Technical Reports

Library of Congress - About Technical Reports & Standards

• Technical Reports are issued or sponsored by government agencies, associations & societies, councils, foundations, laboratories, or academic institutions.
• The format provides rapid communication of new research results to the funder.
• The reports include detailed methodology and data in order to facilitate review of research results by others.
• Technical Reports are typically not peer reviewed, but generally are the result of another selection process (grant, contract, or institutional affiliation).
• Although references may be found in the literature, government issued or sponsored reports may be subject to distribution restrictions linked to their classification status. (consult the EPA Freedom of Information Act site as an example for guidance in obtaining these reports). 

Technical report subjects where U.S. government sponsored research is particularly prominent and widely available include:

• Aeronautics and space exploration (NASA)
• Defense & Military Science (DOD)
• Earth sciences (USGS) (NASA)
• Energy research (DOE) (NRC)
• Engineering (DOD) (NASA)
• Environmental sciences (EPA) (NIH)
• Health & Life sciences (NIH)
• Transportation (DOT) (FAA)

See Finding Technical Reports for relevant databases for each of the fields listed above.