Most of this text was adapted from Technical Communications: Introduction to Communications in Aviation by McDonald Kyte. That text was adapted from Technical Writing Essentials: Introduction to Professional Communication in the Technical Fields by Robin L. Potter and Tricia Hylton. That text was in turn adapted from Technical Writing Essentials: Introduction to Professional Communications in the Technical Fields by Suzan Last.

Parts of Chapter 4 were adapted from A Guide to Writing Formal Technical Reports: Content, Style, and Format by Robin L. Potter. This text was adapted from Engineering Work Term Report Guide by Suzan Last.

Interactive elements and graphics are contributed by McDonald Kyte, Tricia Hylton, and Anh Lam, Katherine Dyck, Randy Skurdal, Mahedi Hasan, Alexis Watt, and Corinne Johnson.

Credits

Unless otherwise noted, materials are adapted from Technical Communications: Introduction to Communications in Aviation by McDonald Kyte under a CC BY 4.0 International license.

1.3 adapted from Technical Communications: Introduction to Communications in Aviation by McDonald Kyte (CC BY 4.0); Advanced information Research Skills (AIRS) by Lyndelle Gunton, Sal Kleine and Rani McLennan (CC BY-NC 4.0); and Doing Research: A student’s Guide to Finding and Using the Best Sources by Celia Brinkerhoff (CC BY 4.0).

3.10 adapted from Technical Communications: Introduction to Communications in Aviation by McDonald Kyte (CC BY 4.0) and Progress Reports by David McMurrey [Used under CC BY 4.0].

5.3 adapted from Technical Communications: Introduction to Communications in Aviation by McDonald Kyte (CC BY 4.0) and Oral Presentations by David McMurrey [Used under CC BY 4.0].

5.7 and 5.8 are new material.

Both

Potter, R. L. (2021). A guide to writing formal technical reports: Content, style and format. Seneca. https://pressbooks.senecapolytechnic.ca/formaltechnicalreports/ [Used under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0].

EXCEPTIONS LISTED HERE

Exceptions to copyright are noted in references on the relevant pages. Some exceptions to copyright were noted in previous versions of this text. If you have questions, we recommend consulting the previous versions.

Cover image attribution: Male and Female Construction Workers Discussing Plans at an Outdoor Construction Site by Mikael Blomkvist. Used under Pexels licence.

Amendment Notes from a Previous Version

While the original text by Suzan Last was quite complete and stood well as it was, assessing the needs of our college-level students led me to make some amendments and to add chapters that would offer additional guidance.

• The original Common Document Types has been divided into two parts: Communicating Technical Information and Reporting Information. Communicating Technical Information focuses on routine documents, while Reporting Information focuses on reports.
• A chapter on Formatting Documents has been added to Communicating Technical Information so as offer information on formatting options and conventions. In addition, the following chapter has been added to the same section: Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
• A separate section has been created for report writing: Reporting Technical Information. Added to the original content is a chapter on outlining and on inspection and incident reports.
• Since our school has adopted the APA style, all citations and reference lists along with information related to citation and documentation have been revised to align with this style.  Much of the content of Appendices A, B, and C was integrated into the part on Citing and Documenting Sources (APA Style).
• A section on the job application process has also been added to the text. It includes coverage of the job search process, cover letters, résumés, online applications, and interviewing skills. Thanks to Tom Bartsiokas for sharing this content from his adapted Communication @ Work.
• Some content in the Oral and Visual Presentations section was reorganized, which resulted in the creation of new chapters: Designing Presentations and Presenting Virtually.

While editing the text, I came across a lovely gem of a supplement: University of Victoria’s, Engineering Work Term Report Guide: A Guide to Content, Style and Format Requirements for University of Victoria Engineering Students Writing Co-op Work Term Reports, which had been updated by Last in 2017. Following Suzan’s confirmation that this was an open resource, I adapted this guide for our technical communication students; it is now referenced and linked in this text as A Guide to Writing Formal Technical Reports: Content, Style, Format.

Robin L. Potter