RESEARCH WRITING & REPORTING

FORMAT:
 Font size 12
 Double line spacing
 N° of pages = 35-60
 Margins: L=3.5, Top=2.5, R=2.5 Bottom=2.5

THE PRELIMINARIES
• Title Page

• Dedication

• Certification

• Acknowledgement

• Abstract

• Table of contents

• List of figures

• List of tables

• List of appendices

• Definition of abbreviations

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CHATER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction: Brief introduction of chapter 1. Briefly introduce background, objective,
hypothesis (if any)
1.1 Background
 Historical: Who discovered who are the first people who worked on your topic (that is
writing about the historical aspect of your work).
 Conceptual aspect (background): concepts related to the topic or area of research. That
is, specific aspects you wish to study concerning Typhoid for instance. Prevalence
mentioned here.
 Theoretical background (not very necessary for HND level): Some theories related to
your study.
 Contextual aspect background (last paragraph): what does your context
(Africa,Cameroon,world wide ) say about the topic or related topic your working on ?
what have other researchers addressed about the topic? Mention your working population
(group of people concerned by the condition or disease), area (place), population
concerned etc.
 Empirical review: discuss different research findings of Researchers pertaining to the
same or similar topic your working on.
1.2 Statement of problem/rationale: Identify and discuss a problem making use of:
 Literature
 Experience
 Observation
1.3 Objectives
1.3.1 General objective (rephrasing the topic in an objective manner).

1.3.2 Specific objectives: breaking the general objective into specific objectives (at most two or ?
three).
1.4 Research Questions: turning your objectives to questions
1.5 Research hypothesis: Optional pertaining to the topic
1.6 Significance of the study: Talk about the importance, the benefits of the study to the
community or to other groups of interest.
1.7 Justification of study: give strong reasons why you are carrying out the study

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1.7 Scope of the study: Talk about the methodological,conceptual,theoretical and geographic
scope.
1.8 definition of terms
Operational definition of terms: The definition of all the terms ON YOUR TOPIC according to
what others have defined e.g. what are the terms we need to define in the topic nursing
assessment? “Who is a nurse” according to your study? (Any one trained to render nursing care
irrespective of their qualification).
Conceptual definition of terms:The definition of all the terms ON YOUR TOPIC according to
what you define the words to be in the context of your work.

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 CHAPTER TWO: LITTERATURE REVIEW
Chapter two must be reviewed under the following headings in detailed and very explicit
format and with respect to objectives

 Historical: Who discovered who are the first people who worked on your topic (that is
writing about the historical aspect of your work).
 Conceptual aspect (background): concepts related to the topic or area of research. That
is, specific aspects you wish to study concerning Typhoid for instance. Prevalence
mentioned here.
 Theoretical background : Some theories related to your study. Apply the theories to
your concept.
 Contextual aspect background (last paragraph): what does your
context(Africa,Cameroon,world wide ) say about the topic or related topic your working
on ? what have other researchers addressed about the topic?,Mention your working
population (group of people concerned by the condition or disease), area (place),
population concerned etc.
 Empirical review: discuss different research findings of Researchers pertaining to the
same or similar topic your working on.

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction
3.1 Research design: indicated the type of research whether it is a qualitative or quantitative
study, whether it is a cross-sectional or longitudinal study… which must be in line with your
topic
3.2 Study area: what is your study area and why is this area suitable? Write down in a narrow
form from broad area to a narrow area.
3.3 Study Population: Could be nurses, children 0-5 Years, etc.
3.3.1 Target population
3.3.2 Accessible population

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3.4 Sample size
3.4.1 sample size calculation
3.5 Sampling technique:
i) Probability based sampling techniques such as Simple random sampling, Stratified sampling,
Cluster sampling & systematic sampling.

ii) Non-probability sampling methods such as

 Convenience sampling (or accidental sampling): the researcher accidentally comes

across his sample over a period of time. The researcher may stand at the entrance to the
university and collect information from her sample

 Purposive (judgemental) sampling: the researcher choses subjects who in his/her

opinion are likely to supply the information relevant to the research problem. The
judgment of the researcher is more useful than the representativeness of the sample.

 Quota sampling: sampling is based on quotas determined by the researcher. Quotas

sampling can vary from area to area depending on the purpose of the study.

 Snowball: The researcher begins with a few numbers of respondents who in turn
identify other respondents as the research progresses. E.g in a study involving street
women, the researcher may begin with few women who would then identify others and
so on.

3.6 Inclusion/Exclusion criteria: age, immune status, civil status, occupation, area of residence
etc.
3.7 Instrumentation: indicate data collection instruments such as:
 Questionnaires.
 Observation.
 Face-to-face and self-administered interviews.
 Postal or mail method and telephone interviews.
 Using available information (Retrospective) or Record review.
 Focus group discussions (FGD).

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  Listening.
 Measuring

NB: Divide the instruments according to objectives

Section A: Demographic
Section B: E.g. Nurses knowledge on hypertension
Section C: E.g Nurses management of hypertension
Section D: Challenges faced by nurses in the management of patients with hypertension
3.8 Validation of instruments: here we look at validation and reliability testing (all forms of
validity and relaibility).
 Content validation: Before administering you questionnaire to your target population,
administer it first to a group of people other than your sampling population. If for
instance you are assessing nurses’ knowledge on burn management in Muyuka, you
could test the validity by first administering some questionnaire to nurses in the
Mutengene district hospital (note that the validity is being tested on a population that is
closely related to your target population). If they are able to answer the questions in the
expected manner, then the content is said to be valid.
 Reliability testing: The second time you administer your questionnaire to the same set of
people (e.g nurses) to whom you administered for validity testing, if their new responses
are not significantly different from the previous ones, then we say that the questionnaire
is reliable.

3.9 DATA Analysis: state the data analysis software, the version or indicate that you contacted
your statistician for statistical analysis and discuss how the data was analysed.
3.10 Ethical considerations:
 Letter of authorization from school that students submit to respective hospital
administrations or regional delegations for obtaining field authorizations.
 Assurance of confidentiality with respect to collected data.
 Ethical approvals from ethics committees when necessary.

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS

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 4 INTRODUCTION

4.1Results presented according to objectives

4.2 hypothesis verification: verify your hypothesis if present.

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CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION
5 introduction

5.1 Discussion according to objectives: The discussion should be making a link between
chapter 2 and chapter 5. That is to say, the discussion should be linked to the literature review.
5.2 Conclusion:
 objective 1: Give a brief conclusion
 objective 2: Give a brief conclusion
 Objective 3: What can we conclusively say?

5.3 Recommendation: Each objective may have at least one recommendation

 For instance you may write: Based on the conclusion above, we recommend that...

5.4 Limitations of the study

5.5 Suggestions for further studies
REFERENCING
SYSTEMS
Harvard or APA Referencing systems are accepted for projects in RHIBMS.
Also known as Author-Date styles, they emphasize on the name of the creator of a piece of
information and on the date of publication, with the list of references in alphabetical order at the
end. 7

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Punctuation and capitalisation
The School recommends the consistent use of upper and lower cases within the authors’ names.
CITING & REFERENCING BOOKS
1) CITING & REFERENCING BOOKS (1 AUTHOR)

Format: FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. (Year of publication - in brackets) Book Title - in

italics orunderlined. Series title and volume - if applicable. Edition - if not the first. Place of
Publication: Publisher.
Bibliography example: NEVILLE, C. (2010) The Complete Guide to Referencing and
Avoiding Plagiarism. 2ndedition. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
In-text examples: (Neville, 2010). Neville (2010) commented that…
“Direct quotations are placed in double quotations marks” (Author’s Surname, Year
ofPublication, p. – followed by page number – in brackets)
2) CITING &REFERENCING BOOKS (2 AUTHORS)

Format: FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. & FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. (Year of publication

- in brackets) Book Title - in italics or underlined. Series title and volume if applicable. Edition -
if not the first. Place of Publication: Publisher.
Bibliography example: MIDDLETON, V. T. C. & HAWKINS, R. (1998). Sustainable
Tourism: A Marketing Perspective. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
In-text examples: (Middleton & Hawkins, 1998).As stated by Middleton & Hawkins (1998)
“Direct quotation are placed in double quotations marks” (First Author’s Surname & Second
Author’s Surname. Year of Publication, p. – followed by page number – in brackets)
3) CITING & REFERENCING BOOK (3 AUTHORS)
8

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Format: FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. Author - SURNAME, Initials & Author - SURNAME,
Initials. (Year of publication - in brackets) Book Title - in italics or underlined. Series title and
volume - if applicable. Edition - if not the first. Place of Publication: Publisher.
Bibliography example: Bradbury I., Boyle, J. & Morse A., (2002) Scientific Principles for
PhysicalGeographers. Harlow: Prentice Hall.
In-text example: (Bradbury, Boyle & Morse, 2002) or As noted by Bradbury, Boyle & Morse
(2002). “Direct quotations are placed in double quotations marks” (First Author’s
Surname,Second Author’s Surname & Third Author's Surname. Year of Publication, p. –
followed by page number – in brackets).
4) CITING & REFERENCING EDITED BOOK

If the book has an editor then (ed.) or (eds.) – both in brackets, is added after the author’s name.
Format: FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. (ed.) or (eds.) - in brackets for editor(s) (Year of
publication -in brackets) Book Title - in italics or underlined. Series title and volume- if
[Link] - if not the first. Place of Publication: Publisher.
Bibliography example:
 FONTANA-GIUSTI, G. (ed.) (2008) Designing Cities for People: Social, Environmental and
Psychological Sustainability. London: Earthscan.
 BRENNER, N. AND KEIL, R. (eds.) (2006) The Global Cities Reader. London: Routledge.

In-text examples: (Fontana-Giusti, 2008) or (Brenner &Keil, 2006)

5) CITING & REFERENCING BOOKS (MULTIPLE WORKS BY AN AUTHOR IN THE
SAME YEAR)
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If you refer to an author who has produced more than one work in the same year you will need to
add a lower case alphabetical letter after the year of publication i.e. 2000a, 2000b.
Format: FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. (Year of publication and lowercase alphabetical letter -
in brackets) Book Title - in italics or underlined. Series title and volume - if applicable. Edition -
if not the first. Place of publication: Publisher.
Bibliography example:
 CARLSON, N. R. (2007a) Foundations of Physiology and Psychology. 7th Ed. Boston, Mass:
Pearson Allyn& Bacon.
 CARLSON, N. R. (2007b) Physiology of Behaviour. London: Pearson Allyn& Bacon.

In-text example:
 (Carlson, 2007a)
 (Carlson, 2007b)
 Carlson (2007a) commented that…
 Carlson (2007b) indicated that…

“Direct quotations are placed in double quotations marks” (Author’s Surname, Year of
Publication, p. – followed by page number
6) CITING & REFERENCING ELECTRONIC BOOKS

Format: FAMILY/SURNAME, Initial(s). (Year of publication - in brackets) Title - in italics

orunderlined. [Online – in square brackets] City of publication: Publisher. Available from -URL.
[Accessed: followed by date in square brackets].
Bibliography example: SADLER, P. (2003) Strategic management. [Online] Sterling. VA
Kogan Page. Availablefrom: [Link] [Accessed: 6th May 2012].
In-text example: 10

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 (Sadler, 2003)
 As identified by Sadler (2003)
 “Direct quotations are placed in double quotations marks” (Author’s Surname, Year of
Publication, p. – followed by page number – in brackets)
7) CITING & REFERENCING CORPORATE AUTHORS (GROUPS, COMMITTEES,
COMPANIES)

These include publications by groups, committees, government departments, companies,etc.)

Format: COUNTRY (if applicable). NAME OF ISSUING BODY. (Year of publication in
brackets) Title of publication – in italics or underlined. Place of publication: Publisher. (Report
Number –if applicable in brackets).
Bibliography Example:
 GREAT BRITAIN. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY. (1977) Tidal Power Barrages in the
Severn Trent Estuary: Recent Evidence on their Feasibility. London: H. M.S. O. (Energy
Papers23)
 NURSING AND MIDWIFERY COUNCIL. (2008) The code: Standards of conduct,
performance and ethics for nurses and midwives. [Online] London: NMC. [Accessed:
23September 2013].

In-text example:
 (Great Britain. Department of Energy, 1977)
 The Great Britain Department of Energy (1977) concluded that…
 (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2008)
 The Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008) state...
 “Direct quotations are placed in double quotations marks” (Author’s Surname, Year of
Publication, p. – followed by page number – in brackets)
8) CITING & REFERENCING DICTIONARIES
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In some cases Dictionaries may not have authors so your citation or reference can use the title of
the work.
Dictionary Author-Editor present: FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. (ed.) or (eds.)- in brackets
for editor(s) (Year of publication -in brackets) Dictionary Title – in italics or underlined. Series
title and/or volume – ifapplicable. Edition - if not the first. Place of Publication: Publisher.
Dictionary- no Author: Title of Dictionary – in italics or underlined. (Year of publication - in
brackets) Series title and/or volume - if applicable. Edition - if not the first. Place of Publication:
Publisher.
Bibliography examples:
 HAWKINS, J. M. (ed.) (1986) The Oxford Reference Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University
Press. McGraw-Hill.
 Dictionary of Engineering. (2003). 2nd Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

In-text examples:
 (Hawkins, 1986)
 (McGraw-Hill, 2003)
 As noted by Hawkins (1986)
 McGraw-Hill (2003) indicated that…..
 “Direct quotations are placed in double quotations marks” (Author’s Surname, Year of
Publication, p. – followed by page number – in brackets)
9) CITING & REFERENCING IMAGES IN A BOOK

Images, art work, graphs and charts from books are not referenced in the same way as book
chapters. In-text you need to mention the image or art work and the page number, but in the
Bibliography you will need to reference the source (book, etc.) where you found the image, art
work, etc. 12

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Bibliography format: FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. (ed.) or (eds.)-in brackets for editor(s)
(Year of publication -in brackets) Book Title - in italics or underlined. Series title and volume - if
applicable. Edition - if not the first. Place of Publication: Publisher.
Bibliography example: If you refer to an image in your work from a book, for example a
photograph from the following book, you will need to reference the source (book) where the item
can be found:
 FISH, J. (2004) Photographs and Art. London: Brown and Sons.

In-text:
In-text references to works of art, images, etc. in a book are highlighted in the text by italics or
underlining the title of the work and following it with the (surname of the author, Year of
Publication, p. – followed by page number where the image can be located – in brackets):
 The photograph Night time by Bloggs in 2001 (Fish, 2004, p.67) shows.....

 This was highlighted in Blogg’s Night time (Fish, 2004, p. 67).

10) REFERENCING AND CITING AN INTERVIEW (YOU HAVE CONDUCTED)

Format: Name of person interviewed – FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. (Year of interview – in

brackets) Title of interview – in italics or underlined. [Interview–medium of source]. Date the
interview was conducted.
Bibliography example: HATTON, A. (2008) Development of library support for early years
students. [Interview]. 24th April 2008.
In-text example:
 (Hatton, 2008)

 ...as indicated by Hatton (2008)

11) CITING & REFERENCING JOURNAL ARTICLE (PRINTED JOURNAL

ARTICLE)
13

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Printed article format: FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. (Year of publication – in brackets). Title
of article. Title of journal - in italics or underlined. Volume number. (Part number/month – in
brackets). [Link] by page numbers.
Online article format: FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. (Year of publication – in brackets) Title
of article. Title of journal - in italics or underlined. [Online – in square brackets] Volume
number. (Part number/month – in brackets). p. - followed by pagenumbers. Available from -
URL.[Accessed: followed by date in square brackets]
Bibliography examples (printed): TEFTS, K. & BLAKSEE, S. (2000). Did you hear the one
about Boolean operators? Incorporating comedy into library instruction. Reference Services
Review. 28 (4). p. 369-378.
Bibliography example (Online): WILSON, J. (1995) Enter the cyberpunk librarian: future
directions in cyberspace. LibraryReview. [Online] 44 (8). p.63-72. Available from:
[Link] 30 January 2012]
In-text example:
 (Trefts&Blaksee, 2000)

 This supports Trefts&Blaksee’s (2000) evidence that…

 “Direct quotations are placed in double quotations marks” (Author’s Surname, Year of
Publication, p. – followed by page number – in brackets)

12) REFERENCING & CITING PUBLICATIONS WITH NO AUTHOR/ANONYMOUS

For publications without individual authors use Anon instead of the author’s name. However, if
you are referring to a newspaper article without an author, replace anon with the title of the
Newspaper. 14

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Format: ANON. (Year of publication - in brackets) Book Title - in italics or underlined. Series
title and volume - if applicable. Edition - if not the first. Place of Publication: Publisher.
Bibliography example: ANON. (2002) Atlas of Anatomy. Cobham, Surrey: Taj Books.
In-text example: Human anatomy can be seen in this way (Anon, 2002)...
13) REFERENCING & CITING PUBLICATIONS WITH NO DATE(S)

Format: If the item you are referencing has no publication date or only an approximate or
dubious date, use the following information to best describe the item:
• If there is no date available use the abbreviation (n.d.) in brackets
• If there is only an approximate date available precede the approximate date with a lowercase c.
(for circa) in brackets, for example (c.1903).
Bibliography example:
 DUNDEE CITY ART GALLERY and MUSEUM. (n.d.) Dundee Tiles 1880-1930. Dundee:
Dundee City Art Gallery and Museum.

 ROOSEVELT, T. (c.1886). Thomas Hart Benton. Boston and New York: Houghton-Mifflin
and Company.

In-text example:
 (Dundee City Art Gallery and Museum, n.d.)

 This was shown at the exhibition hosted at the Dundee City Art Gallery and Museum (n.d.)

14) REFERENCING & CITING RADIO BROADCAST

As radio broadcasts are the production of a collection of individuals, they should be cited using
the title of the broadcast first. For programmes within a series, the episode should also be
indicated after the series title. 15

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Format: Title - in italics or underlined. Number and/or title of the episode – if needed. (Year of
distribution - in brackets) Name of broadcaster. Broadcast or transmissiondate.
Bibliography example:
It’s Not Just about the Music. 1968 Season. (2008) BBC Radio 4. 10thApril
In-text example:
If you refer to a radio broadcast in the body of your work, the title will need to be underlined or
placed in italics:
 …highlighted in It’s Not Just about the Music (2008)…

15) SECONDARY REFERENCING USING HARVARD

What is Secondary Referencing?

Secondary referencing occurs when a book or journal article uses facts or information from
research done by someone else, and you want to use this information to support your own
assignment.
How to Secondary Reference
There are two ways you can approach a secondary reference:
1) You locate the original research so that you can read, use and cite directly from this. This is
often the preferred method as this shows that you have widened theresearch for your own
assignment.

2) In some instances this may not be possible as the original research may be difficult to find or
gain access to. If you are confident that the secondary source is reliable and accurate you can
refer to it in your own work using the Harvard rules for secondary referencing (see below for
examples).

In-text example: You have read the book ‘Modern Organisations’ by Bill Jones (2007) and
within this herefers to another author, Jean Smith, and her ideas of ‘organisational devolution’
(1987).You want to include Smith’s ideas within your assignment. To do 16

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this, your citation must indicate that you have used a secondary source and not the original work
undertaken by Smith:
 Jean Smith (1987), as summarized by Jones (2007) highlights the application of
“organisational devolution”…

 Smith’s (1987) “organisational devolution” indicates this possibility (Jones, 2007, p. 45).

Bibliography example:
Secondary referencing in your bibliography only needs to give the details of the source that you
have read for the assignment. Using the example above, you would refer to the main text as:
 JONES, B. (2007) Modern Organisations. London: Routledge

16) REFERENCING & CITING THESIS OR PROJECTS

Format: FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. (Year of submission - in brackets) Title of Thesis - in

italics or underlined. Degree statement. Degree Awarding Body. Location: Name of University.
Bibliography example: BARNES, D. L. (2000) An Investigation into the Process of Formation
of OperationsStrategy in Small Manufacturing Companies. A Thesis Submitted in partial
fulfilment of the Requirements of Staffordshire University for the Degree of Doctor of
Philosophy. Stoke-on-Trent: Staffordshire University.
In-text example:
 (Barnes, 2000)

 …indicated by Barnes (2000)

 “Direct quotations are placed in double quotations marks” (Author’s Surname, Year of
Publication, p. – followed by page number – in brackets)

17) REFERENCING & CITING WEBSITES

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Format: FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials or name of website if no author is available. (Year - in
brackets) Title of website – in italics or underlined. Any numbers if website is part of a series – if
needed. [Online – in square brackets] Available from - URL. [Accessed: followed by date in
square brackets].
Bibliography format: BBC NEWS. (2008) Factory gloom worst since 1980. [Online] Available
from: [Link] [Accessed: 10th June 2012]
In-text example:
 (BBC News, 2008)

 …as reported on BBC News (2008).

APPENDICES
Included here are highly technical or specialized material(s) not of much interest to the general
reader. Appendices should be numbered in alphabetical order.

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