Reports often start with a summary that gives an overview of the report. This may focus on the conclusions of the report, or it may briefly look at each section of the report in turn (eg background, methods, results, conclusions). Ensure that the summary accurately reflects the contents of the report and does not include information that is not in the full report.

Summaries should be as clear and engaging as possible, even for very technical reports. Audiences use the summary to decide whether they want to read all the content, and some users will read only the summary and not the rest of the report.

Use subheadings in the summary to make the information as navigable as possible. These subheadings are not usually included in the table of contents (ie use silent headings – see the tip box under Table of contents).

Summary means the same as executive summary, but many people prefer the longer version. It is acceptable to call the summary an executive summary if it is an overview of policy decisions made by a working group (or similar), rather than a summary of the full content of the report.