Taking the stress out of your thesis table of contents: A quick guide

Create a strong Table of Contents for your academic thesis.

Why is a Table of Contents so important?  A well-formatted Table of Contents is essential in a thesis because it provides a clear roadmap for your reader. It helps examiners, supervisors, and future researchers quickly navigate your work, understand its structure, and locate key sections. A well-organised Table of Contents reveals the logical flow of your academic argument and signals professionalism and attention to detail.

"A strong Table of Contents enhances readability and helps present your research in a coherent and logical manner - an important first impression for any academic thesis."

Understand what to include

What’s 'in' - The Table of Contents sits between your abstract and your introduction or the start of the body text. It should list all major sections (chapters) and subsections (sub-headings) of your thesis.

What’s 'out' - Depending on your institution’s style guide, you may or may not include in the Table of Contents the sections that precede it (the so-called "preliminary" pages). For example, some guidelines advise against listing the acknowledgements and the abstract (which come before the Table of Contents) and even the table of contents, itself. However, some institutions will expect these to be included. Check the requirements with your supervisor.

Level of detail - At least two levels of headings are usually provided in the Table of Contents, the chapter titles and the sub-headings within the chapter.  This helps readers to readily locate the specific content of your thesis. The inclusion of lower-level headings is optional - check your university’s style guide. In a hierarchical table of contents, a hanging indent is used incrementally for each subsequent section underneath the main section.

Pagination - The page numbers of sections that precede the Table of Contents and immediately follow it before the start of the body text are usually formatted in Roman numerals. Page numbers of the body text are expressed in Arabic numerals.

Table of Contents example 

Tip #1 - Headings used in the ToC must match exactly—both in wording and order—with those used in the body of your thesis. Automating the Table of Contents will do this, anyway.

Tip #2 - Avoid having too many levels in the Table of Contents as this will make it harder for your readers to navigate and result in it extending over a number of pages. Two to three levels are typically seen in the Table of Contents of academic theses.

Use heading styles to automate your Table of Contents

You shouldn’t try to manually write and format your Table of Contents. Instead, you can automatically generate a Table of Contents using Microsoft Word.

Step 1: Decide your heading levels. You will need to decide the heading hierarchy for your document, i.e., which headings are Heading 1 and which are Heading 2 (and 3) levels. For example:

• Heading 1 = Chapter titles
• Heading 2 = Section titles
• Heading 3 = Sub-section titles

Step 2: Apply the heading styles. For every heading and sub-heading in your document:

• Select the heading with your cursor
• Go to the Home tab on the MS Word toolbar
• In the Styles group (top right), click the appropriate style (Heading 1 for a chapter title, Heading 2 for a section title, or Heading 3 for a sub-section title) based on the document’s heading hierarchy (defined in Step 1).

Step 3: Insert your Table of Contents. Once you have applied the heading styles throughout your document, you will be able to automatically generate a Table of Contents on the relevant page in the front of your document. Use the following steps:

• Click your cursor where you want to place the Table of Contents
• Go to the References tab in the MS Word toolbar
• Click Table of Contents
• Choose an automatic style (e.g., Classic, Contemporary, Formal, Modern).
• Once you have selected your style, click OK - the Table of Contents will be automatically generated.

Tip #3 - You can format the style for each heading level to match your university's formatting requirements. In Step 2 above, immediately apply specific formatting (e.g. Times New Roman, 12-point font, bold) to each heading level so that it applies throughout your document by using the Styles section on the Home tab in the MS Word toolbar, as follows:

• First, ensure your first Heading 1 level is formatted correctly.
• Then, when you highlight the Heading 1 level in your document for the first time, right-click the Style option Heading 1 in the MS Word toolbar.
• Select the option Update Heading 1 to Match Selection. This will lock in the formatting specifications for Heading 1 so that they will apply every time you select Heading 1 level in the document.
• Do the same for your Heading 2 and Heading 3 levels.

Tip #4 - If you prefer to customise the style of your Table of Contents - then, instead of choosing an automatic style at Step 3 above, select Custom Table of Contents to: 

• Identify the heading levels you would like to include in the Table of Contents and modify their appearance in the Table of Contents (i.e., font size, colour indentation, etc.) to match your university’s formatting requirements.

Updating your Table of Contents

Following the creation of the Table of Contents, should you make any changes in the rest of the document, you can simply update the page numbers and information in the Table of Contents so that it aligns with the rest of the document. Follow these steps:

• Right-click on your Table of Contents
• Select Update Field
• Choose either to Update page numbers only or Update entire table (the latter will update all of the information in the Table of Contents, including page numbers)

Tip #5 -Update the Table of Contents before submission to ensure all page numbers are correct.

Tip #6 - If you add or remove content in your document, always refresh the Table of Contents.

Formatting guidelines

Requirements will vary from institution to institution regarding specific formatting or design requirements. It is best to check the style guidelines and refer to examples of submitted theses from your own university. Consult with your supervisor if in doubt.

Need academic editing support?

If you need help with thesis formatting or academic editing, get in touch and find out how we can support you.

KMG Communications - your medical writers and health content experts. We provide specialised editing and proofreading services for university academics, including PhD and Master candidates, as well as medical and health professionals.

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