PREPARATION

• 1). Select a topic for your report, based on your subject of interest, that is neither so broad that you cannot hope to cover it adequately nor so narrow that you will have a hard time finding material to support your thesis. For example, "Science in the 21st Century" is too broad, whereas "Semicrystalline Silicon Solar Cells" is too narrow. "Advances in Solar Technology in the 21st Century" is sufficiently narrow, yet broad enough that you will find sufficient references and supporting information.
  
  
• 2). Create a set of reference index cards. Write the full reference (title, author, publication date, publisher and number of pages) on a separate, numbered card for each of your sources. Choose only credible sources such as books, journals or newspapers and avoid less credible sources such as magazines or websites.
  
  
• 3). Read each reference thoroughly, making notes on index cards. Use a new card for each important point of information. Number each of these note cards with a source number that corresponds to the reference index cards you made.
  
  
• 4). Sort through your note cards and organize them in a logical way, in the order you think you want to write about them. For example, you might organize important events in history on a timeline by year, or group advancements in solar technology by the research lab that invented them or the function they serve in collecting energy from the sun and making it available for use.
  
  

ORGANIZATION

• 1). Construct a draft outline on paper or in a word processing program on your computer. The outline should include an introduction, major points that correspond with your timeline or major topic groups, and a conclusion. Leave several lines blank after each major point so you have space to fill in the outline.
  
  
• 2). Organize your note cards, using colored pens to separate them according to outline points -- some may correspond to multiple points. Separate the note cards into stacks by outline point.
  
  
• 3). Flesh out the outline with a few sub-points for each major point, but include no more than two sub-levels. For example, the major outline point "Solar Advances 2000 to present" might include the most important technologies as sub-points, with sub-points beneath each technology to highlight what made each technology unique.
  
  

WRITING

• 1). Prepare a draft report based on your outline, writing one or more paragraphs for each major or minor outline point. Write a topic sentence, several supporting sentences and a summary sentence for each paragraph.
  
  
• 2). Refer to your note cards to help you to flesh out your ideas for each outline point and be sure to note your sources by including the reference number in parentheses at the end of each sentence.
  
  
• 3). Revise your draft to improve the logical flow of the essay, and check your grammar and spelling.
  
  
• 4). Complete the final draft of your report, including complete source citations and a list of references cited.