EXPERIENCE: How To Write Final Year Project (FYP) Report?

Writing a report is one of the requirement for final year project (FYP). This is because it tells others about your project including how you conduct it, what are the results obtained and what you can conclude from your finding. 

If you are still unsure on how to write your FYP report, you may refer to the suggestions of report outline below. 

1. Abstract
Abstract is the last part that you should write. Write your project abstract after you have done writing from introduction to conclusion. It serves as an overview about your report and there are many types of abstract. So, use the one that is suitable with your project.

2. Introduction
Introduction is a must for a FYP report. This is because it gives some overview about your project. You can include the brief introduction on the FYP title, the problem statement(s), the project's objective(s), the project scope and the report organization (explain briefly on each chapter in the report).

3. Literature Review
In literature review, you will talk about available information on your topic. For example, describing the information obtained from researches similar to your topic. Most of the time, this chapter is the longest chapter. Sub topics for this chapter can be drafted from FYP title. 

Let's say your FYP title is "Genome Comparison of Lactobacillus". The subtopics might be: 

  • Definition of genome (what it is?, its components etc)
  • Genome comparison (definition, history, current research on it etc)
  • Lactobacillus species (strains, morphology, habitat, genetic information etc)

4. Methodology
In this chapter, explain the workflow (steps involved), databases and tools that you used. You may use diagrams from the related websites or screenshot the processes. However, make sure you cite the sources.

5. Implementation Plan (optional)
Flow chart and Gantt chart can be used to illustrate the implementation plan. Use the flow chart to illustrate the steps performed (but not as details as Methodology). For Gantt chart, use it to illustrate the duration of time spent for each step.

6. Result
For this chapter, include the results that you have obtained after using methods in Methodology. Normally, the results are in form of graph, chart, pictures and tables. It depends on your topic and the tools you used too. Make sure you just briefly describe the results. Do not discuss the results yet.

7. Discussion
In discussion, explain in details about your results. Check whether your result meet your expectation and explain why. 

If you think that your results suits your objectives and following what others have proven, use suitable data/explanation to support your results. If it is not, explain the possible reasons that lead to the problem.

8. Conclusion
There are two importants things that should be included in conclusion which are summary of the findings (also state whether objective(s) is(are) achieved or not) and future planning (future research that can be done). 

Try to think on how you can make improvement on your project. If you know some of the challenges that you might face in order to continue the project, you can include them as well.

9. References
The reference format is depends on your faculty. But usually, people use APA style for reference. You can do it manually (not recommended), use online reference generator (Scribbr etc) or use downloaded software (Mendeley etc).

10. Appendix
Appendix is where you put all the data/results that are too long to be included in the main part of the report. Let's say that your result is a very long list and you just include 5 rows in Result chapter. Make sure you mention in that chapter that the full list is available in Appendix. You might need to include your meeting logs too. Do confirm it with your supervisor.

All the best for your FYP report writing. Hopefully the suggestions above are useful for you. If you have any question, feel free to leave comment or DM me on Instagram @thewonderfuljannah.

*The suggestions are based on author's experiences. Different universities or different courses may have different requirements or format for FYP report writing. You should consult your supervisor to ensure that you are on the right path.

Read another entries on FYP:
How to choose supervisor for FYP?
How to choose FYP title?
What to do if you stuck when doing FYP?

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