Microsoft Word for Dissertations

While the context of this Guide is dissertations, the many useful features described here will also help you format research papers, conference abstracts, journal articles, and other complex documents.

• Introduction, Template, & Resources
• Formatting for All Readers
• Using Styles to Ensure ConsistencyToggle Dropdown
  • Applying a Style
  • Modifying a Style
  • Setting up a Heading 1 Example
  • Images, Charts, Other Objects
  • Captions
  • Footnotes, Endnotes, & Citations
  • Cross-References
  • Appendix Figures & Tables
  • Tips & Tricks
  • The Two-inch Top Margin
  • Troubleshooting
  • Finalizing Without Styles

  Page Contents

  Microsoft Word can automatically keep track of your chapter, section, and sub-section numbering for you. Using these numbering schemes will also allow your figure/diagram/table/equations to be automatically numbered, as well.

  In this part of the Guide, you'll learn:

  • How to set Word to automatically number your Chapters and Sections
  • How to customize your number style (Section 1.1 vs. Section 1.a or Section 01.01)
  • How to automatically number Appendices

  Automatic Chapter and Subsection Numbering

  Important Note: Not everyone needs this type of numbering; if your discipline doesn’t require it, skip this section!

  Word can automatically number sections (Chapter 1, 1.1, 1.2, etc.) of your document and include the chapter number in the captions (Figure 1.2, 2.2, etc.).

  

  1. Make sure each of your chapter titles are in the Heading 1 style, and then click on one of your chapter titles.
  2. If you just need the chapter number included in captions, on the On the Home Ribbon, in the Paragraph Group, click the Multilevel List icon and select the one with the words Chapter 1 in it from the List Library section. If you need subsections numbered (for example, 2.1, 2.2, 2.12, etc.) as well, then choose the list the 1 Heading 1; 1.1 Heading 2, etc. option (right side, middle row). Note that doing this once sets the formatting for all heading levels.
  3. Click OK when you are finished.
  4. If you typed in the text “Chapter #”, and now it is duplicating your efforts, delete the text you typed and leave the automatically generated chapter number.
  5. To follow the automatically generated chapter number with the title of your chapter on a new line, click just before the text of your title, hold down the Shift key on the keyboard, and then press the Enter key.

  Note: If you have any problems with word automatically adding outline numbering to parts of your front matter, simply delete it. Your chapter numbers will reset to show the correct number of chapters.

  Removing the section numbering from our template

  

  Our template is set to include numbering for sections and sub-sections within chapters. But some Style Guides do not call for such numbering, so you will want to remove it. This is easily done by changing the numbering scheme from our custom list to the "Chapter" multi-level list:

  

  1. Place your cursor in the title of your Chapter 1 (which is styled with the Heading 1 style)
  2. In the Home tab, click to open the Multi-level List tool , and select the numbering scheme that uses "Chapter 1" for Heading 1, and NO numbers for Headings 2 & 3.

  In some cases, you may find that Word has added "Chapter X" before some of your Heading 1 sections that aren't chapters (like Acknowledgements or Bibliography). All you need to do is go to each of those sections, place your cursor after "Chapter X", and press Backspace to delete it.