Marketing information: The technical report as product

Technical reports constitute a product, the primary means for communicating the results of research to the user. The Langley scientific and technical information (STI) review and evaluation project undertook a review of the technical report as an effective product for information communication. Style manuals describing theory and practice in technical report preparation; publication manuals covering such factors as design, layout, and type style; and copies of technical reports were obtained from industrial, academic, governmental, and research organizations. Based on an analysis of this material, criteria will be established for the report components, for the relationship of the components within the report context, and for the overall report organization. The criteria will be used as bench marks and compared with the publication standards currently used to prepare NASA technical reports.