How To Make A Proper Table Of Contents For A Dissertation
When you work on your dissertation, you need to make sure that you put enough effort in your composition to create something that will really impress your professors. There are many students who submit papers that are good, but never extraordinary and this is not enough to get the maximum grade. In order to submit a complete project, there are many elements you need to take care of; a great idea is never enough. Starting with grammar and punctuation and ending with the outline, everything needs to be perfect to the smallest detail. As for your table of content, this is how you create a proper one:
- Choose the topic first.
Obviously, you can not create a table of content without knowing the subject of your dissertation. If you have the freedom to choose what you will write about, chose a topic that is interesting for you. There is a big chance you already have some basic knowledge about the issue, and you will save a lot of the time you would spend on research.
- Think about the main ideas.
In your content you don’t write only the general idea that you approach, but also a few small points that are representative for your paper. Each chapter needs to be highly relevant to the content, not just suggestive words that look nice. Any person who reads your table of content should already know the main issue that you will approach and the ideas that you will analyze.
- Put everything on paper.
Many students prefer to use this part of their dissertation as a primary structure. This means that starting from your table of contents, you can build your entire paper. Of course, you need to be sure that you arranged the chapters in a logic and chronologic order that will make your text easy to read and engaging. Start writing each chapter, according to the title you initially used, then put them all together.
- Edit it.
If you are doing your dissertation on the computer, you can play with different editing programs and make your outline even more interesting. Instead of just writing the page of each chapter, you can select an option that allows you to be redirected to that specific page when you click on a word. This will make your work look professional, and it will be much more comfortable for you if you have to present your dissertation in front of an audience.