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Obj. 3.01Business Documents:Research Report

and Table of Contents

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Research ReportWhat is a Research Report? It is a multi-page document that

usually contains several sub-topics of information related to one main topic.

All margins should be set to 1 inch

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Research Report Style MLA

Modern Language Association Used within Liberal Arts and

Humanities Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic

Language, Literature, Philosophy, History, Mathematics, Psychology, Science

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Research Report Components Title Page Title Header Body Parenthetical Citations Endnotes/Footnotes Works Cited Notes Page

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Research Report:Components (Continued)

The Title of a report is required.

The Title includes the identifying information and is keyed in the top left margin of the Report.

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Center the title in the top third portion of the page

Double space the writer’s name and professor’s name and center the two lines in the middle of the page

Center the date in the bottom third portion of the page

Include email address and phone number (optional)

Title Page

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Title Key the following at the top left

margin of the first page in double space mode Writers name Teacher/professor’s name Course name

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Research Report:Components (Continued)

A Header is placed on every page of the report and includes: writer’s last name page number

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Header Formatted to include the writer’s

last name followed by one space and the page number in .5 inch top right margin

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Research Report:Components (Continued)

The Body of the Report is the content (the paragraphs).

Parenthetical citations are reference notes keyed in the body of the report.

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Body Double-space all lines Use a legible font size Leave only one space after periods

or other punctuation marks Indent the first line of a

paragraph .5” from the left margin Use either italics or underlining for

the titles of longer works

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Body (con’t) Double space after the title line

and center the title of the report Key the title in Title Case (initial

caps), not in all capital letters Double space between the title

and the first line of the text

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Parenthetical Citations Keyed immediately following a

quote or referenced source in the body of a report

Includes the author’s name and page number Example

(Lowery 45) The complete reference is keyed in

the works cited section of the report

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Research Report:Components (Continued)

Endnotes/Footnotes: Endnotes and Footnotes

used only when necessary to add commentary or to clarify.

used to add commentary References are used to cite a

source

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Endnotes/Footnotes Should be used only sparingly and

for necessary clarifying commentary

Indicated by a superscript within the report body and keyed after any punctuation in the reference to which it refers (with the exception of a dash or hyphen)

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Endnotes/Footnotes (con’t) Footnotes (notes that appear at

the bottom of the page of the body of the report) should be keyed in single space, first line indent format with a double space separating each additional footnote

When endnotes/footnotes are used, they must be referenced separately on a notes page

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Research Report:Components (Continued)

A Works Cited is: complete listing of references cited

parenthetically keyed on a separate page

Notes (Page): a complete list of resources and references used

to accompany endnotes keyed on a separate page

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Works Cited Accompany parenthetical citations Keyed on separate page Includes header (last name, page

number) Titled Works Cited

center the title at the top 2” margin of the page

Keyed in hanging indent format and double spaced

Listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name

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Notes Page List of resources and references when

footnotes or endnotes are used Keyed on separate Includes header

last name, page number Titled Notes

Title centered at the top 2” margin of the page

Keyed in hanging indent format and double spaced

Listed in chronological order by superscript number

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Table of Contents (TOC)A Table of Contents is:

accompany a report, document, or manuscript to list the topics and sub-topics in the order in

which they occur.Example:

Chronological listing with page numbers of contents of an accompanying research report

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Table of Contents (TOC) (continued)

Components (in order)a. Title (Table of Contents)b. List of topics and subtopics

and their respective page numbers

c. Page number - in Roman Numeral style at the bottom of the page

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Report VocabularyTerm Definition

Hanging indent A temporary left margin that indents all lines but the first line of the text.

Reference list/Works cited/Bibliography

A list of all references used in a report. This allows the writer to give credit to the author of the material used in the report.

Body The main text of a personal letter, business letter, memo, email, or report.

Unbound report Short reports that are prepared without binders or covers.Double space Pressing the enter key twice (2) leaving one blank line. This can also refer

to line spacing using the word processing feature to leave one blank line between each line of text.

Side heading Headings used to separate the report into sections.Left bound Longer reports prepared with binders. Left margin is wider (1.5”) to

accommodate binding along the left margin.Top bound Top margin is wider (1.5”) to accommodate binding along the top margin.

Title Page The title page is the first page of a report. It gives the title of the report, the name of the writer, the name of the school or class, and the date.