Updated: GC SST Summer 2021
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Section 1: Formatting the Table of Contents
• A Table of Contents (TOC) must appear in your thesis or dissertation document.
• The items that should be listed on the TOC should include all pages from the
Abstract through the Curriculum Vitae. Thus, your TOC includes:
o Abstract (starts on page iii)
o Acknowledgements (optional)
o Dedication (optional)
o Preface (optional)
o Table of Contents (optional to put it on the TOC of your
thesis/dissertation)
o List of Tables (if applicable)
o List of Figures (if applicable)
o Any other lists including: List of Definitions, List of Algorithms, List of
Equations, etc. (if applicable)
o Main body of your text (e.g., chapter titles, headings, subheadings)
o Appendix or Appendices (optional)
o Bibliography
o Curriculum Vitae
• As the last document of your text, the Curriculum Vitae is the last item of your
TOC.
• The page numbers listed on your TOC must match the page numbers of items as
they appear in the text.
• The titles listed in the TOC must match the titles as they appear in the text.
• In general, your document needs to be broken down into Chapters/Sections.
Chapters must appear in the TOC.
• The title must match exactly between the TOC and the text. The page number
must also match exactly between the two.
o For example, if the chapter title, “Chapter 1 Introduction: An Unexpected
Beginning,” is used on page 5 of the text the Table of Contents should list:
Chapter 1 Introduction: An Unexpected Beginning.........................................5
• Chapter sections and subsections should appear consistently in the TOC. If a level
of subsection is included in the TOC, then all subsections at that level must be