Technical report

A technical report (also scientific report) is a document that describes the process, progress, or results of technical or scientific research or the state of a technical or scientific research problem.^[1]^[2] It might also include recommendations and conclusions of the research. Unlike other scientific literature, such as scientific journals and the proceedings of some academic conferences, technical reports rarely undergo comprehensive independent peer review before publication. They may be considered as grey literature. Where there is a review process, it is often limited to within the originating organization. Similarly, there are no formal publishing procedures for such reports, except where established locally.

Description

Technical reports are today a major source of scientific and technical information. They are prepared for internal or wider distribution by many organizations, most of which lack the extensive editing and printing facilities of commercial publishers.

Technical reports are often prepared for sponsors of research projects. Another case where a technical report may be produced is when more information is produced for an academic paper than is acceptable or feasible to publish in a peer-reviewed publication; examples of this include in-depth experimental details, additional results, or the architecture of a computer model. Researchers may also publish work in early form as a technical report to establish novelty, without having to wait for the often long production schedules of academic journals. Technical reports are considered "non-archival" publications, and so are free to be published elsewhere in peer-reviewed venues with or without modification.

Production guidelines

ANSI/NISO has published guidelines on the Scientific and Technical Reports - Preparation, Presentation, and Preservation^[1] last updated in 2010. This standard outlines the elements, organization and design of scientific and technical reports, including guidance for uniform presentation of front and back matter, text, and visual and tabular matter in print and digital formats, as well as recommendations for multimedia reports.
There are also guidelines for Standard Technical Report Number Format and Creation^[3]
The Grey Literature International Steering Committee (GLISC) established in 2006 published guidelines for the production of scientific and technical reports.^[4] These recommendations are adapted from the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, produced by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) – better known as “Vancouver Style”.

Publication

Technical reports are now commonly published electronically, whether on the Internet or on the originating organization's intranet.

Many organizations collect their technical reports into a formal series. Reports are then assigned an identifier (report number, volume number) and share a common cover-page layout. The entire series may be uniquely identified by an ISSN.

A registration scheme for a globally unique International Standard Technical Report Number [de] (ISRN) was standardized in 1994 (ISO 10444), but was never implemented in practice. ISO finally withdrew this standard in December 2007.^[5] It aimed to be an international extension of a report identifier scheme used by U.S. government agencies (ANSI/NISO Z39.23).^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b "ANSI/NISO Z39.18-2005 (R2010) Scientific and Technical Reports - Preparation, Presentation, and Preservation | NISO website". www.niso.org. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
^ Gary Blake and Robert W. Bly, The Elements of Technical Writing, pg. 119. New York: Macmillan Publishers, 1993. ISBN 0020130856
^ "Standard Technical Report Number Format and Creation". www.wikidata.org. Retrieved 2020-10-26.
^ Paola De Castro, Sandra Salinetti, et al.: Guidelines for the production of scientific and technical reports: how to write and distribute grey literature, Version 1.0, Grey Literature International Steering Committee, March 2006
^ International standard ISO 10444:1994, Information and documentation — International standard technical report number (ISRN), (withdrawn December 2007)
^ American standard ANSI/NISO Z39.23 Archived 2012-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, Standard technical report number format and creation

External links

National Technical Information Service
National Information Standards Organization
American National Standards Institute
Department of Defense technical reports at Defense Technical Information Center
NASA technical reports
Archive of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Chartered in 1915, operational from 1917-1958. The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 created NASA from NACA.
Technical Report Archive and Image Library (TRAIL) U.S. government technical reports issued primarily prior to 1975 and digitized by the TRAIL. More on TRAIL

[:0-1] "ANSI/NISO Z39.18-2005 (R2010) Scientific and Technical Reports - Preparation, Presentation, and Preservation | NISO website". www.niso.org. Retrieved 2020-09-04.

[2] Gary Blake and Robert W. Bly, The Elements of Technical Writing, pg. 119. New York: Macmillan Publishers, 1993. ISBN 0020130856

[3] "Standard Technical Report Number Format and Creation". www.wikidata.org. Retrieved 2020-10-26.

[4] Paola De Castro, Sandra Salinetti, et al.: Guidelines for the production of scientific and technical reports: how to write and distribute grey literature, Version 1.0, Grey Literature International Steering Committee, March 2006

[5] International standard ISO 10444:1994, Information and documentation — International standard technical report number (ISRN), (withdrawn December 2007)

[6] American standard ANSI/NISO Z39.23 Archived 2012-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, Standard technical report number format and creation

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