How to write a genealogy research report

Updated 25 October 2026

A research report says what you set out to find, where you looked, what you found and didn’t find, and what to do next. Professionals send them to clients. Hobbyists write them for family, and for the version of themselves who comes back to the question in five years.

A structure that works

The research question. One sentence: “Who were the parents of Jan Wiśniewski, coal miner of Ince, born about 1868 in Poland?”
Background. What was known at the start, and where that knowledge came from: family stories, documents the client supplied, earlier research.
Summary of searches. How many searches, in how many repositories, how many found something and how many found nothing. A reader should grasp the scale of the work in two lines.
Findings and conclusion. Your answer, how sure you are and why. If the question isn’t answered, say where things stand.
Searches that found something. Each with the date, where you searched, what you searched for, what you found, and a citation.
Searches that found nothing. In their own section, with what each covered. This is the part clients most often don’t see, and the part that most shows the work.
Next steps. The searches still planned, in order of promise.
Sources cited. Numbered, so the tables can refer to them.

Why the negative searches get their own section

The Board for Certification of Genealogists’ sample client agreement describes a “written report of findings, including negative findings”, and notes that “negative findings and unsuccessful searches are charged”. A separate section makes it clear what has been ruled out, stops anyone paying for the same search twice, and shows the research was reasonably exhaustive, the first element of the Genealogical Proof Standard.

Tips

Write as you go. A report built from a well-kept log takes minutes. One reconstructed from memory takes days and misses things.
Quote, then interpret. Give what the record says before what you think it means.
Separate fact from inference. “The marriage entry names his father as Michał” is a fact. “He was probably born near Płock” is an inference, and should say what it rests on.
Mind the reader. A client may not know what a census piece number is. Explain record types the first time they appear.
Keep it editable. Send a PDF, but keep a Word copy you can add to when the next phase starts.

Let the log write the skeleton

Research Trail builds this structure from your log: the question, background and conclusion you wrote, a summary it counts for you, tables of positive and negative searches, planned searches, numbered citations from linked sources and, with Pro, the time spent. Download it as an editable Word document to add your analysis, or as a PDF to send.

Questions

How long should a genealogy research report be?

As long as the work needs. A short phase might be two pages plus the tables. What matters is that every search is accounted for and the conclusion says what it rests on.

Do I need a report for my own research?

It helps more than you’d expect. A one-page report at the end of each phase means you can come back months later and know exactly where you stopped.

Can I see a sample report?

Yes. Open the sample objective in Research Trail, go to Report and download it as Word or PDF. It uses made-up people and records.

Keep your research log where it can’t get lost in a spreadsheet. Research Trail keeps each research objective with every search you make, including the ones that find nothing, and turns it into a research report or research calendar in Word or PDF. It runs in your browser, works offline, and your research stays on your device. Free for one objective.

Open Research Trail See the sample