How to Write an Investigation Report

Writing an investigation report is crucial to any form of investigation - scientific, legal, or HR. In fact, it is a fundamental step that informs all the parties about the instance. Arbitration or accident investigations are the prominent issues that require a report. The aim is to inform the reader about the circumstances and the result.

You may be dextrous and well-versed but still struggle to write an investigation report. It is a technical document with a proper format. Moreover, technical jargon is a must for the reader’s interest. Such a report is not typical in a courtroom. But, it is written to define the procedure of an investigation - arson or workplace dispute, for example.

Did you know that a legal investigation report is known as a “Presentence Investigation Report” or PSIR?

This blog is you 101 to writing an investigation report. Read forth to know the answers to an investigation report's what, why and how.

Firstly, you must know what to understand the how’s. In this context, we’ll understand what exactly is an investigation report. The definition: It is an integral element of any investigation. You communicate your findings with the reader. Explain the issues and improvement areas. Also, the report isn’t complete without the result and recommendations.

As stated above, other than the court, HR teams and business leaders use this format in their investigation. In layman’s language, an investigation report briefs you about the situation. Through this report, you get insight into the incident – What happened? How? And the results.

Suppose you are to curate an investigation report for an accident. First, define the incident with the timeline - before and after. Second, report the cause or the possible causes. Third, define the result and the other outcomes of the incident. Outcomes include the possible casualties, property damage, and any legal actions taken.

Tip: When you write an investigation report, be concise. A good investigation report is thorough and detailed but fairly to the point.

You are required to write an investigation report for a case study or a hypothetical investigation that you must report. Writing an investigation report is difficult as the technical lexical isn’t easy to grasp. Get assignment writing help from professional academic writers. Our experts help you compose the best possible investigation report at affordable prices. Just fill out the enrolment form to get started.

Why Write an Investigation Report?

Secondly, if you wonder why writing an investigation report is necessary. Here are a few essentials reasons:

1. An investigation report is written to spark action per the official or current findings. Actions mean different things according to the circumstance. Termination of an employee, training implementation, or legal intervention, are a few examples.
2. Next, it is important to record the investigation process. It is necessary to prove that the investigation was done timely and by all fair means.
3. Also, for any legal action, the investigation report is cited as evidence. Thus, it is absolutely important to be precise.
4. Investigation reports provide additional insights into a case. The investigating party may spot a missing or incorrect detail through such a document.
5. Lastly, you get valuable insights useful for implementing control measures and preventing such incidents altogether in the future.

The police collect the physical evidence and investigate the physical attributes of a fire and arson scene. - National Institute of Justice

Hence, it is very important to curate this document. It is necessary for summarising, offering insights and references in the verdict. Hopefully, you understand the what and why? Let’s move on to the how? The following section discusses the steps to writing an investigation report.

How to Write One?

Third, an investigation report is written across disciplines and is atypical for legal implementation. You can write an investigation report for an experiment, and a standard format follows. The format includes:

Summary

First, define the aim & objective of the investigation. The investigation process. For an instance summary, you must define:

- Parties involved in the case

- What happened before and after the incident

- Date and location

- Who’s the investigation agency and the investigation process with a detailed timeline.

Conclusions

Next, the conclusion section of your investigation report incorporates the result of the investigation. For an incident, you will define if the case is substantiated, inconclusive or disposed of. Moreover, report the conclusion with the case timelines and the filing and disposal dates specifically.

Recommendations

Finally, this section includes all the recommendations. You must define the actions taken as a result of the case. Employee termination or legal actions, for example. Also, further suggestions like individual credibility, additional investigation, and other judgements that help you conclude, add them here.

Tip: Refer to a sample of a similar report. A sample report will give you an idea of the discipline-specific format and lexical you must use for your report.

These are the three main parts of an investigation report regardless of the discipline. You may come across different sub-elements like pieces of evidence, procedures, tools used for investigation, calculations and more. Such sub-sections are typical of a scientific investigation report.

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In conclusion, writing an investigation report is a challenging task. Remember, your report must be well-written and presentable for a courtroom or an official forum. Judges or company directors to juniors have access to such reports. Hence, write it eloquently.

Additionally, you must research and write an investigation report with accurate timelines. The case results may take time so ensure you note down the time and result accordingly. Legal investigation reports are crucial to conduct and follow through with a case investigation. Hence law students must write many such reports throughout their academia.

If you are not a stellar writer and your punctuation is nowhere near perfect, you may opt to get help from experts. Get assignment writing help from professional academic writers to deliver well-written investigation reports. Get drafting, editing and proofreading help at affordable prices. Fill out the enrolment form today to access out extensive library for free!