GUIDELINES FOR WRITING TECHNICAL REPORT

1                   The project must be written in good English/required language.

2                   It should be typed using double line spacing on A4 paper except for drawing and maps for which there may not be restriction.

3                   The size of the font size should be 12 in times new roman style.

4                   The typing must be on one side of the paper.

5                   The margin on each sheet shall not be less than 18mm on the left-hand side, 13mm on the right, 25mm at the top and 13mm at the bottom.

6                   The colour of binding will depend on the department requirement.

7                   The title and name must be written on cover page with surname first follow by other names in full.

PRELIMINARIES AND CONTENTS ARRANGEMENT

All pages of bound project shall be numbered except the title page which is page one.

(i)                The page number shall be written in the center on the bottom of each page. Roman numerals (lower case) shall be used for all preliminary pages and Arabic numbering as from the first page of the actual project.

(ii)             The project shall contain all or some of the following materials  arranged in the following  order:

(a)  Title

(b) Certificate

(c)  Certification duly signed by the Supervisor

(d) Acknowledgment (s)

(e)  Table of Contents

(f)   List of Tables

(g)  List of figures

(h) List of plates (if any)

(i)    Abstract

(j)    Introduction

(k) Main body of project

(l)    Conclusion/Recommendation

(m)                       List of References and Bibliography

(n) Appendixes such as Field books, Computation sheets, Plan etc.

Title

The first unnumbered page after the fly leaf shall bear the full title of the project, the full names of the author, the Department and Faculty to which the project is submitted and Month and the year of submission of the project. All letters of the title name of the author shall be capitalized (Surname first, First name and other name).

Acknowledgment

The acknowledgment of the aids given by others to the author during the execution of the project shall follow the certification by supervisor.

Table of Contents

This shall contain the content of the project starting from the title page and indicating the first page of the items listed 1 (ii) above.

List of Tables

A complete list of the tables to which references have been made in the text of the project shall be given.

List of figures

A complete list of figures indicating titles and pages where they appear should be given serially.

Abstract

Each project shall have a short abstract of not more than 500 words. The abstract, shall conform to the following format.

·        Introduction/ Objectives: A brief statement of what the project is all about; specific objectives 

·        Methodology: Field work i.e. collection of primary and secondary data; Method of data analysis (computation).

·        Result

·        Conclusion

Introduction

The introduction shall depending on the type of project contain among other things, a definition of problem/scope of the project including the objectives, relevant literature review and conceptual basis of the project and methodology. The introductory section is commonly denoted to such matters as (a) the background to the study (b) the aim and objectives of the project (c) the scope of the project (d) definitions of basic terms (e) importance of the project etc.

Methodology/Procedures

This is the section that deals with how the data was collected and analyzed.

Main body of the project

Mainly it contains all or some of the following:

(a)  Planning

(b) Data Acquisition

(c)  Data Processing and Analysis

(d) Presentation of the results (soft and hard)

However, the form of presentation may vary with the subject matter and the project type.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The chapter on conclusion is usually the last in a book or report. When taken along with recommendations, it is the last part of the main report. If the project has been carried out diligently and logically in consonance with the stated objectives, then by the time the results are presented and discussed, conclusions should be easy to draw.

The conclusion section is prepared by collecting the important elements of the results section. The chapter is usually conducted with a statement of list of recommendations based on the result of the project.

List of References and Bibliography

These shall be prepared in the alphabetical order of the authors surnames.

References: This is the list of the works (books, journals etc) cited in the report.

Bibliography: A list of works (books, journals etc) not cited rather a list of sources generally consulted.

CITATION OF REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHIC STYLE

Citation in the text

The style used shall be vary from one discipline to another. It is however important that the author should maintain a consistent style throughout the project.

METHOD OF CITING ACCORDING TO THE FORMAT OF GRAPHIC COMMUNICATION FOR ALL DISCIPLINES

Books, Pamphlets and Reports

The following order of referencing is recommended for books, pamphlets and reports.

Name(s) of author(s), editor(s) Author’s surname, followed by initials.

(a)     Year of publication

(b)     Full title, including sub-title. This shall be written exactly as the original in wording and publication. There shall be no translation of title from one language to another. All generic names of plants and animals shall be underlined.

(c)      Name(s) of publisher(s).

(d)     Place of publication, in the language of publication.

(e)      Number of volumes, if more than one; or number of pages if the book is in one volume.

Works by Two or More Authors

Works by two or more authors are entered under the two or three names in the order in which they occur on the title page. The Initials of the authors mentioned are inserted (see example below). In the case of three or more authors, the word ‘and’ is inserted between the names of the last two authors.

Example:

Fadahunsi, J.T. and Awoniyi, I.A. (2003) Basic Principle in Surveying Longman, Lagos.pp32-37

Moran, J. M. Morgan, M. D. and Wiersma J. H. (1980) Introduction to Remote Sensing Freeman Ltd Ibadan.

Part of Books, Pamphlets and Reports

Articles in Encyclopedic Works

References to articles in encyclopedic works to a single volume in a set, or to single chapters in a book shall have the following order:

(a)     Author(s) of the articles or chapter

(b)     Title of the article or chapter

(c)      Title of the whole work

(d)     Imprint of the whole work

(e)      Numbers of pages.

References to articles in encyclopedias, biographies, dictionaries, yearbooks and almanacs shall be brief, omitting the editor, publisher and place of publication. But including the number of the edition, the volume number and the date of the volume cited.

Example:

Campbell, C. J. Ecuador, (1999) in the Encyclopedia of World Regional Geography, Part 1 pp 261- 290.

Specific References to Articles in Periodicals and Newspapers

In references to articles in periodicals, the following essential information shall be given in the order shown.

(a)     Author’s surname, followed by initials

(b)     Date, for scientific work only and in parenthesis;

(c)      Title of article

(d)     Name of periodical in full and underlined.

(e)      Place of publication in the language of the periodicals.

(f)      Volume number of the periodical (in Arabic numerals), and issue number, if any. Where both are used, the issue number is in parenthesis.

(a)     Pages of the articles.

(b)     Month and year of issue of the periodical, in the language of the periodical.

Example:

Ogunkoya E. O. O. (1986a) Quality of base flow as an aquifer yield in the basement comex area of Southwestern Nigeria. Journal of Environmental Management. London, 22, 291-300.

Osagbae E. (1995) The Ogoni Uprising:  Oil Politics, Minority Agitation and the Future of the Nigerian State African Affairs. Vol. 94 pp. 325-344.

 

The case of a reference with multiple authors, the name of the first author shall be used to determine alphabetical order.

Bibliographies

In addition to one of the two methods of citing and arranging references recommended above, it is necessary to collate all at the end of the project. As s rule, this section of the work may be arranged as follows:

(a)     Alphabetically by author;

(b)     Serially as cited in the thesis or as numbered;

(c)      Classified by subject;

(d)     By form of publication.                   

(i)      Figures

Every figure (graphics, charts, histograms, maps etc) included in the main body of the project shall be numbered and suitable self-explanatory title of the figure given below the figure on the same page. Labeling must be clear and accurate, scales and keys to maps must be clearly indicated by any of their accepted methods. Units of measurement shall be indicated. The word figure shall be abbreviated to fig followed by the number of the figures.

(ii)     Tables

Each table shall be numbered and shall have a suitable heading which must be self-explanatory. The word ‘’Table’’ capitalized and followed by an Arabic number shall appear at the centre on top of the table. The legend or descriptive title of the table shall be centered above the body of the table: Only the first word and proper names shall begin with capital letters and shall be underlined. Each table shall have a box, and shall be ruled. Units of measurement must be clearly indicated in the appropriate column of the table. Explanatory footnotes to table must be indicated by means of standard footnote reference marks (*, x, +) placed after words or the numbers to which foot-notes refer. Footnotes may also be indicated by use of superscript letter (a, b, c, etc), placed after words or before numbers in the table. The footnotes must appear below the table on the same page.

HEADING AND FORMAT

Heading in text

(a) Chapter or section Heading

The main chapter and section heading shall be capitalized and written centrally at the top of the first page of the chapter. The main chapter or section heading shall not be underlined.

(b) Sub-headings

These shall not be capitalized but shall appear towards the left margin and shall not be underlined. Only the first letters of the first word and proper names shall be capitalized and the whole sentence should be bold.

Paper, Typing and Spacing

The paper shall be of good quality. The size of the paper for project word-processed shall be A4; the font size shall be 12 except for drawings and maps, on which no restriction is placed. The margin on each sheet shall not be less than 38mm on the left-hand side, 13mm on the right, 25mm at the top, and 13mm at the bottom. The project shall be typed double spaced.

Appendices

This includes field books, computation sheets, plans etc.  This must be bind together.

Note;- all these field books, computation sheets, plans etc.   is only applied to practical oriented courses.