Crash guide to writing a research report: editorial checklist

Successfully writing a research report that meets your readers' needs takes planning and care. Whether you're going solo or plan to work with an editor or proofreader, your report will benefit from a methodical approach that takes account of 13 key areas from the start.

So you’ve been tasked with writing a research report for a business, charity, non-profit or public sector organization – or perhaps editing one. Perhaps you haven’t written a report before or are feeling a little intimidated at the scale of the task. Or perhaps you need to coordinate a team of authors and aren’t sure of the best way to go about it.

Fear not. As a long-time copyeditor of research reports for business, charity and non-profit clients, I’ve seen repeatedly what works and what can lead to problems with clarity, organization, or even (shudder!) data and accuracy.

Why it's important to plan your research report

You really don’t want to reach the editing stage and find yourself having to rewrite huge portions of your research report – for example, because the underlying data has been interpreted differently by different authors or because the fundamental organizational scheme doesn’t work. I’ve seen this happen and it’s not a fun experience for the poor authors who thought they were almost done with the project.

In this post I’m going to share with you:

1. A thorough editorial checklist you can use at any point in the writing process
2. My number one tip for writing a business, charity, public sector or non-profit research report

By following these tips, you'll maximize your chance of a smooth ride through the writing and editing process, with happy funders and well-informed readers at the end.

Editorial checklist for writing a research report

You’ll maximize your efficiency if you use this checklist as early as possible in the process. However, you can use it at any point:

• At the start, to help you plan
• Mid-way through, to check you’re heading in the right direction
• Towards the end, to check you haven’t missed anything important

If you're an editor or proofreader, you can also use it to help you assess a report for issues or remind yourself of key aspects to look out for.

Bear in mind that if you have more than one author working on your report, it’s especially important to agree your approach on the below points. That way, it's more likely your report will end up reading like one harmonious whole.

1. Understand your readers

Know who you’re writing for, what they want from your report, and their level of comfort with formal writing and data analysis.

Why? To achieve a consistent tone and ensure an appropriate level of complexity

2. Check your funder’s requirements (if relevant)

If you have a funder and they use a template or have a required structure, use it from the start. Read every detail of the guidance provided – you’d be surprised how granular it can get!

Why? To avoid time-consuming (and potentially soul-destroying!) rewrites to shoehorn your text into a different format late in the process

3. Plan your structure

Think about how your report will be divided up into parts, chapters and sections (as appropriate). Ensure that your sections are similar in length (or that variations are justified).

Why? So readers can easily follow your argument and find the information they need

4. Plan your figures, tables and informational boxes

Figures (e.g. charts and infographics), tables and informational boxes should be integral to your structure – they shouldn't be shoved in at the end to make your report look pretty. Think about where you will include these features and how they will complement the main text.

Why? To enhance your message for your readers and ensure harmony across your report

5. Plan your case studies (if relevant)

Case studies can really help to bring your content alive. But, again, they should be well chosen and ideally evenly placed throughout the relevant section(s) of your report. Also bear in mind that it can take a while to source case studies and gain any relevant permissions, so get started on them early.

Why? To make your message more immediate for your readers and avoid delays

6. Plan your approach to referencing

Decide when you will use references (hint: you always need them for quotes, data and other people’s ideas) and what style you will use (a whole other topic that I’ll be writing about soon!).

Why? To ensure your report is authoritative and to enable your readers to follow up on other sources they might find helpful

7. Choose some basic editorial styles

Ultimately, if you're using a professional editor or proofreader, they will tidy up the styles for you. However, if you don't plan to use an editorial service, it's important to set down some basic rules that you plan to follow (e.g. UK spelling with no serial comma). You could also start a list of words you'll need to use a lot, showing how you want them to appear. If you do use an editor or proofreader, make sure to share these decisions with them.

Why? To ensure your readers aren't distracted by inconsistent spellings or formatting, so they can concentrate on your important message – and (if relevant) to ensure your editor or proofreader can focus on value-adding edits rather than basic consistency changes

8. Decide on your key terminology

Decide how you will refer to your stakeholders, research phases and components, key concepts, and any other aspects that you will need to refer to repeatedly throughout your report.

Why? So readers don’t get distracted from your message by wondering whether (for example) your ‘survey of beneficiaries’ is the same thing as your ‘survey of users’

9. Decide who you are!

Decide who will be the ‘voice’ of your report: the authors, your organization or a funder? For example, will you say ‘we recommend…’, ‘it is recommended…’, ‘the Institute of Brilliant Ideas recommends…’ or something else?

Why? For consistency and so readers will associate your arguments and recommendations with the body you choose

10. Finalize your data before you start writing

I know how tricky this can be when you have research phases finishing at different times. But as far as possible, make sure your data (and the conclusions you draw from it) are watertight before you start writing.

Why? To avoid the increased potential for errors (and lost time and increased cost) when supposedly finalized text has to be revised to take account of new findings

11. Finalize the content before you get editorial support

Where possible, avoid making extensive changes to your report (for example, as a result of a funder's review) after a professional editor has done their work. Sometimes this is inevitable, though, so at minimum tell your editor if there may be further changes (and where), so they can look out for potential knock-on issues.

Why? To avoid having to choose between publishing an unevenly edited report and delaying your schedule for an extra round of editing

12. Avoid unnecessary repetition

Obviously you will repeat key information from your main report in your executive summary. However, beyond that, think carefully about whether information needs to be repeated (for example, do your recommendations really need to repeat the data on which they are based?).

Why? To avoid bloat and minimize the chance of inconsistency

13. Plan for extra language support where needed

Not all researchers are excellent writers, and some may be excellent writers in the future but currently lack experience. Where relevant, talk to the authoring team about whether they feel they would benefit from extra writing support. For example, perhaps one of the authors who is a confident writer could review the other authors' sections in a collaborative spirit. Or perhaps you will need to arrange for an extra round of professional editing focusing on language clarity and flow (often called 'line editing'), before a final light copyedit or proofread to address technical issues with spelling, capitalization, punctuation and so on.

Why? To give every author the opportunity to have their contribution valued without barriers, and to build all necessary stages into your scheduling

My number one tip for writing a research report

Finally, here’s my number one tip for writing a research report: keep it as simple as the content allows.

It might seem like you need to write 'cleverly' or even 'academically' for your report to be accepted and seem 'official' enough. But when I’m editing a research report, there are certain changes I find myself making over and over again:

• Rephrasing complicated sentences
• Splitting up long sentences and paragraphs
• Removing jargon
• Condensing text that says the same thing multiple times
• Clarifying text that has become vague through the use of flowery but imprecise words
• Avoiding unnecessary variations in terminology (likely intended to avoid repetition but only serving to confuse the reader)
• Correcting words that are simply wrong or nonsense, probably because the writer is so concerned to be writing ‘formal’ English that they aren’t paying attention to the basics
• Detangling 'garden path' sentences (there is a good explanation here)
• Rephrasing passive-voice sentences into active voice – for example, 'we did the thing' (active) rather than 'the thing was done' (passive)
• Removing text that is too informal (perhaps because the writer has panicked that they’re being too formal and thrown in some inappropriately informal phrases here and there)

Sometimes I feel guilty making these changes as an editor, as I can tell I'm reversing the writers' painstaking work. But the secret to writing an impactful research report is to present the information as straightforwardly as your content allows.

Write directly and as you would talk to a customer or client in a formal situation, and your report will be just as credible and authoritative as it should be.