The table of contents is essentially a list found at the beginning of a dissertation, which contains names of the chapters, section titles, and/ or very brief descriptions, and page numbers indicated for each.
It is the section of a dissertation placed between the abstract and the introduction that guides each section of the dissertation paper’s contents.
Depending on the detail level in a table of contents, the most useful headings are listed to provide the reader with information concerning which page the said information may be found on.
It typically includes:
- Chapter titles (e.g., Introduction, Methodology, Discussion)
- Subsections within each chapter
- Lists of figures, tables, and appendices (if applicable)
What Is Included In A Table Of Contents Page
| Section | Included In TOC? |
|---|---|
| Abstract | No |
| Acknowledgements | No |
| Table of Contents | No |
| List of Figures/Tables | Yes |
| Introduction | Yes |
| Literature Review | Yes |
| Methodology | Yes |
| Results/Findings | Yes |
| Discussion/ Analysis | Yes |
| Conclusion/ Recommendations | Yes |
| References/Bibliography | Yes |
| Appendices | Yes |
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The format of your table of contents depends on how complex your dissertation is. You can choose between three common types: single-level, subdivided, and multi-level.
Single-level TOC
This only lists the main chapters (Level 1 headings), such as Introduction, Methodology, and Conclusion. It works well for short documents but might feel too vague for longer academic work.
Subdivided TOC
This includes chapters and major sections within each chapter (level 2 headings). It helps readers understand what each chapter covers without overwhelming them.
Multi-level TOC
This goes one step deeper by including subsections of sections (level 3 headings). While this adds more detail, it can make your TOC bulky and cluttered, especially if your dissertation is lengthy.
What not to include in the table of contents?
Avoid listing the following:
- The acknowledgements
- The abstract
- The table of contents itself
These sections come before the TOC in your document and are not meant to be part of it.
Table Of Contents Example
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ………………………………………….. 1
2. Literature Review ……………………………………… 5
2.1 Theoretical Framework ………………………………. 6
2.2 Empirical Studies …………………………………. 10
3. Research Methodology ………………………………….. 14
4. Findings and Analysis …………………………………. 20
5. Conclusion and Recommendations …………………………. 30
References ……………………………………………… 35
Appendices ……………………………………………… 40
How To Create A Table Of Contents In Word
First, to generate the table of contents, start by entering a blank page after the pages you need the table of contents to follow.
- To do so, click on the bottom of the page you want before the Table of Contents.
- Open the ‘Insert’ tab and select ‘Page Break.’
- This will create a page between the top and bottom sections of the Table of Contents area.
By the time you reach this section, you would have given each heading or sub-heading a dedicated style, distinguishing between different types of headings. Microsoft Word can automatically generate a table of contents, but the document, particularly the headings, needs to be formatted according to styles for this feature to work. You can assign different heading levels and different styles for Microsoft Word to recognise the level of heading.
How To Insert Table Of Contents
- Place the cursor where you want to place the table of contents on the page you added earlier.
- On the ‘References’ tab, open the Table of Contents group. This would open a list of different table of contents designs and a table of contents sample.
- You can select an option from the available table of contents or make a custom table of contents. Although the available table of contents sample is appropriate, you may use a custom table of contents if it is more suitable to your needs. This allows you to modify different formatting options for the table of contents to satisfy your own.
Making An APA-Style Table Of Contents
- The pages before the body of the dissertation, known as the ‘Prefatory Pages,’ should not have page numbers on them but should be numbered in Roman numerals instead as (i, ii, iii…).
- The table of contents and the abstract pages are not to contain any numbers.
- The remaining pages would carry the standard page numbers (1, 2, 3…).
- The section titles and page numbers in the dissertation table of contents should have dotted lines between them.
- All the prefatory pages, sections, chapter titles, headings, subheadings, reference sections, and appendices should be listed in the contents’ thesis table. If there are a limited number of figures, they may be listed in the dissertation’s table of contents.
- If there are many figures, tables, symbols, or abbreviations, a List of Tables, List of Figures, List of Symbols, and List of Abbreviations should be made for easy navigation. These lists, however, should not be listed in the thesis table of contents.
- The thesis/dissertation must be divided into sections, even if it is not divided into chapters, with all sections being listed in the table of contents for the thesis.
How To Update Table Of Contents
As you proceed with editing your dissertation, the changes cause the page numbers and headings to vary. Often, people fail to incorporate those changes into the Table of Contents, which then effectively serves as an incorrect table and causes confusion.
These changes may alter the length of the thesis table of contents, which may also cause the dissertation’s formatting to be altered a little, so it is best to reformat it after updating the table of contents.
To update the table of contents,
- Select ‘Update Table’ in the References tab.
- This would open a dialogue box. Select ‘Update Entire Table’ to ensure that all changes are reflected in the contents table and not just the page numbers. This would display all changes and additions you have made to the document (Anon., 2017).
TOC In LaTeX
If you are using LaTeX for academic writing:
\tableofcontents
\newpage
This simple command generates a clean, auto-updating table of contents based on section tags like \chapter, \section, and \subsection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, it is important to add a table of content in a dissertation.
Making an effective table of contents starts with identifying headings and designating styles to those headings.
Using heading styles to format your headings can save a lot of time by automatically converting their formatting to the defined style and serves as a tool to identify the heading and its level, used later when creating a thesis table of contents.
- Select ‘Update Table’ in the References tab.
- This would open a dialogue box. Select ‘Update Entire Table’ to ensure that all changes are reflected in the contents table and not just the page numbers. This would display all changes and additions you have made to the document (Anon., 2017).
