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+<code Latex>
+\documentclass{article}
+% \usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
+% \usepackage{graphicx}
+\title{A Framework for assignments and reports: IMRaD}
+\author{Helgi Thorsson}
+\date{}
+\begin{document}
+\maketitle
+% \tableofcontents
+% \listoffigures
+% \listoftables
+\begin{abstract}
+This article describes the IMRaD model for layout of assignments
+and reports.
+The model has four logical sections,
+Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion (hence the acronym IMRaD).
+Actual chapters may reflect these sections,
+but sometimes it is practical to join sections
+or break up a single one.
+\end{abstract}
+\section{Introduction}
+This report is intended to present a well-known general model
+for writing solutions to assignments and other topics
+with a simple structure.
+The model is taken from Chapter 12 in the book
+Technical Report Writing Today by Riordan and Pauley.
+While they call the model IMRD, the acronym IMRaD is often used
+since it can be pronounced as a normal word.
+Chapters 1-11 of the book deal with style,
+the relationship of the writer to the reader
+and other general subjects that add to and deepen understanding
+of the concepts of chapter 12.
+Nevertheless, the chapter 12 may be read alone.
+Later chapters deal with other types of writing that
+are outside the scope of this article.
+The focus here is on reports, with additional descriptions of
+particularities for assignment solutions.
+\section{Method}
+An IMRaD report contains four main sections which are:
+\begin{enumerate}
+\item Introduction
+\item Methods
+\item Results
+\item Discussion and conclusions
+\end{enumerate}
+The \emph{Introduction}
+descibes the background of the work and puts it in context.
+If the report only deals with a part of a larger project,
+its relationship to the overall work should be described.
+The introduction should describe the status before the study
+and mention former studies when it helps setting focus
+for the subject of the report.
+Former studies should not be described unless
+the report is an overview of either the history
+or the current status.
+The introduction should end in a research
+question to be answered by the report.
+The \emph{Methods}
+section describes the procedure used to answer the research question.
+The description must be thorough enough for the reader to judge its
+correctness and how complete it is.
+A common requirement is that the description is detailed enough
+for the reader to be able to repeat the experiment.
+Then details may belong in an appendix rather than in the report itself.
+If the choice of method needs to be justified, it should be done here.
+If another method was tried but revealed itself unsatisfactory,
+it may be mentioned, but normally the history of the work is not detailed.
+Results do not belong here but in the next section.
+The \emph{Results}
+section just shows the results of the method described in the Methods section.
+Summary statistics, figures and tables should be used
+when convenient for the sections purpose.
+Details such as listing of individual measurements
+should most often be omitted or put in an appendix.
+While this section should contain the explanations necessary
+for it to be understandable, interpretations and deductions
+are to be kept for the Discussions section.
+The \emph{Discussion}
+answers the research question and indicates how successful the work was.
+Conclusions drawn from the results are presented and the significance
+of the work (for the author or others) explained as needed.
+The discussion should also include further questions that
+got raised during the work, eventual continuation and
+possible improvements to the method.
+\subsection{Division into chapters}
+The IMRaD model can often be reflected directly by the separate chapters of the report.
+Sometimes, some sections are too small to merit a separate chapter,
+for example a detailed assignment may not need a separate introduction
+(for example hand in a solution of exercise 60 in chapter 3).
+Also, some sections might need to be further broken down.
+It might be better to put them into separate chapters rather
+than use sub-chapters uniquely to stick to the IMRaD model.
+\section{Other sections}
+The four main sections may need to be completed by four more sections:
+abstract, thanks, references and appendices.
+An \emph{Abstract} or a \emph{Summary}
+is needed when the report is long,
+in particular if reading it is not mandatory for the receivers.
+The abstract should be short, of the order of magnitude 100 words.
+The abstract may not say anything not stated in the report itself,
+it is not a conclusions chapter.
+\emph{Thanks}
+may be a separate chapter.
+It should mention those that are close to being authors
+without being responsible for the report's contents,
+for example those delivering the data,
+treating it, people putting forward important ideas in conversations with the author
+as well as referrees and maybe readers of manuscripts.
+\emph{References}
+must be listed if more are used than mentioned in the title
+and the textbooks of the course where the report is submitted.
+All sources referred to in the text should be listed and no others.
+If any standard is explicitly fixed in the course for the form of references in text
+and the layout of the list of references, it should be adhered to.
+Otherwise a general standard like API (American Psychological Institute)
+should be followed.
+\emph{Appendices}
+may be used for material logically belonging to the report,
+but  too bulky to be part of  the main text.
+While an exact description of the conduct of an experiment (for example sampling method)
+and detailed results are often necessary for the experiment to be replicated,
+that material might make up a disproportionate part of the report
+and merit an appendix or two.
+In that case, these aspects should be summarized in the main text,
+eventually through tables, summary statistics and figures.
+\end{document}
+</code>

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