How to Make a Table of Contents in AP Style

The Associated Press (AP) style, outlined in the AP Stylebook, provides guidelines for writers wishing to conform to the AP format. The AP format is preferred for newspaper writing, especially for any content distributed by the Associated Press.

The AP style table of contents is best exemplified in the most recent version of the AP Stylebook.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• AP Stylebook (strongly suggested) Chicago Manual of Style (recommended)

Gather Materials and Prepare

1. Gather all of the materials you will be including in the overall work (which requires the table of contents). Know all of the necessary information for each item to be listed in the table of contents, including the title of the work, the author(s) and the page numbers (if you are doing your own indexing).

2. Jot down a basic list of what you want to include in the table of contents, in the correct order. When you are finished, prepare a new document on your computer (or a blank sheet of paper, if you are writing by hand).

3. Refer to the AP Stylebook's table of contents for an example of an appropriate format. The table of contents suggests specific rules regarding capitalization, alignment and font selection.

Use AP Rules to Create the Table of Contents

4. Create the heading for the table of contents by using the word CONTENTS (bold, centered, all caps, H2 font formatting).

5. Make the section headings left justified, bold and in caps (ARTICLES, BRIEFING, ABOUT THE AUTHOR).

6. List specific items in the table of contents with a single-tab indent. Always use plain Roman font and follow AP-style headlines.

7. Position the page numbers as right-justified.

8. Label the page numbers of front matter (such as a foreword) in lower-case Roman numerals (iii, iv, v). Do not italicize them.

Tips & Warnings

• Specific words are spelled and capitalized in a certain way in AP style. Look up each word in your titles before typing them out on the table of contents. Match your manuscript titles with those listed on the table of contents to confirm style and capitalization Because AP style typically applies to newspaper articles, the AP Stylebook provides guidelines for an AP table of contents only by example (the book's own table of contents). Defer to the Chicago Manual of Style if you have any further questions that remain unanswered by the AP Stylebook. Be sure to check within the AP Stylebook regarding title capitalization, abbreviated spelling and more.

Resources

• AP Stylebook