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Atable of contents (or simplycontents, abbreviated asTOC), is a list usually part of thefront matter preceding the main text of a book or other written work containing the titles of the text's sections, sometimes with descriptions.
Pliny the Elder creditsQuintus Valerius Soranus (d. 82 BC) as the first author to provide a table of contents to help readers navigate a lengthy work.[1] Pliny's own table of contents for his encyclopedicHistoria naturalis ("Natural History") may be viewed onlinein Latin andin English (following dedication).
In theearly medieval era, the innovation of tables of contents had to be abandoned, due to the cost of paper. It would not be resumed until after the 12th century, when paper factories in Spain and Italy sprouted and allowed an increase in paper production throughout Europe.
The depth of detail in tables of contents depends on the length, complexity, and type of work. For books and most other large written works, tables of contents come after thetitle page,copyright page, and if appropriate, dedication andepigraph pages.[2] Although they include everything after it, tables of contents never include anything before it.[3] Depending on the complexity or length of the text, the table of contents will include the parts (groups of chapters), if applicable, chapters or section headings, and sometimes chapter or section subheadings.[4]
Formal reports (ten or more pages and being too long to put into amemo or letter) also have a table of contents. Within an English-language book, the table of contents usually appears after the title page,copyright notices, and, in technical journals, theabstract; and before any lists of tables orfigures, theforeword, and thepreface.
Printed tables of contents indicate page numbers where each part starts, while digital ones offerlinks to go to each part. The format and location of the page numbers is a matter of style for the publisher. If the page numbers appear after the heading text, they might be preceded by characters calledleaders, usually dots orperiods, that run from the chapter or section titles on the opposite side of the page, or the page numbers might remain closer to the titles. In some cases, the page number appears before the text.
In the case ofanthologies or other compilations of works by different authors, each section's contributors are usually listed along with the title of the section.[5]
Matter preceding the table of contents is generally not listed there. However, all pages except the outside cover are counted, and the table of contents is often numbered with a lowercase Roman numeral page number.
Many popularword processors, such asMicrosoft Word,WordPerfect, andStarWriter are capable of automatically generating a table of contents if the author of the text uses specific styles for chapters, sections, subsections, etc.
TOCs in digital books and documents can be created usingbookmarks.
Example with leaders:
Chapter 1: Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Next Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Example without leaders:
Chapter 1: Getting Started 1 Introduction 2 Next Steps 3
Example with authors:
1. Introduction to BiologyArthur C. Smith 12. MicrobiologySusan Jones 103. Advances in BiotechnologyT.C. Chang 24
Example with descriptive text:
Chapter 1 3 In which we first meet our hero and heroine, attend a gala feast, and begin an unexpected journey.Chapter 2 12 The journey takes an unusual turn, and new villains are discovered.
