Once you’ve done this you can update any other headings quickly using the heading styles. Right-click the Heading 1 style and select Update Heading 1 to match selection.Next, update the heading styles listed in the Home tab at the top: Applying heading stylesįirst, go through your text making sure that each level of heading is in keeping with APA Style rules. After that, you can generate the table of contents. To automatically generate a table of contents in Word, you’ll first have to apply heading styles throughout your text. How to generate a table of contents in Word 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. Including lower-level headings in the table of contents is optional. In the table of contents, you should include all level 1 and 2 headings, left-aligned and formatted as plain text. In APA Style, you can use up to five levels of heading, each with its own formatting style. At the top of the page, write Contents, centered and in bold. It should be written in the same font and size as the rest of your text (usually 12 pt Times New Roman). In a thesis or dissertation, the table of contents comes between your abstract and your introduction. How to generate a table of contents in WordĪPA format guidelines for the table of contents.APA format guidelines for the table of contents.