Writing Long Documents

Last update: 21 August 2002

The term report covers a wide variety of business documents. Letters, memos, and even email messages, for example, may be considered reports when they present essentially factual information in a highly organized way and employ one or more of the special techniques typically associated with written reports. Reports may be short (usually less than 10 pages), long (more than 10 pages—perhaps up to thousands of pages in bound volumes), informal or formal (based on writing and presentation style), informative (facts only) or analytical (facts plus analysis and recommendations).

Because they are longer, more complex, and usually of greater importance to an organization, reports need to be prepared with greater care than is usually afforded most correspondence. The same basic writing skills apply, but reports are typically based on research. The report writer needs to understand the basic principles of research and how to interpret and present the results of that research in a readable, usable way. As a rule, one or more readers of the report will make a decision based on the information it presents, so report writers have a responsibility to ensure that the information and any recommendations presented will contribute to the best decision possible.

The materials in this section cover the following topics:

The Form and Function of Business Reports

Defining and Researching Report Problems

Common Business Reports

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