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Write the Internship Final Report using the general guidelines below:
The main body of the final report should be a minimum of 40-60 pages, double-spaced. This count does not include pretext pages or appendices.
Submit digital copies of your Internship Final Report to your major professor and to each committee member.
The Internship Report must be printed on standard size, white, 8-1/2 x 11 inch paper. Use double line spacing throughout and print on only one side of the paper.
Use regular, unadorned print (e.g., New Times Roman or Arial), 10-12 point size for text. Scientific names of genera and species should be underlined or printed in true italics.
Every page of the internship report must be kept within a minimum margin of 1-1/2 inches (for binding purposes) on the left side of the page; 1 inch at the right side; 1-1/4 inches at the top and bottom of the page.
All pages except the title page are numbered. This includes full-page photographs, charts and graphs, the bibliography, and appendices. For the pretext pages, use small Roman numerals (ii, iii, etc.). Page i is the abstract page, but the page number is not printed on this page.
The first item on the Table of Contents list should be the Abstract. This will be followed by the title page, the approval page and any dedication or acknowledgment section you may wish to include. This is numbered in the small Roman series, with the page numbers displayed. The remainder of the internship report is numbered with Arabic numerals (1, 2, etc.).
The page numbers that are displayed must be centered at the bottom of each page, within the bottom margin.
Click here for an example of how to format these pages.
Describe where your internship was conducted (name of company, department, location, type of business). Summarize your internship goals, activities, and accomplishments, highlighting key knowledge or skills gained. How did this internship benefit you, and how did it benefit the company?
The abstract is limited to 350 words in length. It should be 1.0 line-spaced, using only one side of the paper, and should be within the internship report margin requirements (see above).
If you wish, you may include a page with a brief note of dedication or acknowledgment of help received from particular individuals.
Internship reports are expected to have a Table of Contents for the convenience of the reader. If figures or tables are scattered throughout the text, a separate List of Figures or List of Tables should be included after the Table of Contents. The Appendices should include a copy of your Internship Journal notes.
Use Arabic numerals (1, 2, etc.) to number these pages. Start with the first page of the introduction as page 1 and end with the last page of your final report; either your Literature Cited or Appendices.
The scientific report should have a focus for analysis which may be quantitative or qualitative in nature, depending upon your concentration.
The format for the scientific report should include:
The introduction is a concise statement of the research problem and an outline of the scope, aim, and nature of your project. A review of the literature pertinent to the subject should be included and used to provide context for the internship report.
The purpose of this section is to recount, in a concise manner, the materials and methods used to approach the project. It should include sufficient information so that the study could be repeated. Care should be exercised not to include superfluous information.
The results reflect the findings of your investigation only, not the findings of other researchers in the area. This is a summarized form of extensive data that may appear in the figures, tables and/or appendices.
The discussion section provides an analysis of the data acquired. In this section, you may draw comparisons with findings of other researchers in the field as well as suggest additional research.
The final section draws together the objectives and findings of the entire research project.
The business report defines a company, identifies its goals, and incorporates results from your internship project in a meaningful way. A business plan is a document designed to detail the major characteristics of a firm ~ its products or services, its industry, its market, its manner of operating (production, marketing, management) and its financial outcomes with an emphasis on present and future initiatives. Your business report should be similar but emphasize the internship project, potential costs of implementation, and anticipated benefits. The report should summarize the internship project in the broader context of the company's overall goals from an applied perspective.
Individual student internships vary considerably and therefore no two business reports will be alike. You might have focused your internship on a specific research project to learn additional technical skills, but project results should eventually be utilized for some purpose. Broadly consider the actual or potential application that your internship project has.
To help you focus on what to include in your business report, you may want to consider the following set of questions:
There are some elements common to all business plans, whether they are written for non-profit or for-profit organizations. A typical business plan is usually divided into four distinct sections, which you should include in your business report:
The description includes information about the company's history, ownership, location, key services or products provided, general administrative structure, and long-term goals. Within this context, conclude with a brief summary of the goals of your internship project.
What are the company's target market, future trends and areas for potential growth? Identify the main competitors, distribution patterns, and things that make the company unique. Consider how the customer benefits from the product or service, what their needs are, and how they can be reached. Include strategic information specifically relating to your internship project, how it will be implemented, what personnel are required, and what this means for the organization.
Begin with a broad overview of the company's general budget (e.g., income and expenses with major allocations) and then focus on the finances tied specifically to your internship project. Do your best to describe start-up and on-going expenses as well as anticipated income and profits. If project benefits are not monetary, how will your results be utilized in light of the company's overall goals?
Describe whom you worked with (title and position) and how they fit into the overall hierarchy of the company. How did different units within the company (e.g., research development and business marketing) work with one another? Did you have an opportunity to interact with different types of staff within the company? How can the firm improve organizational management? Are any changes required to properly implement your internship project results?
Tie together your scientific report and your business report to summarize the potential benefits that your internship and research contributed to your host company or organization, both financially in terms of value added as well as in terms of accomplishments. A summary table will help to serve as the focal point for writing this last section of your report.
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