Report Writing Checklist PDF

Checklist for Report writing/QA **Form** 1\. Exhibits should always be in PDF 2\. Exhibit titles shall follow OIG naming conventions as set out in SOP 3\. Double-check: **name** of Exhibits & date 4\. Double-check: **serial number** of any electronic devices mentioned 5\. Double-check: corresp...

Checklist for Report writing/QA **Form** 1\. Exhibits should always be in PDF 2\. Exhibit titles shall follow OIG naming conventions as set out in SOP 3\. Double-check: **name** of Exhibits & date 4\. Double-check: **serial number** of any electronic devices mentioned 5\. Double-check: correspondence between **pages** of Exhibits quoted and Exhibits themselves 6\. The complainant is named in the report when there is no security risk/threats/other. Underage complainants/victims are ALWAYS redacted. 7\. If there are two or more cases connected, delete Exhibits related to other cases ⇒ If it is necessary to mention Exhibits related to other cases, extract only the relevant part 8\. Delete 3rd parties names from Exhibits ⇒ If relevant, extract only the relevant part **Content** 1\. Judgements to be avoided, stick to evidence and quotes (fact-finding) 2\. Everything said in the report should be supported on evidence and footnoted accordingly (Exhibit name, date if applicable & page) 3\. Do not insert pages of quoted text from witness/subject interviews, here possible you should condense what has been said and reference the statements accordingly. 4\. Verify legal principles of the report: ⇒ Broken rule/IN/Regulation/Staff Advisory ⇒ Enough evidence to prove the breach (*beyond reasonable doubt* standard) ⇒ Conclusions in accordance 1. **Spelling**: IOM uses British-English spelling. As such, change the language of your spell-check to English (UK). Spelling of first names and last names will be taken from the work contract. a. Where contract extensions, the first contract will be used as a reference; b. Where different contracts (different role, promotion) the first contract of the latest position will be used as a reference; c. Where contracts are drafted in an alphabet other than the Latin (Arabic, Cyrillic, Ethiopic, etc.) alternatively, the spelling can be taken from the Latin transcription as per written in PRISM Portal (*Who's Who* section); 2. **Structure**: Different actors (subjects, witnesses, etc.) will be referred to using the following order: *Mr / Ms First Name(s) + Last Name(s),* the first time they are mentioned; d. Subsequently, they can be referred as *Mr / Ms Last Name(s)*; e. [Where more than one person has the same last name], they should be referred throughout the report with the full name: *Mr / Ms First Name(s) + Last Name(s)*; 3. **Structure**: some countries traditionally name people following the structure: *Last Name + First Name*. In those cases, a footnote should be added in the reports noting that the structure *Mr / Ms First Name(s) + Last Name(s)* and *Mr / Ms Last Name(s)* will be followed; 4. **Structure**: PRISM (*Who's Who* section) is useful to clarify which words correspond to the first name and which words correspond to the last name; **Referencing** Each fact expressed in the investigation report will be fully and substantially supported by evidence which shall be reverenced through the report in footnotes. Footnotes cane come at the end of a sentence or a paragraph and always directly following a quote, from an interview for example. Referencing shall be as follows: Exhibit 01 Witness statement Fred Flintstone (5 December 2023), P.1 line 2 to p.3 line 23.\ Exhibit 01 Witness statement Fred Flintstone (5 December 2023), P.1 lines 4-19. **A.    Sensitive geographical designations** Special care must be taken with the names of certain regions, territories and areas, which should not be referred to directly or indirectly as countries (i.e. sovereign States). A table providing guidance on how to deal with some sensitive designations is available on the IOM Intranet which is regularly updated.