Table of contents
How to Create an APA Table of
Contents | Format & Examples
Published on November 5, 2020 by Jack Caulfield. Revised
on January 17, 2024.
This article reflects the APA 7th
edition guidelines. Click here for APA 6th
edition guidelines.
A table of contents is not required in an APA Style
paper, but if you include one, follow these
guidelines:
Include all level 1 and level 2 headings (other
levels are optional).
Indicate different heading levels with indents.
Adhere to general APA format in terms of
font, spacing, etc.
You can automatically create the table of contents
by applying APA heading styles in Word.
Tip
You can optimize your workflow by using
our free APA Citation Generator, which
automatically creates citations.
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APA format guidelines for the
table of contents
In a thesis or dissertation, the table of contents
comes between your abstract and your
introduction. It should be written in the same font
and size as the rest of your text (usually 12 pt
Times New Roman). At the top of the page, write
Contents, centered and in bold.
In APA Style, you can use up to five levels of
heading, each with its own formatting style. In the
table of contents, you should include all level 1 and
2 headings, left-aligned and formatted as plain
text. Level 2 headings are indented.
Including lower-level headings in the table of
contents is optional. Add an additional indent for
each level. If you have a lot of headings in your
text, you may not be able to include them all—your
table of contents should not be more than two
pages long in total.
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How to generate a table of
contents in Word
To automatically generate a table of contents in
Word, you’ll first have to apply heading styles
throughout your text. After that, you can generate
the table of contents.
Applying heading styles
First, go through your text making sure that each
level of heading is in keeping with APA Style rules.
Next, update the heading styles listed in the Home
tab at the top:
Highlight a level 1 heading
Right-click the Heading 1 style and select
Update Heading 1 to match selection
Do the same for each level of heading
Once you’ve done this you can update any other
headings quickly using the heading styles. Make
sure all headings are in the appropriate style
before proceeding.
Generating the table of contents
Now you can generate your table of contents. First
write the title “Contents” (in the style of a level 1
heading). Then place your cursor two lines below
this and go to the References tab.
Click on Table of Contents and select Custom
Table of Contents… In the popup window, select
how many levels of heading you wish to include
(at least two) under Show levels, then click OK:
Updating your table of contents
Now you have a table of contents based on your
current headings and page numbers. If you
continue working on your text after this, be sure to
go back and update your table of contents at the
end, as headings and page numbers might
change.
You can do this by right-clicking on the table of
contents and selecting Update Field. Then you
can choose whether to update all information or
just the page numbers. It’s best to update
everything, just to be sure.
Cite this Scribbr article
If you want to cite this source, you can copy
and paste the citation or click the “Cite this
Scribbr article” button to automatically add
the citation to our free Citation Generator.
Caulfield, J. (2024, January 17). How
to Create an APA Table of
Contents | Format & Examples. Cite
Scribbr. Retrieved April 30, this
2025, from article
[Link]
style/apa-table-of-contents/
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Jack Caulfield
Jack is a Brit based in Amsterdam, with an MA in
comparative literature. He writes for Scribbr about
his specialist topics: grammar, linguistics,
citations, and plagiarism. In his spare time, he
reads a lot of books.
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