How to Make a Table of Contents in AP Style

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Laura and today I'm going to show you how to make a table of contents in AP style. AP style is the style of the Associated Press, which is not to be confused with APA style, which is the style of the American Psychological Association. Two totally different formats. In my opinion AP style is a little more creative and interesting looking than APA style which is more clinical and technical feeling. But first of all, of course, you should consult the AP style book and figure out exactly what they want you to do. The example that I'm going to make for you today has actually been modeled off of that example so you'll know exactly how to make an AP contents page. First of all, as you're writing your contents page you should of course have already finished your book or whatever you're writing so that you'll be able to know how to put it together. And then what you're going to do is you're going to make a contents heading straight in the middle of the page and you're going to want to make sure that all of your chapters are left justified. So the first one here is bibliography. Whenever you are referring to pages that are before the pages in the actual book where the book starts, like the bibliography, introduction, you're going to want to number those pages in Roman Numerals. So this is standard format. Also, whenever you get down into the real chapters you can actually out in AP style under the chapters a little bit about what's in the chapter. So here we have the History of Animation. And then the subheading From Gertie to Mickey Mouse. You can actually be even more descriptive with that if you need to. And also, finally, just make sure that you have all of your ducks in a row and your contents page will be well formatted if you follow the format. And that's how to make an AP contents page."