Technical report writing

This guide supports students in the faculties of Engineering and Science, but may be of interest to all students engaged in communicating technical information.

The ability to communicate technical information is an important skill that students need both for their university study and for their careers as effective professionals.

Faculty of Engineering

• How to write a practical work report in the Faculty of Engineering

School of Biological Sciences

• Ecology writing guide
  Compiled by the School of Biological Sciences for ecologists but applicable to all natural sciences.

Books

• Writing for science: A practical handbook for science, engineering and technology students by Heather Silyn-Roberts
• Writing for science and engineering: Papers, presentations and reports by Heather Silyn-Roberts
• Technical writing A-Z: A commonsense guide to engineering reports and theses by Trevor M. Young
• Style and ethics of communication in science and engineering by Jay D. Humphrey, Jeffrey W. Holmes
• Making sense: A student's guide to research and writing engineering and the technical sciences by Margot Northey; Judi Jewinski
• A guide to writing as an engineer by David Beer; David McMurrey
• Writing scientific research articles strategy and steps by Margaret Cargill; Patrick O'Connor
• Scientific writing: Easy when you know how by Jennifer K Peat
• How to write a great research paper by Beverly Ann Chin
• How to write a paper by George M Hall
• The research project: How to write it by Ralph Berry

Journals

• IEEE transactions on engineering writing and speech
• IEEE transactions on professional communication
• Technical communication

Study skills

• Writing and presenting
• Thesis writing

Recommended

• Writing technical reports
  Monash University.
• Writing guidelines for engineering and science
  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Additional

• A guide to technical report writing
  IET - Institute of Engineering and Technology.
• Guide to writing laboratory reports
  University of New South Wales.
• Whitesides' group: Writing a paper
  George M. Whitesides.

Reference styles used for Engineering

Common reference styles for engineering at the University of Auckland:

• APA
• Harvard
• Chicago
• AIP Style
  Monash University Library.
• IEEE Style
  Monash University Library.

LaTeX and BibTeX web resources

• LaTeXTemplates.com
  A website created by a PhD student of the University of Auckland.
• LaTex Project
• Text Formatting with LATEX
• LaTeX Tricks and Tips
• TeX Users Group
• TeX Resources on the Web
• Using BibTex to Create Your Bibliography

Support

• Referencing
  Access a range of tools and support material to assist your referencing work.

Examples

• Quick©ite
  Use this interactive tool to view examples of references.
  Covers a range of styles used at the University of Auckland.