While it is important to be writing for a primary audience (i.e. your boss, your study leader etc.),
rememberthatyouwillalsohavedifferentlevelsofreaders.Secondaryreadersmay,forexample,
be people who pick up your report in five years time new project staff for example, wanting to
familiarisethemselveswiththeprojecthistory.Orotherstudentswhoarethemselvesstartingtheir
ownresearchprocessandwhomaybelookingforexamplesinstructuring,orwhoarebuildingon
research that you started. These are legitimate readers who you need to be aware of your

audiencewillinevitablybewiderthanjustasinglestudyleader;soyourreportneedstocontainas
muchinformationaspossiblesothatitisrelevantandunderstandablebythem.

Ontheotherhandyouwillalso,inalllikelihood,haveanunexpectedaudience.Withmoreandmore
reportsendingupontheworldwideweb,thechanceisgrowingthatanyoneofyourreportscould
bereadbyamillionunintendedreaders.Youcantbeexpected topleaseallofthem,butbearing
thisinmindshouldkeepyouonyourtoeswhenitcomestoaccuracy.

1.2.3 Accuracy

Of all aspects of your work, accuracy is the one thing that you are going to be subject to most
scrutiny over. While this report is not designed to tell you how to maximise the accuracy of your
work,itstartswiththecalltobe,aboveall,accurateinyouranalysisanduseofdata.

Accuracy is the final key element in what can be described as a good report. The information it
contains is scrupulously (thoroughly) accurate and original. Accuracy and originality are different
features,butarerelatedbecausethequalityofyourreportismeasureddirectlyasacombinationof
these two. While the data content of your reports will vary tremendously from project to project,
thelevelofaccuracywithwhichyoupresentandanalyseyourinformationandthedegreetowhich
thatanalysisisyoursaloneareconsistentlyimportant.

Afinalpoint:Asareader,onelastelementthatmakesmehappyisasatisfyingending.Never,never,
underestimatetheimportanceofyourfewfinalpagesorparagraphs.Oftenthisisaboutperfecting
thestructureofthereportbypullingthingstogetherinatidyfashion,andremindingusofwhatyou
havepresentedtoussuccinctly.Butitisalsoaboutleavinguswithapositivefeelingaboutwhathas
beenachievedinthiswork,oraboutthewayforwardmoregenerally.IcomebacktothisinSection
2.3below.

Insummaryagoodreporthasthefollowingcharacteristics:

It is easy to read because it follows a logical structure and its language is clear,
unambiguousandconsidered.
Thestyleandlanguageisappropriatetotheprimaryreader.
Theinformationisaccurateandoriginal.
Itleavesuswithafeelingthatsomethinghasbeenachieved,orcanbeachievedinfuture.

2. REPORTSTRUCTURE

Every modern report follows ancient conventions of storytelling, requiring a beginning, a middle,
and an end. Any report that does not satisfy us by having these separate and distinguishable
elementsleavesusfeelingfrustrated.Centuriesofstorytellingcustomhaveprogrammedustolook
forthisstructureinalmosteverythingweread.

Intheclassicfairytale,thebeginningisaboutsettingthescene;introducingthemaincharactersto
us,andlettingusknowthestatusquobeforetheeventsofthestorybegin.

The middle part is always about what happens to those characters. This is where things get really
interestingforthereader.

The ending is always a conclusion where the final action takes place, and the main characters are
(almostalways)seentohavesurvivedintactandmoreoftenthannotlivehappilyeverafter

Whilethecontentandaudienceoftechnicaloracademicreportsarelightyearsawayfromthoseof
fairytales,instructuretheyareuncannilysimilar.Eventhemostbasicreportfollowstheformatof
Beginning:Middle:End.Inthissectionwelookbrieflyatwhatcomponentsofareportfallintowhich
sections,andaddresssomeoftherequirementsofeach.

2.1 TheBeginnings

2.1.1 General

Exactlyasfairytalesusedtheirbeginningsentencestotellusbrieflyaboutthecharactersandtheir
contexts, the beginning of a technical or academic report gives us some background information
abouttheproblemthatyouareworkingwith,andtellsuswhatyouplantodoinresponsetoit.To
putitanotherway:whatyouintenddoingandwhy.

Asfarascontextisconcerned,inmostreportsthisamountstoashortsummaryoftheprojectthat
the report is adding to, or of the problem that the research is addressing. This applies equally to
project(technical)reportsandtoacademicreportwriting.Regardlessofhowfamiliaryourreaderis
withtheproblemyouwillneedtostartwithashortsummaryofit,bothtogiveaclearstructureand
alsobecauseofthesecondaryreaderswhomaynothavethebackgroundthatyourprimaryreader
does.

Apartfromprovidingabasicsummaryofthebackgroundtoyourproblem,thebeginningsectionis
where you tell your reader what you intend doing in your research. With research reports this
generallybeginswithyoudefiningaspecificproblemstatement:fromthisyouwilldevelopresearch
goalsandobjectives.Theseconceptsarekeytothesuccessfulcompletionofyourtask,andtothe
writing of your report. In most cases your study leader will be a resource to assist you in the
determinationofyourresearchtask,andintheidentificationofyourresearchobjectives.

2.1.2 Purposeofyourresearch

Aquickwordaboutthegoalofyourresearch:Generallyspeakingyourresearchgoalistodevelop
new knowledge about something. What you are investigating needs to be clear from the outset.
Objectivescanhelpyouunderstandhowtoachievethatgoal(objectivesareminigoalswhichtend

to lend themselves to practical steps that you can achieve en route). It is important to be clear in
yourownmindaboutthedifferencebetweenyourresearchgoal,objectivesandtheactivitiesyou
will undertake to achieve the goal. In a materials research project, for example, a project that
revolvesaroundcompressiontestscouldbesaidtohavethefollowinggoal,objectivesandactivities:

Goal: To establish the influence of moisture exposure on the compressive strength of materials
(note that the goal in research is almost always about developing knowledge or improving
understanding).

Objective1:Todevelopbackgroundknowledgeabouttheroleofmoistureexposureoncompressive
strengthofmaterials.

Objective2:Toconductappropriateexperimentstotestthenatureoftherelationships.

Theobjectivesgivewaytoclearactivities:Forthefirst,theassociatedactivitycouldbetocarryouta
literaturereviewofappropriateliterature.Fortheseconditcouldbetocarryoutcompressiontests
onmaterialsthathavebeenexposedtowater.

Objectivesareusefulconceptsastheyhelpyoubreakdownwhatoftenseemslikeabroadorlofty
taskintostagesorsteps.Ausefulacronymtorememberwhenyouaredevelopingyourobjectivesis
MAST.Yourobjectivesshouldallbe:

Measurableyouneedtobeabletomeasurehowwellyouhaveachievedthis.
Achievableinotherwordstheobjectivemustberealisticgivenyourconstraints.
Specificbeveryclearaboutwhatyouwanttoachieve.
Timelimitedbelimitedtoaspecifictimeframe.

2.1.3 Structureofthereport

Apart from telling us about the subject that is the focus of your report, your beginning section
shouldalsointroduceustothepurposeofyoureport:whyyouarewritingitshouldbeclear.

Finally,thebeginningsectionofyourreportcanbeusefulasawayoftellingyourreaderwhatyou
plantoincludeandinwhatsequence.Thisisnotalwaysnecessarybutitcanbeausefultechnique
tousetobuildthelogicalprogressofthereport.Rememberthatreportstructureisoneofthekey
thingsthatdistinguishesagoodreportfromamediocreone.Ifyoufeelthatthereissomethingto
begainedingivingthereaderaroutemapofwhereyourreportwilltakethem,thenthisistheplace
todothat.

2.2 Themiddlesections

2.2.1 General

Inthefairystory,thisisthebodyofthetalewefindoutmoreaboutthecharacters,weshareinthe
thrilloftheirendeavoursandwefollowthemastheyemergefromcloseencounterswithmonsters
ofallshapesandsizes.Themiddleofyourresearchreportperformsexactlythesamefunction.Here
youtakeusonajourneythroughyouruseofrelevantinformation.Youfindoutandreportonwhat

hasbeendoneinthepast;youexplainhowyouaregoingtodoyourownresearch,andthenyou
explainandinterpretyourresults.

2.2.2 Content

Mostresearchprojectswillinvolvethreeactiveprocesses:DataCollection,DataAnalysisandData
Interpretation. Before you launch yourself into these tasks you need to spend some time learning
about your topic (literature review), and planning your work (methodology). These two areas are
generally prerequisites for a successful project and are required elements of the Departments
skripsie project. The literature review gives you the necessary background into the topic to
understandthemainfeaturesofthetopic;includingsomeofthechallengesinvolvedincarryingout
similarresearchinthepast.

TheMethodologysectioniswhereyoupresenttheproposedstepsyouwilltake,includingdetailsof
any experimentation you may undertake and the type of analysis that will be applied to the data
once it has been collected. Here you may want to include photographs or diagrams of any
equipmentofprocessesthatyouwillinclude.

TheMethodologysectionisimportantnotonlyasarecordofwhatwasdone(inyourfinalreport)
butalsobecauseitisapracticalwayforyoutoplanyourtimeinadvance.

Data collection, analysis and interpretation then follow these two preliminary sections. Note that
interpretationisanessentialelementofagoodreportyoumustdomorethansimplypresentyour
results; you must explain them. Explanations may not be easy, and you may not always get them
right, but if you can put forward a reasonable explanation based on clear assumptions and sound
data, your report will have added to the readers understanding in a way that simply stating facts
could never do. Your explanation will also demonstrate the extent to which you understand the
outcomesofyourresearch.

2.3 Endings

2.3.1 General

Inyourfinalsection,youtellusquiteclearlywhathasbeenachievedinyourresearch,bothpositive
andnegative.Whilewehopethatthefinalsectionwillbeahappilyeverafterone;insomecases
the findings of a report are unavoidably negative. Wherever you can, try without being
inappropriatelyfrivoloustoincludesomehintofhappilyeverafterinyourconclusion.Intechnical
reportwritingthisgenerallyamountstothewriternotingthattheresearchwassuccessfulandthat
newknowledgewasdeveloped.Butitcouldalsobethattheresearchresultswereinconclusiveand
thatcertainrecommendationsaremadetoimprovethereliabilityandrobustnessoftheresultsin
thefuture.

Whatthismeans,really,isthatwhatyouarewritingisnotonlyaboutdetailingsomesmallorlarge
projectthatiscarvedfromaspecifictimeframe,butthatitisalso,maybeevenunintentionally,a
stepping stone to the future. Your happilyeverafter ending is actually an ending which links this
pieceofworkwithothersthatcomeafterit.

2.3.2 Proof

Thereisoftenatemptationinastudentresearchprojecttoendwiththestatementthatsomething
hasbeenproventhroughtheresearchthatwascarriedout.Therequirementsforscientificproofare
extremely rigorous; and generally always require that results are confirmed and duplicated
independently.Becarefulnottosuggestthatyourownresearchhasprovenanything.Youcouldsay
thatitsuggeststhataparticularrelationshipexists,orindeedthatahypothesismayormaynotbe
supported. But dont be overconfident and claim that you have proven or disproven something
conclusively.Agoodconclusionisonethatunderstandsitsownlimitations.

2.4 Structuringyourreport

2.4.1 Reportstructure

Althoughyourreportshouldhavethethreemainsections(Beginning,MiddleandEnd)eachofthese
consists of multiple possible subsections. The list below gives a sense of the types of subsections
youmaywanttoincludeundereach.Thisgenerallyencompassesallthesectionsyouwouldtypically
wanttoincludeinafullresearchreport(suchasaskripise).Somewillnotbenecessaryorrelevantin
lowerlevelreportsorinnonacademicreports.

Prereportcomponent
Abstract
Plagiarismstatement/declaration
Acknowledgements
Contents(text,tablesandfigures)
Glossary
Listofabbreviations
Beginningsection
Problemstatement/Background/Motivation
Researchgoalsandobjectives
Limitationsofresearch
Reportlayoutandstructure
Middle
Literaturereview(thiscanbeintheBeginningsectionifyouprefer)
Methodology
Datacollection
Dataanalysis
Discussion/interpretation
Ending
Conclusions
Recommendations
Bibliography
Appendices

2.4.2 Headings(captions)andnumbering

Thesectionslistedabovearethemselvesgenerallycomprisedofsmallersections.Themoreyoucan
break your text down into sensible and logical subheadings, the more you add to the readability
level of your report. Note, however, that unnecessary and unlinked headings can instead create
confusionandchaos,somakesurethereisasensetoyoursectionsandthattheybearrelationto
eachother.

In terms of numbering and heading conventions, it is generally accepted that high order headings
(mainheadings)shouldbedistinguishedfromlowerorderheadingsinbothnumberandtextformat.
Some institutions and companies have their own preferred houserules or conventions in this
regard,soforfuturereportscheckonthisasamatterofcourse.TheCivilEngineeringDepartment
allowsanumberofconventions;theonlyrequirementwehaveisthatyouareconsistent.

Ifyouarelookingforamodel,asimpleoneisasfollows:

1.MAINHEADING(canbeaslightlylargerfontsizethantheothersifyoulike)
1.1 Secondaryheading
1.1.1 Subheading
(i) Minorheading

Takingyourmethodologysectionasanexample,thebreakdownmaythenlooklikethis:

3.METHODOLOGY
3.1Siteselection
3.2Sitevisit
3.3Slakedurabilitytest
3.3.1. Adaptationoftheapparatus
(i) Equipmentconstruction
(ii) Testapparatus
(iii) Testprocedure
3.3.2Sampling
(i) Numberofsamples
(ii) Choiceofsamplematerial

If you look over this reportwriting guide you will see that these conventions have been applied
throughout.

2.4.3 Exceptionstothisnumberingconvention

TheprereportcomponentsandtheAppendicesfollowadifferentsetofrules.

(i) Prereport components are generally not numbered. This includes the Abstract. The
conventionforallthesecomponentsissimplytohaveatitle,withnonumberbeforeit.
BecausetheseareequivalentsofMainheadings,however,itisagoodideatokeepthe
letter/fontformatofMainHeadingsi.e.tokeeptheCapitalandBoldformataswellas
fontsize.

(ii) AppendicesAgain,theseareMainheadingssoitisagoodideatobeconsistentwith
usingCapitalandBoldformats.WithAppendices,however,theconventionisgenerally
to switch from using numbers to using letters of the alphabet. Your Appendices could
thuslooklike:

AppendixA:GEOLOGICALMAPOFSTELLENBOSCH
AppendixB:STANDARDMESHSIZESACCORDINGTOSANS1024:2006.
AppendixC:SOILRESULTSFROMGEOTECHLAB

(iii) Bibliography/ReferencesTheDepartmentspreferenceisforasingleBibliographyto
be provided as the final chapter to your report, rather than for references to be
provided at the end of each chapter. While the Bibliography heading itself follows

 normalconventionsforMainHeadings(i.e.itisnumberedandheadedconsistentlywith
therestofthedocument),therearenosubsectionsgenerallyapplied tothecontents.
InsteadthereferencesincludedintheBibliographyarelistedaccordingtothepreferred
Bibliographytypethatyouhavechosentouse.Therearemanyofthese.

The Civil Engineering Department does not lay down a required format, but the Harvard style is a
goodoption.Itisasystemthatyoumayalreadybefamiliarwithfrompreviousexperience.Herethe
authors surname comes first, followed by their initials; date of publication; title of publication;
nameofjournal(initalics);volume/issueofjournal;andfinallypagenumbers.

Examples:

Jonah,B.A.(1997).Sensationseekingandriskydriving:Areviewandsynthesisoftheliterature.
AccidentAnalysisandPrevention,29,651665.

Lajunen,T.andSummala,H.(2003).Canwetrustselfreportsofdriving?Effectsofimpression
managementondriverbehaviourquestionnaireresponses,TransportationResearchPartF(6),97
107.

Lubchenco,J.(1998).EnteringtheCenturyoftheEnvironment:ANewSocialContractforScience.
Science,279,491497

With the Harvard system the list of references is arranged alphabetically, not sequentially. Many
readerspreferthisasitiseasytothenfindaparticularreference.

While the Bibliography contains all the detail related to a specific reference, the source of the
individualreferencesinintroducedintothecontentofyourdocumentonlyinasummarizedform.
Hereyoulistonlythesurnameandpublicationdate.So,usingtheaboveexample,whenyouwantto
referenceanideafromthirdpartiesinyourowntext,thosecitationswouldlooklikethis:

Youngerdriversarereportedasbeingsignificantlymorelikelytoengageinriskydrivingpractices
thanolderdrivers(Jonah,1997).Assessingtheextentofthisis,howeverdifficult,asselfreportsof
drivingcanpresentresearchchallenges(Lajunen&Summala,2003).

Rememberthateveryreferenceinyourlistmustbereferredto(cited)inyourdocument.Youmay
havereadwidelyinpreparationforyourreport,butunlessyouactuallycitethereferencesyouhave
readinsomesectionyoucannotsimplyaddthemintoyourlist.Similarly,everyreferencethatyou
citemustbereflectedinthebibliography.

If you use the universitys RefWorks and WritenCite systems these will automatically format all
your references into the Bibliographic convention of your choice. Harvard is one of the lists of
optionsthatyoucanuse.

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2.5 Introducingandsummarizingsections

It is good practice to introduce the contents of a new section to your reader at its start, and to
summarisethemainpointsagainattheend.Thisletsthereaderknowwhatiscoming,andprovides
ausefulsummaryforthosereaderswhojustneedtoknowthehighlights.Anexamplemaybe:

3 LITERATUREREVIEW
3.1 Introduction
This section summarises the relevant literature on the topic of pedestrian safety on
formal crossings. A number of searches were conducted on the university electronic
databases,whichresultedinthecollectionofawidenumberofpapersfromEurope,the
UnitedStatesandAustralia.Littleresearchappears,however,tobeforthcomingfrom
developing countries and from African countries in particular. The main themes and
conclusionsoftheliteraturearesummarisedinthesectionsbelow.

And

3.5 Summary
In this section the main themes and conclusions of the literature were explored and
summarised. In general most of the research has aimed at the perception of drivers
approaching pedestrian crossings, as well as on the design and layout criteria of the
crossings themselves. Less work has been carried out on the perceptions or
responsibilities of the humans using the pedestrian crossings. In general there is
consensus that pedestrian crossings, which are designed to increase the safety of
pedestrians seeking to cross from one side of the road to another, can in fact be less
safe than informal crossings unless the drivers are aware of the presence of the
crossingsandtheirresponsibilitiestoslowdown.

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3. REPORTWRITING

3.1 TheDepartmentsexpectations

Thissectiondoesnotevenhopetoteachyoutowritewellthatwillcomewithpracticeandeffort
on your part. There are numerous resources you can go to which address some of the issues you
maybehavingregardingexpressingyourself.Whatitdoesgiveyou,howeverisachecklistofthings
toconsiderasyougoaboutputtingyourwordstogether.

Before we begin, it is as well to start with a statement regarding what we, in Civil Engineering,
expectfromyouregardingyourstandardofwriting.Wehaveaddressedthelevelofreadabilityinan
earlier section, and that was broken down into a number of components. This included the
requirementthatthelanguageusedisclear,conciseandconsidered.

Whatwerequirefromyouinyourreportwritingisevidencethatyouhavewrittencarefullyandina
consideredmanner.Wewantmorethanasimplecollectionoffactswewanttoseethatyouhave
presentedthosefactsbychoosingyourwordscreatively,carefullyandwiththereaderinmindatall
times.Whatwedontwanttoseeisafactdumpadocumentputtogetherwithlittleconcernfor
theuseofthebestwayofexpression,withoutregardfortherulesofthelanguageinwhichyouare
writing,andwithleastpossibleeffortinmakingyourwritinggood.Mediocrewritingisincreasingly
common in engineering reportwriting but this is something we can, and should resist. As a
professional you will be expected to conduct yourself with high standards in every aspect of your
professionalwork,andthewayyouuselanguageisabsolutelynoexception.

3.2 Theimportanceofplanningyourreport

Inourexperience,studentsoftendolittleplanningaboutthestructureoftheirreportinadvance,
andtakearatherorganicapproachtoitswriting.Assuchtheystartwritingratherrandomly;addon
bitsandpiecesastheyoccurtothem;andproducesomethingofapatchworkreport.Planningyour
reportinadvanceisareallykeystageingettingthelogictoyourreportflowing,andinhelpingyou
todecidewhichpiecesfitwhere,andwheretheopportunitiesarefordevelopinglinkagesbetween
them.Thecorecontentsofyourreportmaybeeasytoidentify,andSection2.4.1whichlaysdown
the most logical framework for a technical report will be a help to you. But its not enough to
simplygetthisbasicstructurerightatfirst.Spendsometimeplanningwhatexactlyyouwillbe
covering in each section. Thinking through the contents of each section in advance will give you a
reallyusefulroadmapastowhereyouareinthewritingprogress,andwillalsohelpensurethatyou
dontforgetaboutkeyelementsuntilthelastminute.Ofcoursewhenyoustartplanningyourreport
youmaynotknowabouteverypieceofcontentthatneedstobeincludedyoumaystillnothave
yourresults,forexample.Soyourplanshouldmakesomeallowanceforflexibilityandchanges.

Differentpeopleusedifferentplanningtechniques:someuselists,othersmayuseasystemofpost
itnotestohelpthemidentifyandthengroupthedifferenttopicstheyneed.Thechallengewiththis
iskeepingthosepostitnotesinthesameorderoveraprolongedperiod,soifyoudousethemtry
tocapturetheminanotherwayevenaphotographofyourfinalsequencecanbeagoodbackup.

Another useful planning technique is to make use of storyboarding. Storyboards were developed
for the movieindustry early in the 20th century by Walt Disney staff, and while they have mostly
beenusedinthatsameindustryeversincetheyareincreasinglyusedbywritersasawayofplanning

12

theirwriting.Storyboardsallowthewritertocaptureallthedifferenttopics/themesandsupporting
informationtheyneedforparticularsectionsoftheirworkonpaper.Theyaresimilartopostitnotes
excepttheyhavemoreofastructure(whichyoucancreateyourself).Youcanalsoaddtothemor
changethemasyourreportstartstotakeshape,orasyougetmoreinformationfromyourresearch
process.

AnexampleforastoryboardofaChapterisbelow:

Ofcourseyoumaywanttoplanevenmoredeeplyanddevelopstoryboardsforeachsubsectionin
turn.

Whatever technique you do decide to use for planning your document be sure to be actively
engagedinitasyourwokunfolds.Dontjustdevelopanoutlineandthenneverlookatitagaingo
backandreviseitasyouneedto,anduseitasanactiveplanningtoolthroughouttheprocess.

3.3 Usingparagraphs

One of the simplest ways to improve the readability of your report is to ensure that your text is
brokenintoparagraphs,ratherthanlumpedtogetherintolargeblocksoftext.

Useaparagraphbreakeachtimeyouintroduceanewthoughtorconcept;abitlikeyouwouldusea
pauseinaconversationwithanotherperson.

Paragraphsdonotneedtointroduceanewsubjecteachtime,justachangeinfocus.

Ifyouareintroducinganewsubjectitmaybemoreappropriatetointroduceaheadedsubsection.

3.4 Sentenceconstruction

As a rule, keep your sentence construction as simple as possible. Engineers sometimes have a
tendencytouseunnecessarilylongandcomplexsentences,oftenjoiningwholesentencestogether
with a series of conjunctions like and and however into megasentences that can create mega
headaches for their readers. In many cases the results would have been better if the writer had
simplyusedseparatesentences.

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Thatsaid,areportmadeupofshortclippedsentencesdoesnotalwaysamounttogoodstyle.Tryto
varythelengthofyoursentencesinexactlythesamewayasyouvarythelengthofyourspoken
sentences when you are talking. Just be careful about the long complicated sentences that are
compositesoftwoormoresentencesthesedontalwaysneedtobelinkedintoasinglesentence.

The use of commas is crucial, especially in complex sentences. For students who are writing in
English which is their second or even third language, commas are often left out. The English
languagemakesmoreuseofcommasthanmostlanguages,sothiscouldbeadifferenceinstylethat
youshouldbeawareof.MoreinformationaboutcommasisgiveninSection3.6.2.

3.5 Useofwords

3.5.1 Keepthewordnumbersdown

Thefirstruleyoushouldbeawareof,isthatlessismore!Studentsoftenappeartothinkthattheir
writingwillbejudgedonthebasisofhowmanywordstheyused.Assuchitiseasytogetintothe
habit of writing more words unnecessary words than a sentence needs, and so destroying the
simplicityandclarityofthemeaning.Whenyouedityourworkgothroughandmakesurethatevery
word has a real and explainable purpose. In this process you will find you have used a string of
similarwords(maybeevenfreshfromthethesaurus?)orunnecessarywords(veryadamant)All
of these can go. If you have any doubts about the appropriate word to use forget the computers
thesaurusandgobacktotheoldfashioneddictionary.Itisthiscaretakenwithselectingthebest
words,andtherightnumberofwords,thatoftendistinguishesgoodwritingfrompoorormindless
writing.

3.5.2 Theuseofformallanguage

More formal reports tend to require more formal language than we use in everyday life this to
some extent goes hand in hand with the use of the passive voice (see Section 3.5.3). Formal
languageitselfisnotaboutthrowingalotofpompouswordsintothemixandhopingforthebest;
itsaboutdevelopinganearregardingthestyleofwordsthatareconsideredsuitableinmoreformal
settings. Some examples of formal expressions compared with more common day ones are as
follows:

Informallanguage Formallanguage
Researchwasdone Researchwascarriedout/conducted
Itseems Itappears
Show Demonstrate
Keep Retain
About/Around Approximately
Need Require
Often Frequently
Now Currently

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3.5.3 Passive/ActiveVoiceandtheuseoftheThirdPerson

Studentsareoftenconfusedaboutthedifferencebetweenactiveandpassivevoice,andspecifically
howandwheretouseeachintheirreports.Activevoiceiswherethesubjectofasentenceperforms
thataction(acts)describedbytheverb.

Thestudentcarriedouttheresearch.
Thetechnicianadjustedthewatertemperature.
Thecrewsuccessfullypavedtheroadinlessthanthreehours

Theadvantageofusingtheactivevoiceisthatitintroducesasenseofactivityintothetextwhich
canbeengagingforthereader.

The passive voice is where the subject is acted upon by the verb. The above examples change as
follows:

Theresearchwascarriedoutbythestudent.
Thewatertemperaturewasadjustedbythetechnician.
Inlessthanthreehourstheroadwassuccessfullypavedbythecrew.

Thepassivevoiceismuchmoreaboutreportingwhatwasdone,andcarrieslesssenseofaction.It
hasbecomeassociatedwithmoreformallanguage,suchasisexpectedinformalwriting.Donotget
toostressedaboutit;inyourreportswedonotinsistthatyouonlyusethepassivevoicebutitisa
goodideatoknowwhatitisandtofeelfreetouseitwhenyoucan.

WhatyoudoneedtoknowisthatinanacademicpaperthestandardconventionistousetheThird
person. You do not refer to yourself as I or even as we (where there are multiple authors).
Instead,shouldyouneedtorefertoyourselfatallusethetermthestudentortheresearcher.For
combinedworkyoucouldrefertoyourselvesastheteam.

ThatsaiditcanbeclumsyconvertingsentenceswhereyouwouldnormallyusethetermIdidsuch
and such to the student did such and such. As an example: The student conducted a literature
reviewandthendevelopedgoalsandobjectives,isclumsyandtedioustoread.Rathersimplifyyour
lifebylearningtowriteinsuchawaythatyoudontreferenceyouownactions.Youcould,instead,
say:Aliteraturereviewwascarriedout,afterwhichgoalsandobjectivesweredeveloped.Thatis
muchsimpler.

3.5.4 Overworkedwords

Justascertainwordspopupoverandoveragaininspokenlanguage,somewordsbecomeoverused
in written reports. In general we see these used more in the introductory and closing sections of
reports,wherestudentshavetousetheirownlanguagetosetthesceneoftheresearchortodraw
thereporttoaclose.Herethereismoreofatendencytobesomewhatcarelessintheirchoiceof
words.

Think twice about using words such as: Actually, Basically and Essentially. Terms implying a
degreeofqualitysuchasgood;niceandacceptablebutwhicharenotqualified,arenotdesirable.

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Avoidanypopularphraseslike:Everydaylife/Thisdayandage/Prosandcons.

Alsoavoidclichssuchas:

Itgoeswithoutsaying;TimewilltellandAttheendoftheday.

Usingprepreparedphrasesliketheseistheoppositeofbeingcreative.Ratheruseyourownwords
tosaywhatyouwanttosay.

Over time, and with some attention, you will develop an awareness of your own language habits.
Some students, for example, get stuck on the same words and use them repeatedly through their
document.Ifyouhavegotintothehabitofusingwordshabituallytrytobreakoutofthatbylooking
forgoodsynonymsandgettingcomfortableusingthem.

3.5.5 Woolyqualifiers

Thesearewordswhichindicateanamountofsomething,butarenotspecificenoughforacademic
purposes.Thesearesomeofthemostirritatingtermstocomeacrossinacademicreports,soavoid
thematallcosts.Theseincludewordssuchas:

Many Slightly
Some Extremely
Somewhat Really
Alittle Totally

Inshort,ifyouaretalkingaboutquantitiesofthingsusetheappropriatemeasures.Manypeople
crossingaroadillegallyismeaninglesstothereader.Ithintsstronglyofspeculationandinaccuracy.
A sentence that reads: Over 20% of people crossed the road illegally has far more meaning and
impact.ReadmoreaboutquantitiesinSection4.

3.5.6 Emotionalorleadingwords

There is no place for these in a technical report. In fact their very presence can undermine the
perceived objectivity of the writer, so be very careful about using any words or sentences that
suggestthatyouhaveapersonalopinionorapassionateviewonanyaspectofyourtopic.Words
suchasterribly,shocking;extremely,awfulandsoonintroduceadegreeofemotionthatisout
ofsyncwiththestyleofthereport.Rememberyouneedtobeneutralandscientificinyourwriting.
Thereareotherwaysthatyoucanexpressyouropinions:letterstopoliticiansoutliningyourresults;
mediareleasesandsoon.Byallmeansusetheseasanoutletforyourpassion,butmakesureyour
academicreportremainsneutral.

3.5.7 Spelling

Spelling words correctly is essential in your writing. Not only does correct spelling add to the
readabilitylevelofyourreportbutmisspeltwordssuggestacarelessnessinthewriterthatisasure
fire way of irritating your reader, and making them suspect that your work as a whole has been
carriedourshoddily

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Where you are writing in English make sure that you are using British English and not American
English.Youmayneedtomakesureyourspellcheckerisontherightsettings.Therearethreekey
areasofdifference:

WordsthatendinreinBritishEnglishendinerinAmericanEnglish
Centrecenter
fibrefiber
litreliter
kilometrekilometer.

WordsendinginiseoryseinBritishEnglishtendtoutiliseizeoryzeinAmericanEnglish:
Organiseorganize
summarisesummarize
analyseanalyze
paralyseparalyze.

WordsthatendinourinBritishEnglisharegenerallyendedorinAmericanEnglish:
Colourcolor
humourhumor

Apart from spelling differences there are some expressions that are different between the two
versionsofEnglishBritishEnglish,forexample,usesthetermanticlockwisewhiletheAmerican
equivalentiscounterclockwise.MakesurethatallofyourwordsandtermsareBritishEnglish.

Finally,alwaysgetsomebody(notyourstudyleaderorlecturer!)tocheckyourworkforyoubefore
yousubmitdontrelyonyourspellcheckerbecauseitwillalmostcertainlymisssomemistakes.

3.5.8 Tenses

Oneofthebiggestchallengesincorrectpunctuationistheuseofcorrecttenses(past,presentand
futuretenses).Thiscangetcomplicatedparticularlyifyourreportwaswritteninsomestages;with
early stages written in the future tense (e.g. your Methodology section outlining what you were
proposingtodo)whileothersectionsmayhavebeenwrittenafteryourresultshadbeenobtained.
Inallcasesyourfinaldocumenteverysectionthereofshouldberepresentedinthepasttense.
The only section in which future tense is acceptable is in the final section which may include
recommendationsforthefuture.Thesecanofcoursebewritteninthefuturetense.

Using present tense can be acceptable at times (particularly in your discussion and interpretation
sections) but present tense, used incorrectly, can create the opportunity for confusion. Here is an
examplefromapreviousreport:

Theresultsareshowing

Herethestudentusesthepresentcontinuousversionoftheverbwhichiswrong.Itwouldbebetter
tosay:Theresultsshow(presentperfect)ortheresultsshowed(pastperfect).

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You also need to pay attention to the correct use of past tense. Mistakes creep in quite
unintentionallyand unlessyouare madeawareof acorrectwayofreporting,thesehabitscanbe
difficulttobreak.Takeaminutetolookatthesesentences:

Aftertheexperimentswerecarriedout,theresultswereevaluated.
That may seem acceptable to you, but in fact it should read: After the experiments had been
carriedout,theresultswereevaluated.

Asecondexample:AfterIreadtheliterature,Icompiledaproposal
Thisshouldread:AfterIhadreadtheliterature,Icompiledaproposal.

Without getting into the technical explanations of why one is more correct than another, the
simplestwayofexplainingthisisthatinbothcasesasequenceofeventsisreferredtowhichisnot
fullyexplainedintheweakersentences.Inbothexamplesthefirstactionthathastobecompleted
amountstoaseriesofactivitiesexperiments;andreadingmultiplereferences.Thetermforthis
versionofthepasttenseispastperfectprogressive,wheretheprogressiveactivityistheseriesof
activities.Theuseofthecorrectformsclarifiesthenatureoftheactivitiesthatwerecompletedprior
tothesecondstages.

Thisisquiteasophisticatedleveloflanguageuse,butsomethingtobearinmind.Asaguide,ifyou
usethetermswasorwereaskyourselfwhatthenatureofthecompletedverbwas.Ifitcomprised
aseriesofactivitiesthenthepasttensewouldbehadbeenfinished/hadbeencompleted.Ifitwas
justasingleactionthenthingsarealittlesimpler:(e.g.Oncethewaterboiled,thetealeaveswere
added/Oncetheholewasdugthesamplewasextracted).

3.6 Punctuation

As with spelling, poor punctuation causes a bad impression from the start. Poor punctuation
suggeststhatyouhaveadoptedacarelessnesstothewritingofyourreportthatdoesimmeasurable
damageforyou,andwhichisdifficulttoundoevenwiththemostexcellentofresearchresults.The
good news is that the more you write, the more your punctuation will improve. There are some
good resources to use to make sure that you are developing good punctuation habits. For all
students, however, a good tip is to get an independent person to check your writing before you
submit,regardlessofhowconfidentyoufeel.

3.6.1 Useofcommas,hyphens,colonsandsemicolons

Commas can be slippery as there are so many variations in their use. As a rule of thumb try to
confineyouruseofcommastoseparatingdistinctpartsofsentencesfromeachother.Alwaysread
yoursentencesaloudtoseeifthecommais,indeed,intherightplace.

Hyphensarebecomingincreasinglypopularinstudentwork,andareoftenoverusedorincorrectly
used. Use them to create a more noticeable break in a sentence than can be created simply with
brackets.Trynottooverusethem.

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Colons:Theseareincrediblysimple.Youusethemonlyintwocases:Thefirstisatthebeginningofa
listofelements,whilethesecondisatthebeginningofaquotation.

Semicolons.OneofthemostmisusedtoolsintheEnglishlanguage,semicolonsaredesignedtojoin
twosentencesthatcaninfactstandaloneasseparatesentences,butwherethereisarelationship
betweenthemthatyouwanttoemphasize.Theycanalsobeusedtoseparateelementsinalist.

3.6.2 Useofquotations/otherpeoplesideas

Onewayofincorporatingotherpeoplesideasinyourworkistoquotefromthem.Thismeansusing
theirwordsverbatim(wordforword)andutilisingquotationmarksatthestartandendofthequote
sothatthereaderknowsthatthesearesomeoneelseswords.

Direct quotes like this should, however, be limited to those instances when the words used are
particularlypowerfuleitherbecauseofwhosaidthem,orbecauseofthewaytheyareexpressed.
Therealsoneedstobeadirectlinkbetweenthequoteandthecontentsofyourowntexti.e.it
mustbeclearlyrelevanttothepointyouaremaking.

Ingeneral,quotesareusedsparinglyshortselectionsonlytoillustrateaparticularpoint.Itisnot
acceptable to cut and paste sections of someone elses work and incorporate that as a quote.
Thatisnotthepointofquotations,andthisisleaningtowardsaninappropriateuseofquotations,
for which you could be penalised. Also be aware of the risk of using too many quotes each one
mustbejustifiableandmustcontributesomethingpowerfultoyourtext.

If you do use quotations you should generally introduce the source before the quotation in an
introductory sentence, and then cite the quote, including specific page numbers, afterwards. You
willalsoneedtoincludethefullreferenceinyourbibliography.

3.6.3 Commonmistakes

Inthisfinalsectiononlanguage,afewcommonmistakesarelisted.Pleasedogothroughtheseand
makesureyouavoidtheminyourownwork.

(i) Made up words or phrases. In a word: dont! There are plenty of excellent words in the
English language to cover all eventualities; we simply dont need new additions such as
completelyseparable;expectantly(insteadofasexpected);unbounded;inertialetc.

(ii) Hitandmisslanguage:Thisiswhereyouhaveanideaandyouthrowsomewordstogether
togetyourideaacross,withoutgoingbackandmakingsurethatitreadswell.Astatement
like: With the exploratory reading it was sought to more clearly define the research
questionisagoodexample.Herethestudenthadanideathathewantedtoconvey,but
hes used language poorly. A better sentence would have read: The exploratory reading
allowedtheresearchquestiontobemoreclearlydefined.

19

 More examples: It was considered to convert findings This should have read
Considerationwasgiventoconvertingfindings
SimilartothepreviousfindingscouldsimplyhavebeenAsbefore.

Inalloftheseexamplesthestudentswereusingthekindoflanguagethattheydidnotusein
everydaylifeandwhichwasclearlytoochallenging.Heresimplerlanguagewouldhavebeen
farmoreeffective.

(iii) Duplicatewords:Thismistaketakestheformofusingthesameword(samemeaning)twice
(or more) in a sentence or a short paragraph. This is simple laziness. A sentence such as:
Theteampresentedtheirfindingsandthenpresentedtheirconclusionsisannoying.Better
options would be to say: The team presented their findings and conclusions or (slightly
differentmeaning)"Theteampresentedtheirfindingsandexplainedtheirconclusions."

Another version of duplicate words is introducing words that are not needed because an
earlierwordhasmadethemredundant.Anexamplewouldbe:Furthermoreitmustalsobe
considered. Here the word also is not needed. A second common example is Very
unique.Theworduniquedoesnotneedtobequalifieditmeansitismatchless.Arelated
mistakeistosaythatsomethingisquiteunique thisisnonsensical. Eithersomethingis
uniqueoritisnt.

(iv) Theuseofthewordshallisoftenmisused.Therearetwoforms:
When you are describing your own intention to do something in the future, it is
acceptable(butratheroldfashionednow)tosay:Ishalldothattomorrow.Therule
isthateveryoneelse(he/she/they)willdothattomorrow.
Theotheruseofshalliswhereaninstructionisimplied:Thestudentshallsearchthe
literaturemeansthataninstructionisissuedtothestudenttosearchtheliterature.In
contrast,Thestudentwillsearchtheliteratureisasimplefactualstatement.

'Shall' is gradually fading out of common usage, but where it is used it must be used
correctly.Donotuseshallwhenyoumeanwill.

(v) Confusing two words. Words that sound similar are often used interchangeably, and
incorrectly,bystudents.Themostcommonexampleiswhereandwere.Forsomereason
this problem comes up repeatedly in student projects. Another example is breaking and
braking. A third common one is affects and effects. In all such cases these are two
entirely different words. Make sure you know their correct meaning, and use them
appropriately.

(vi) Useofthephrase'compareto'and'comparewith'.Comparetoisusedwhenyouwantto
directlyindicatesimilaritybetweentwothings.SoCapeTownisoftencomparedtoRiode
Janeiro(sandybeaches,mountaininbackgrounds,beautifulpeopleetc.).NelsonMandelais
sometimescomparedtoMahatmaGhandi.Thesearealwaysthingsthatareobviouslyquite
similar.

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 Ontheotherhand,whenyouaredoinganindepthcomparison,andwanttofindjusthow
similarordifferentthingsare,thenyouusecomparewith.Inthatcase,forexampleCape
Town could be compared with Johannesburg; Nelson Mandela could be compared with
RobertMugabe;Resultsfromexperiment1arecomparedwithresultsfromexperiment2.

(vii) Quantities.Whereyouaredescribingquantitiesofthingsthatcanbecountedindividually,
the correct term to use is number. Examples would be: the number of times the vehicle
rolled,thenumberofaccidentsthatoccurinayear,thenumberofparticles,orthenumber
ofwidgetsyouusetoconstructyourmodel.
The terms of comparison associated with number are more or fewer (not less or
more)...Moreaccidents;Fewerwidgetsetc.

Wheretheindividualelementscannotbecounted(generallybecausetheconstituentparts
aretoosmallorbecausetheconceptitselfisesoteric)youtalkaboutamount(theamount
of sand; the amount of money; the amount of goodwill that this generated). Here the
associatedtermsarelessandmore(lessflourmoresand,lessmoney).

Remember,too,thatsomematerialshavespecificunitsofmeasurementvolumeapplies
toliquidsandgases(thevolumeofwaterrequired)andtotrafficflows(thevolumeoftraffic
exceeds2000perday).

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4.ILLUSTRATIONSDIAGRAMS,PHOTOGRAPHS,GRAPHSANDTABLES

Mostacademicorscientificreportswillrequiresomedegreeofillustrating.Thereareanumberof
different types of illustrations that are explained in this section. There are different conventions
associatedwiththeirnumbering/labellingasexplainedbelow.Theydo,however,haveanumberof
requirementsincommon.

4.1 Commonrequirements

In each case where an illustration is introduced it is important that it be placed as close to the
descriptivetextaspossible.Thereaderdoesnotwanttohave topagethroughyourdocumentto
find an illustration that you refer to make their lives easier by placing it immediately below the
referencewhereverpossible,oratveryworst,overleaf.

The second convention is tied to this. This is that for every illustration there must be some
introductorycommentthatreferstotheillustrationbynumber,aswellassomeexplanationasto
what the illustration is showing the reader. Do not leave it up to the reader to draw their own
conclusionsaboutthemeaningoftheillustrationspelloutexactlywhatthekeyelementsarethat
thereaderisexpectedtotakenoteof.

Athirdconventionisthatunlesstheillustrationisentirelyyourownwork,itmustincludethesource
immediately below the title. Where you are using a photograph or a diagram that has been
borrowedfromathirdparty;theconventionforthecitationisstraightforward(Author,date,page
number,withthefullreferenceincludedintheBibliography).Apracticalexampleisgivenbelow:

Figure1:TemporalhistoryofshockwayinCACO3(Nellis,2006,1506).

If you are redrawing a graph/table from a third party (i.e. using their data but generating a new
graph/table in your own preferred format) the original source still needs to be referenced. In this
caseyourcitationshouldsay(Afterauthor,date,pagenumber;withthefullreferenceincludedin
theBibliography).

IfyouareusingphotographsdownloadedfromtheInternetmakesuretheyarenotsubjecttoany
copyrightrestrictionsbeforeyouusethem.

ConventionsrelatedtotheuseofGoogleMapsarelaidoutindetailintheDepartmentplagiarism
policy.InshortyouareentitledtouseGoogleMapimagesforpersonaluse(notforprofit!)butyou

22

cannot alter the image in any way whatsoever, and you must cite both Google and the image
provider.Thisisalwaysfoundatthebottomoftheimageitself.

4.2 Numberingandheadings(captions)

Tablesaregenerallygivenanumberandacaptionthatappearsabovethetable.Graphs,diagrams
andphotographsaregenerallyreferredtocollectivelyasFiguresandarenumberedandcaptioned
belowtheillustration.

The caption of an illustration should make it clear what it is showing, without being too long. The
explanationofthecontentsoftheillustrationisgiveninthetext.

Differentresearchershavedifferentpreferencesfornumberingofillustrations.Somepeoplechoose
tonumberthemsequentiallyi.e.thefirsttableinyourdocumentisTable1andthethirdfigureis
Figure3.Thisisasimpleandstraightforwardmethodofnumbering.Othersprefertousethechapter
numberasareferencepoint;buildingtheillustrationnumberfromthis.SothefirsttableinChapter
4couldthenbeTable4.1.;thethirdfigureinChapter4wouldbeFigure4.3.

Theoneadvantageofthissecondmethodisthatifyoudecidetoaddordeleteatablelaterinthe
processyoudontneedtorenumberallofyourtables,onlythosethatareaffectedinthatparticular
chapter. On the other hand, the computers automatic numbering system can also help you avoid
thisproblembyautomatingtheallocationofnumbersifyouchooseasequentialstyle.

Ultimately this is very much a personal preference. Just be sure that your numbers flow logically;
that the illustration is referenced in the text and discussed; and that your Tables and Figures are
listedinseparatelistsinyourcontentspage.

4.3 Sizingofillustrations

A good practice to get into is to try to keep all your illustrations the same relative sizes. In other
words,keepyourgraphsthesamesizeaseachotherandyourphotosordiagramsthesamesizeas
each other. Tables dont normally allow you to be as prescriptive as they tend to have different
numbersofrowsandcolumns,soconsistencyintheirappearanceisnotachievedasmuchbysizeas
itisbystyle.Ifyouuseaseriesoftablestrytobeconsistentinthetableformatyouuseinyour
shading,useofborders,useoffontandfontsizeetc.

Averyimportantconsiderationisthattheinformationthatweneedtoreadofftheillustrationbe
itagraph,atableoradiagrammustbeclearenoughforustodoso.Thesizeoftheaxestitles,
anynumbers,etc.mustbeclearlylegible.Ifyouusecolourstodistinguishbarsorcolumnsinagraph
make sure that the colours are distinct enough from each other so that they can be easily
distinguished,andkeepcolourblindreadersinmind(redandgreencanbedifficulttodifferentiate).
Mostoftheseareveryobviouselements,butsometimesinthefinalrushtomeetadeadlinesuch
detailscanbeoverlooked.

23

5.FURTHERREFERENCES

5.1 Books

Grant,T;Borcherds,R.,2008:Communicating@Work.VanSchaik,Pretoria.

Lauchmann, R., 1993: Plain style techniques for simple, concise, emphatic business writing.
Amacon.

Ober, S, 2006: Contemporary business communication. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin
company.

SilynRoberts, H., 2002. Writing for Science: A practical handbook for science, engineering and
technologystudents.LongmanPress.

VanEmden,J.,2005:WritingforEngineers.PalgraveMacMillan.

5.2 Internetsources:

Cambridge University Department of Engineering 1st ed 2011. Guide to Report Writing.

<http://to.eng.cam.ac.uk/teaching/teachoff/study_skills/ReportWritingGuide/downloads/ReportWri
tingGuide_1st_edition_2011_Exposition.pdf>

The Institution of Engineering and Technology: A guide to Technical Report Writing, 2012.
<http://www.unlv.edu/sites/default/files/24/EngineeringGuideTechnicalWriting.pdf>

24