Technical reports publish the results of scientific or technical research, often using federal funds. The research is performed and reports are produced by companies, universities and government laboratories. These reports are a rich source of information because they report on the entire process of research, not just successful results. Technical reports may contain experimental procedures, production data, specifications, standards, operating plans, drawings and/or raw results. They will set out the conclusions and recommendations to come from the research, and include all aspects of the research.
A large amount of valuable information contained in reports will never be formally published as a journal article or within a book so they can be difficult to find.