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Formatting Your Dissertation (or Thesis): Chapters and Sections

Chapters and Sections

When addressing a figure or table, say "as shown in Figure 2" or "refer to Table 3 for details." This helps readers find relevant figures. You can use several formatting tools and capabilities in Microsoft Word to format chapters and sections. Formatting chapters and parts in MS Word:

1. Heading Styles: Use built-in heading styles to format chapters and sections consistently. You can customise Word's pre-defined styles like "Heading 1," "Heading 2," and so on. Select the chapter or section title and choose a heading style from the "Styles" group on the Word ribbon's "Home" tab.

2. Navigation Pane: Navigate your document's chapters and parts with the Navigation Pane. Check the box next to "Navigation Pane" in the "Show" group on the "View" tab to activate it. The Navigation Pane shows your document's headings hierarchically, making it easy to switch between sections.

3. Table of Contents: Based on chapter and section headings, Word may construct a table of contents. Go to the "References" tab and click on "Table of Contents" in the "Table of Contents" group to insert the table of contents. Use a built-in style or customise the table of contents.

4. Section Breaks: Insert section breaks if you need distinct headers and footers or page numbering for specific parts. Go to the "Layout" tab, click on "Breaks" in the "Page Setup" group, and select the section break type, such as "Next Page" or "Continuous." Each part can have its own formatting.

5. Customise chapter and section headers and footers. The "Header & Footer Tools" tab appears when you double-click the section's header or footer. Titles, page numbers, dates, and other information can be added here.

6. Page numbers: Number your document. On the "Insert" tab, click "Page Number" in the "Header & Footer" group. Choose the page number position and format. Using section splits, you can set distinct starting page numbers for each segment.

7. Styles and Formatting: Use the "Styles" box to consistently format headlines. The "Styles" dialogue box launcher on the "Home" tab launches it. Right-click on a heading style, pick "Modify," and modify its font, size, colour, spacing, or other formatting.

You can format chapters and sections in your thesis or dissertation by following these procedures and using Microsoft Word's formatting capabilities.bles readily.