Information
for Authors
3.2. Organization of the
Text
While the general organization
of a text is usually clear from the Table of Contents, it is sometimes difficult
for readers to ascertain the finer details of a manuscript's internal structure.
It is common practice to vary the typographic treatment of section and subsection
headings as a guide to the proper nesting of divisions of text within larger units.
Before you prepare a final draft of your manuscript, work out a consistent system
for section labelling. While your particular application will dictate how many
distinctions of level are necessary, the following scheme for headings is suggested:
- Level A. Uppercase, centred
- Level B. Upper- and lowercase,
bold, flush left
- Level C. Lowercase, italic,
flush left
- Level D. Lowercase, italic,
run in with following paragraph
It is also useful to prepare
a detailed outline of your text, showing chapter, section, subsection, and paragraph
titles, each level indented slightly further than the previous one, from which
the overall structure may be viewed at a glance. In the following example, a system
of chapter and section numbers helps to clarify the level to which each heading
belongs:
Chapter 1. The Atmosphere
and Atmospheric Pollution
- 1.1 Carbon Dioxide
- 1.2 Carbon Monoxide
- 1.3 Ozone
- 1.4 Nitrogen Oxides
- 1.4.1 NO2
in the troposphere
- 1.4.2 Automotive
emissions of NOX
- 1.5 Sulfur Dioxide and
Trioxide
- 1.5.1 Desulfurization
of fuels
- 1.5.2 Scrubbing of
stack gases
- 1.5.3 Recovery of
SO2 as H2SO4
If you wish, you may use numbered
section headings in your manuscript as well. An added advantage is that this facilitates
accurate internal cross-referencing, thus reducing the need to check actual page
number citations after the final pagination is established.
Move on to: 3.3.
Quotations
Return to: Table of Contents
© 1995 University
of Calgary Press
Release no. 1.0 (August 1995)