Manual of Style for Naval Air Warfare Centre

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Military Standard Format Requirements for Scientific and Technical Reports Prepared by or for the Department of Defense (MIL-STD-847B) establishes certain consistencies in organization in order to aid the interchange of scientific and technical information and to reduce the costs of preparing, storing, retrieving, reproducing, and distributing reports prepared by and for departments and agencies of the Department of Defense. This manual expands the guidelines contained in that standard and applies specifically to the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAVAIRWARCENTRASYSDIV) Technical and Special Reports as defined below.

• The Technical Report (TR)

The Technical Report is the record of an analysis, evaluation, study, test, or research task completed by NAVAIRWARCENTRASYSDIV personnel or contractors. The Technical Report contains information and results of interest to a variety of audiences and is usually widely distributed. It must be accurate, concise, complete, and highly literate. It should be composed, illustrated, and printed by methods that produce the most favorable reader reaction. Because the technical report is transmitted to the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) for retention in the nation’s data bank, it must conform to security and printing regulations and to DTIC standards. To facilitate DTIC cataloging, storage, and retrieval, each technical report must carry a “Report Documentation Page,” SF 298, following the title page. Detailed procedures are outlined in the section on report components and organization of this manual.

• The Special Report (SR)

The Special Report is more limited in scope than the technical report and is usually of interest to a smaller audience. However, it also must be accurate, concise, complete, and highly literate. It, too, should be composed, illustrated, and printed by methods that produce the most favorable reader reaction. It also contains a SF 298, but the report is not submitted to DTIC. Only a copy of the SF 298 is submitted to DTIC so the special report can be listed in the DTIC bibliography. This meets the reporting requirements of NAVAIRWARCENTRASYSDIVINST 3900.15D.

• Use of Terms “Study” or “Research”

Although the terms “study” and “research” are often used interchangeably, in NAVAIRWARCENTRASYSDIV reports they have specific meaning. Terminology should reflect the appropriate Congressional Budget Category. For example, terms such as “research,” “applied research,” “technology demonstrations,” and “advanced development,” are appropriate for tasks in the R&D categories. On the other hand, expressions such as “study” and “analysis” are used for non R&D funded tasks.