Recommendations On Composing A Table Of Contents For A Thesis Paper

A research can be a career defining moment in any researcher’s life. Your research will be considered complete only when you present a good thesis. A lot of factors contribute in the success presentation of a paper. A good paper is one that clearly reflects the highlights of your research work.

The Table of Contents is a minor yet essential part of your paper. It gives one a brief idea about the main contents of your thesis. One can look through the key points of your research work effortlessly, without any chaos. Thus, it should be written and composed with utmost care and precision. The following recommendations will help in presenting a good table of contents for your thesis paper.

• It should be presented in such a way that it instantly catches your supervisor and readers attention.
• It is highly recommended to write the term “Table of Contents“ in block letters or to capitalize the term. The term should be aligned at the topmost centre of the page.
• It is mandatory that the page that contains the Table of Contents should be numbered using Roman numerical. The page number cannot be aligned anywhere. It should be at the centre, approximately 1 inch from the bottom. It should be noted that no dedication or approval pages are to be included in this table.
• Contents like; Abstract, References or Bibliography, Vita should be included in the table.
• There should be a double spacing between each entry in the table.
• The Table of contents should also contain the various headings and sub headings used in the main body of the paper.
• Item numbers should always be aligned on periods, while the item page numbers should be at the right margin.

The following important pointers will help to refine your thesis paper

• Check the creditability of the various references you are using in your research paper.
• Present your data creatively so that it can appeal to your readers.
• Keep the language of your thesis simple. Unnecessary and unwanted complications can deteriorate the quality of your presentation.
• If you quote any author’s work in the paper, mention it in the References or the Bibliography.
• Make sure that your thesis is original.
• Before the final draft, get the thesis checked by your supervisor.

There are also a few other things that you would figure out as composing the table of contents when you write my research paper.