A special report is a detailed presentation of research processes and findings. It is often written for a specific audience, and therefore needs to be clear and easy to understand. It may also include illustrations and other visual representations of the data and information. Special reports should be clearly presented, and they should exclude irrelevant information as much as possible. The purpose of a special report is to provide a systematic investigation on an area or topic that is not covered by the existing literature.
A specific type of audit report, a special report is a document that presents financial information in a manner that deviates from standard reporting formats. This is typically due to contractual or regulatory requirements. It is not common for an entity to need to prepare a special report, but it does occur.
Examples of a special report include cash receipts and disbursements reports and proposed acquisitions. Other types of special reports include those prepared to comply with different reporting provisions from other regulatory agencies, such as insurance reporting.
In addition to the general format, special reports should contain a brief expert opinion section and include a comprehensive list of references. Authors should use a maximum of 100 references and avoid using unpublished work, personal communications, and other non-refereed material. They should also consider a timeline on how the field will evolve five years from the date that they wrote their special report. They should also provide a list of key words in alphabetical order to assist indexers.
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