Thesis Table of Contents: What to List

A thesis table of contents lists the sections and chapters of your thesis, each with the page where it starts. What it must list, how many heading levels it shows and how its page numbers are formatted are set by your own institution’s thesis manual, not by a universal rule. Two graduate-school manuals show how much those rules differ: Cornell’s omits the abstract from the table, while the University of California, Irvine’s lists it.

This guide explains what the table is for, the order of entries, a short illustrative layout, the mistakes the two manuals rule out, and a checklist you can run against your own manual. For the surrounding front matter and chapter order, see thesis structure and an example outline.

Purpose of the table of contents

The table of contents is the reader’s map of the thesis. It names each part of the document and points to the page where that part begins, so an examiner or later reader can jump to a chapter, an appendix or the bibliography without paging through the whole document. UC Irvine’s manual treats it as mandatory: it states that creative works are not exempt from the requirement to include one.

It is also a checked part of the submission. Graduate schools publish formatting rules for it, which is why the answer to almost every question about it starts with your institution’s manual. A thesis that is deposited electronically (see electronic theses and dissertations) is usually reviewed against those rules before it is accepted.

What to list, in order

Entries follow the order of the document, from the preliminary sections to the end matter. The Cornell and UC Irvine manuals agree on the core and differ at the edges.

Preliminary sections that your manual says to list. Cornell lists preliminary sections starting with the biographical sketch. UC Irvine lists the lists of symbols, figures, tables and illustrations, the acknowledgments page, the vita and the abstract.
The opening section. UC Irvine names the introduction, prologue or equivalent as an entry.
Each chapter. Both manuals list every chapter or body section. Cornell says to list the sections and chapters of the body of the dissertation or thesis.
Subsections, if you choose to show them. UC Irvine states that you may list subsections within chapters. It does not require them, and the page says nothing on how many heading levels to show.
Bibliography or references. Listed at UC Irvine.
Each appendix. Listed at UC Irvine.

Pages that are not listed are just as rule-bound. Cornell states that the title page, copyright page and abstract are not listed. UC Irvine states that the title page, copyright page, dedication page and the table of contents itself are not listed.

A short illustrative layout

The layout below is an illustration invented for this guide, not a template from any institution. It shows the conventions Cornell describes: a centered all-caps heading, titles on the left, one starting page number per entry in a column on the right, and no page ranges. Your manual may differ in any of these points.

                    TABLE OF CONTENTS

Biographical Sketch ........................... iii
Acknowledgments ............................... iv
List of Figures ............................... vii
CHAPTER 1  Introduction ....................... 1
CHAPTER 2  Literature Review .................. 14
CHAPTER 3  Methods ............................ 31
CHAPTER 4  Results ............................ 52
CHAPTER 5  Discussion ......................... 78
References .................................... 96
Appendix A ................................... 108

Annotations. The heading is all capitals and centered, as Cornell specifies. Each chapter shows only its first page, never a span such as 14-30. The abstract and title page do not appear, which matches Cornell; under the UC Irvine manual the abstract would get its own line. The roman and arabic numbers here are examples only (see the numbering note below).

Cornell’s formatting conventions, as stated in its manual

Cornell Graduate School’s “Required Sections, Guidelines, and Suggestions” page gives concrete conventions. They are Cornell’s, so use them as a model of the level of detail a manual specifies, not as a universal standard.

The heading reads TABLE OF CONTENTS in capitals, centered.
Page numbers sit in a column to the right of each title.
Each chapter or section gets the single number of its first page. Cornell says entries usually do not include a range of page numbers such as 7-22.
The table is often single-spaced and may run longer than one page. Cornell suggests page number vi for it.
A list of figures, illustrations or tables is optional at Cornell. If present, each list is on its own page with a centered all-caps heading, may be single-spaced, and is suggested to start at vii.
Numbering of the body begins at 1. The title and copyright pages are counted but their numbers are not typed, and the abstract is not counted or numbered.

Institution differences: Cornell and UC Irvine side by side

Item	Cornell Graduate School	UC Irvine (Graduate Division manual)
Title page	Not listed	Not listed
Copyright page	Not listed	Not listed
Abstract	Not listed	Listed
Dedication page	Not specified	Not listed
The table of contents itself	Not specified	Not listed
Lists of figures, tables, illustrations	Optional section, on its own page	Listed as entries (with lists of symbols)
Chapters	Listed, single start page each	Listed
Subsections	Not specified	May be listed
Bibliography and appendices	Not specified	Listed

The abstract row is the clearest case: the same front-matter page is excluded at one university and required at the other. Each cell comes from the named manual page; “Not specified” means that page gives no rule, not that none exists elsewhere.

The decision rule that follows is simple. Do not copy a table of contents from a thesis written at another university or from a generic template. Open your own graduate school’s formatting manual, find its table of contents section, and follow it entry by entry.

Common mistakes

Each mistake below is ruled out by at least one of the Cornell and UC Irvine manuals.

Listing the title page or copyright page. Both Cornell and UC Irvine exclude them.
Listing the table of contents in itself. UC Irvine excludes it.
Using page ranges. Cornell says entries give the first page only, not a range such as 7-22.
Applying one institution’s abstract rule at another. Cornell leaves the abstract out; UC Irvine lists it.
Omitting the table because the work is creative. UC Irvine states creative works are not exempt.
Numbering the body from the wrong page. At Cornell the body begins at 1, and the abstract is not numbered.

Checklist

Have you found the table of contents section of your own institution’s thesis manual?
Does your list of entries match that manual on the title page, copyright page, dedication, abstract and the table itself?
Does every chapter and every appendix have an entry in the order it appears in the document?
Have you decided whether to show subsections, and shown them consistently in every chapter if you do?
Does each entry give one starting page number, in the format your manual specifies (check for ranges)?
If your manual requires or permits lists of figures, tables or illustrations, are they present and placed as it says?
After your final edit, does each page number still point to where its section now begins? Edits can move text between pages, so check the numbers last.

FAQ

What should a thesis table of contents include?

It should include the chapters or body sections with their starting pages, plus whichever preliminary and end sections your institution’s manual lists. At UC Irvine that means the lists of symbols, figures and tables, acknowledgments, vita, abstract, introduction, each chapter, the bibliography and each appendix.

Does the abstract go in the table of contents?

It depends on the institution. Cornell does not list the abstract; UC Irvine does. Follow your own manual.

Should the title page and copyright page be listed?

No, at Cornell and UC Irvine. Cornell excludes the title page, copyright page and abstract. UC Irvine excludes the title page, copyright page, dedication page and the table of contents itself.

Should I list subsections?

UC Irvine says you may list subsections within chapters, so it is optional there. Check whether your manual sets a required or maximum depth.

Should I give page ranges?

Cornell’s manual says entries usually do not include a range such as 7-22; give the first page of each chapter or section instead.

Do I need lists of figures and tables?

At Cornell they are optional and each sits on its own page. At UC Irvine such lists are among the entries the table of contents shows. Your manual decides.

Sources

Cornell Graduate School, “Required Sections, Guidelines, and Suggestions” (thesis and dissertation writing guidance), gradschool.cornell.edu, checked 29 October 2026.
UC Irvine Libraries, Graduate Division manual, “Table of Contents”, guides.lib.uci.edu/gradmanual/toc, checked 29 October 2026.

Related reading: what a dissertation is, how to write a research abstract, and the abstract glossary entry.