Generating a table of contents

The Harvard thesis template is designed to vastly simplify generating a table of contents (TOC), and is structured to be generated automatically from your headings (styles Heading 1 through Heading 4). The sample TOC you see in the template will turn out to be your table of contents. You can update it as you write your thesis and Word will automatically replace the sample headings with your styled headings.

It is important not to type in this area. Instead, to update the TOC, right-click anywhere in it (not including the title) and select Update Field. You will be given the choice of Update page numbers only or Update entire table. If you’re still writing your thesis and want to create a current running TOC, you’ll want to update the entire table so new entries will be generated. If you’re in the revision stage and aren’t creating any more chapter heads or subheads, then all you’re probably interested in are the page numbers, so select that option.

If a header is missing from the TOC after updating the entire table, check that the header in question is using the appropriate heading style, then update the entire TOC again.

Additional tables of contents

Besides the main TOC, there are also other automatically-generated tables of contents meant to list figures you may want to display, or tables of data. To see how your List of Figures and List of Tables are shaping up as you work, just right-click on the appropriate TOC and select Update Field, then select the Page Numbers Only radio button and click OK.

List of Figures

As you are developing your thesis, you may want to insert various images, charts, etc., as figures within the document. When placing figures keep in mind that if the figure itself has the same style as its title, it will be drawn into the List of Figures when you update it. To prevent the List of Figures from drawing the figures into it, you need to create a separate paragraph for the figure and assign it the Figure style. Hit Enter or return and the Figure Title style should assign itself to the next paragraph. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to assign your title the style yourself. The style handles all the spacing for you.

List of Tables

Word does not handle tables the same way it addresses images, so your List of Tables does not have the same multi-paragraph requirements that the List of Figures does. Most of the time, Word assigns a table the Normal style itself, and that shouldn’t present a problem for your thesis’s formatting. Just be sure to assign the title for your table the Table Title style so that it will be drawn into the List of Tables.