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% PUT YOUR TITLE AND NAME HERE
\newcommand{\titlestr}{A Template for Projects in the School of
Mathematical Sciences \\ Final Reports}
\newcommand{\shorttitlestr}{A Template ...}
\newcommand{\authorstr}{A. Student} % INSERT YOUR NAME(S)
\begin{document}
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\begin{titlepage}
\centering
{\LARGE \titlestr \par}
\vspace{1cm}
{\Large \authorstr \par}
{\bf STUDENT NO.}
\vspace{1cm}
\today % PUT YOUR DATE HERE
\vspace{2cm}
Report submitted for
{\bf Course Name}
at the School of Mathematical Sciences,
University of Adelaide
\includegraphics[width=0.35\textwidth]{UoA_logo_col_vert.jpg}
\vspace{2cm}
\flushleft
Project Area: {\bf LIST TOPIC AREA} \\
Project Supervisor: {\bf INSERT NAME} \\
\vspace{5mm} {\footnotesize In submitting this work I am indicating
that I have read the University's Academic Integrity Policy. I
declare that all material in this assessment is my own work except
where there is clear acknowledgement and reference to the work of
others.\par}
\vspace{5mm} {\footnotesize I give permission for this work
to be reproduced and submitted to other academic staff for
educational purposes.\par}
\vspace{5mm} {\footnotesize {\bf OPTIONAL:} I give permission this work
to be reproduced and provided to future students as an exemplar report.\par}
\vfill
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\begin{abstract}
This report is a simple template intended as a simple, consistent
starting point for students to prepare \LaTeX\ reports in the
School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Adelaide.
It is neither complete, nor perfect, but rather is aimed at making
it easy for students to present a report which avoids many of the
worst errors.
Included in each section are descriptions of how these might be
written. However, mileage may vary. You should follow the advice of
your lecturer in preference to any statement made here.
\end{abstract}
\vspace{10mm}
\noindent \hrulefill
{\bf Notes:}
{Your report should include a short summary (usually called an
abstract). Discuss the role and style of abstract to be included with
your supervisor or lecturer.
Some general advice: this should be concise, but clear. If it is too
long, it dilutes the important features, too short and it has no
information. So it's a balancing act. What are the most important
things someone reading your report should know about the task and the
results?
In an industry report it might often be called an ``executive
summary,'' but in this case, it's even more crucial because it is
often the only part your boss or customer will actually read! They
don't want to wade through hundreds of pages of technical muck to get
the message (they do want the muck -- it is needed to support the
results -- but they might not examine it in detail).
It's also the main draw card of an academic paper -- it's how I will
decide whether to bother reading the rest of the article. \par}
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% main report
\clearpage
\section{Introduction}
The intention of this file is to provide a simple, consistent \LaTeX\
template for the School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of
Adelaide. Its goals are
\begin{enumerate}
\item to ease production of clean, appealing reports in \LaTeX ;
\item to allow us to provide consistent guidelines as to the desired
length of the reports; and
\item to be a source of advice about writing your report.
\end{enumerate}
The intention is that students can replace text with their own, and so
start their report.
The style and formatting here are minimal, so as to maintain a very
simple template, but there is no desire that students who wish to go
beyond this template should be restrained, as long as their final
report is consistent with quality and length requirements. In
particular, any alternative should respect the font size (12pt) and
the page size, which is A4, with 4cm margins to allow feedback.
This template also suggests a structure, but please replace section
headings with meaningful headings of your own.
You may note that some pieces are omitted that you might have often
seen added, for instance, there is no Table of Contents. I personally
believe that many such things are added because of defunct ``rules''
rather than for utility, and so prefer a minimalist style, unless the
specific features serve a clear purpose.
\noindent \hrulefill
{\bf Notes:}
An introduction must be strong, or your reader (with their limited
time), will give up on the work.
Important facets of an introduction are:
\begin{itemize}
\item introduce the basic ideas to be presented (at a high level);
\item strongly motivate the work;
\item describe what you will do and present; and
\item give a summary of key results.
\end{itemize}
You may notice it sounds a little like the abstract, and it
is. However, now you have space and time to go into more detail
(though it is still somewhat abstracted from the full detail).
\clearpage
\section{Background}
The first section, in many cases, that you present should present
related background material. In might include:
\begin{itemize}
\item literature review or related work section;
\item common notation and definitions; and/or
\item references for techniques to be used.
\end{itemize}
The type and detail of the content needed here depends strongly on the
audience. Some information may be omitted if it is common knowledge to
the specific audience, but care must be taken over any such
assumptions. Err on the conservative side.
\vspace{10mm}
\noindent \hrulefill
{\bf Notes:}
Writing a technical document is much like writing any other
document. There is still a story you are trying to tell. However,
there are certain features common to technical writing that you many
not have encountered.
In general, the goal of many technical reports is to convey more
precise, quantitative information than, for instance, a
novel. Technical writing should be approached by asking ``What does my
reader need to know so that they could reproduce my results exactly
(without asking me any supplemental questions)?''
The first starting point towards this goal is to define (i) any terms
or notation used precisely, (ii) provide a reader with definitive
references for techniques used, and (iii) to put the work into the
correct context within the larger scientific literature.
Your introduction, or this section will be the first place you need to
include references. BibTeX, and related tools are a superior means to
do so. There is one small example in this
template~\cite{guy17:_thing_i_wrote}. Using references well is an
art. The approach varies depending on the use:
\begin{enumerate}
\item to allow a more concise description of a problem or method where
it is already described in detail elsewhere;
\item to support arguments;
\item to give credit to other authors for their ideas or tools; and
\item to provide links to additional information for the reader, for
instance where to find a particular software package.
\end{enumerate}
\clearpage
\section{Methods}
The primary tool used in preparation of this report is \LaTeX , a
markup tool for the preparation of documents primarily used in
mathematics and related areas.
Markup tools have the advantage of separating content from style, thus
allowing writers to focus on the content, and adding style (for
example, the format of section headings) later. It is a flexible and
powerful approach.
The other key advantage of \LaTeX\ is the high quality of its
mathematical typesetting. There are no better tools for this task,
though there are many variants of \LaTeX\, and tools through which to
use it.
\vspace{10mm}
\noindent \hrulefill
{\bf Notes:}
This template suggests that your next section should describe methods
used or developed in this report. Methods that are simple background
material should go in the previous section. This section focuses on
those that are novel, or in some cases just more difficult and more
important for the work.
Sometimes the section will be called ``methods,'' but I find a more
specific, and descriptive heading is usually preferable.
Your focus in describing these should be reproducibility. A reader
should ideally be able to recreate your work from your description.
Describe data, experiments, simulations, or solution techniques such
that your reader can understand exactly what you did. It may be
helpful to keep trying to answer the 6Ws: Why, When, Where, What, Who
and How.
However, the art of such writing is to balance detail and precision
with brevity. Concise descriptions are to be preferred because the
information is more accessible. Often we use references to allow us to
abbreviate or omit some details that are common to other experiments
or problems.
Mathematical notation is also very useful in composing precise, yet
concise descriptions of a problem. However, do not use mathematics or
jargon for its own sake. Clarity is important, and mathematics or
complicated technical terms can either enhance this (when used
appropriately) or detract from it (if used carelessly). Your goal is
{\em not} to try to seem smart by using complicated words. Your goal is to
communicate!
I have not sought to include a tutorial or examples of \LaTeX\ use
here as there are now many sources of such information. For instance
see {\footnotesize \verb|http://www.maths.adelaide.edu.au/anthony.roberts/LaTeX/index.html|.}
\clearpage
\section{Results}
This template has no results to report.
\vspace{10mm}
\noindent \hrulefill
{\bf Notes:} Remember the advice from the previous section. You need
your results to be concise, but once again be concrete, quantitative,
and provide enough information that the results could be reproduced
and verified.
Figures and tables can be very useful. However, while a picture is
worth a thousand words, this is not true by itself. Any graph of
figure included in a report MUST have:
\begin{enumerate}
\item a detailed caption describing exactly what the figure shows
(it should almost stand alone);
\item appropriate axes with labels including
units; and
\item discussion in the text of the document, not just the caption
(make sure you refer to exact figure numbers in the text).
\end{enumerate}
Moreover, they should be easy to read with large enough text, and
clearly marked data points. Tables should be treated similarly. A
few such in a document are very useful, but be aware that deluging a
reading with figures and tables can be counter-productive. Part of the
art of technical writing is choosing good ways of informing the reader
of the critical information without diluting it with volumes of
irrelevancies.
\clearpage
\section{Conclusion}
This brief template is intended to provide a simple starting point for
students preparing \LaTeX\ reports.
It includes some advice about that report, but the brevity of this
report means that this advice is simplified and generic. You should
consult your lecturer for more detailed and specific advice.
\vspace{10mm}
\noindent \hrulefill
{\bf Notes:} All works should have a conclusion. Briefly summarise
your report (once again). Discuss the most important features of what
you have achieved, and the implications of your results. The
conclusion should not introduce new information or ideas, however, if
you feel it is appropriate, you may speculate on directions for future
work.
\clearpage
\section*{Acknowledgements}
This template has grown out of earlier versions written by many others
in the School of Mathematical Sciences.
\vspace{10mm}
\noindent \hrulefill
{\bf Notes:} It is common that you will want to acknowledge the
contribution of others to your work, even though these might not have
been sufficient to warrant being a co-author.
Consider who might have provided valuable discussions, funding
support, or moral support for the work.
BTW, you don't have to start each section on a new page. I have done
that here for clarity, but it isn't usually needed.
\appendix
\section{Appendices}
This is a short appendix, just included as an example.
\vspace{10mm}
\noindent \hrulefill
{\bf Notes:}
An appendix can be used to include material that is important, but not
needed in the main body of the text, and which it might detract from
the main point of the report.
A common example is code. You should not include code in the main
body of a report unless it is particularly important or revealing.
However, for the convenience of your supervisors who may wish to
examine the code, and for your own benefit (in having a self-contained
document), you may wish to include the code in an appendix. If so,
have a look at the {\tt listings} package for \LaTeX. For Matlab,
there is also a {\tt matlab-prettifier} package that may work more
easily for you.
\clearpage
\bibliographystyle{plain}
\bibliography{bib_file}
\vspace{10mm}
\noindent \hrulefill
{\bf Notes:}
A critical component of the work is the list of references. We have
discussed their use earlier -- here I simply make some notes on their
presentation.
This is one of the hardest parts to get just right. BibTeX can help a
great deal, but you need to put a good deal of care in to make sure
that
\begin{itemize}
\item the references are in a consistent format;
\item all information is correct; and
\item the information included is in the correct style for the
intended audience.
\end{itemize}
Details \emph{really} matter in this section. It's easy to lose marks
in this section.
\end{document}