OmniDocHow to set the page number of graduation thesis: start page numbering from the main text
Explain clearly the sectioning logic of the graduation thesis page numbers: the cover is not numbered, the abstract and table of contents use Roman numerals, and the main text starts with Arabic numeral 1. Provides setup steps in Word, a checklist, and how to determine whether a table of contents page counts.
Key points of this article
- Page numbers are realized by dividing them into sections: the preface part and the main text part are divided into sections respectively, so that Roman numerals and Arabic numerals can be set respectively.
- The first page of the text should be the Arabic numeral 1 and be the page where the title of the first chapter is located, not the cover or contents page.
- The table of contents page itself usually does not participate in text numbering. Whether it is included in the "number of pages" depends on the school's format requirements.
- After setting, check section by section to confirm that "link to previous section" has been cancelled, otherwise modifying one section will affect the entire text.
Many students only discover that the page numbers are wrong in the last step of formatting their graduation thesis: there are page numbers on the cover, the abstract page says 1, but the main text starts from 3 or 4. The problem is usually not with the page numbers themselves, but with the lack of sectioning in the document. The core of the graduation thesis page number setting is to first split the document into several parts, and then let each part use its own page number format and starting number.
This article is written for students who are using Word to format their graduation thesis and need to have the page number "start from the text" as required by the school. After reading, you should be able to determine which pages are not numbered, which pages use Roman numerals, which page of text counts as 1, complete the settings in Word, and finally confirm the results with a checklist.
How to set the page number of graduation thesis? One sentence conclusion
Direct answer: First divide the document into sections according to "cover, prefix, and text". Use Roman numerals for the prefix, Arabic numerals for the text and start over from 1. The cover does not display page numbers. If the school has special requirements, the school regulations shall prevail.
| your situation | Recommended practices | reason |
|---|---|---|
| Cover, statement, abstract, and table of contents all come before the main text | The single section on the cover does not display page numbers, and the remaining front pages use Roman numerals. | The preface part does not interfere with the page numbers of the main text, which is a common paper format. |
| The school requires that the abstract page use Roman numerals and the main text use Arabic numerals. | Chinese abstracts and English abstracts are arranged consecutively, and a new section of the text starts from 1 | This is a common requirement and the default way of writing in most schools |
| The school only requires that the main text be page numbered, and the front pages are not numbered at all. | The leading part is set to a blank page number, and the starting page number of the text section is 1 | When Roman numerals are not required, just make sure the text sections are independent |
| There are many pages in the table of contents, and the school requires that the number of pages in the table of contents be included in the total number of pages. | Count uniformly according to school regulations, and use Roman numerals on the catalog page. | Page number display method and "page count" are two different things and need to be confirmed separately. |
Before you start: Confirm these points first
Before you start setting up, there are a few things you need to figure out first, otherwise you will have to rework after finishing the arrangement.
First, get the paper format requirements of the school or department, focusing on the three parts of "page number", "header and footer" and "table of contents". Some schools state that the abstract should be written in Roman numerals, while others only state that "the text page number starts from 1." The two requirements are set in slightly different ways.
Second, list the structural sequence of the full text, such as: cover, originality statement, Chinese abstract, English abstract, table of contents, main text, references, acknowledgments, and appendices. The page numbering rules of each part should correspond to specific sections, and the structural sequence should be clearly written so that there will be no mistakes in the position of the sections.
Third, confirm which page the "first page of text" refers to. This is usually the page with the title of the first chapter, not the blank page after the table of contents or the chapter title page. If the school has separate requirements for chapter title pages, they need to be processed as required.
Fourth, check whether the chapter titles use a unified title style. The page number setting itself has nothing to do with the title style, but the table of contents must be generated from the title. If the title style is messed up, the table of contents page numbers will not match.
Fifth, if the paper requires collaboration between multiple people or changes during the process, try to complete the page number setting before finalizing the paper to avoid large page number offsets after inserting charts or deleting paragraphs later.
Steps to set the text to be paginated from the first page in Word
The following steps apply to common thesis structures: cover, front pages (statement, abstract, table of contents), main text, and back pages. Please refer to your Word version interface when operating. The core logic is the same.
- Insert a "next page" section break at the end of the cover. Place the cursor at the end of the cover and insert a section break so that the cover becomes an independent section and the following content begins with a new section.
- Insert a "next page" section break at the end of the table of contents. In this way, the front page (statement, abstract, table of contents) becomes a section, and the main text starts from the next section. If there are other pages between the abstract and the table of contents, they should be divided into sections in the same way.
- Enter the footer of the preceding section and cancel "Link to previous section". After canceling the link, the page number setting of the preceding section will not affect the cover and will not be inherited by the main text.
- Set the page number format of the preceding section to Roman numerals, and set the starting page number to i (or an uppercase I as required by the school). The summary page will be displayed starting from i.
- Enter the footer of the text section, also cancel "Link to previous section", then change the page number format to Arabic numerals, and set the starting page number to 1. At this time, the page where the first chapter is located will display 1.
- Deal with covers and other sections that do not require page numbers. Delete the page number in the footer of the cover section and make sure it doesn't show any numbers. If the page number of the preceding section is inherited by the cover, go back to step 3 and cancel the link again.
- Set header and footer content. The title of the paper or chapter name is often written in the text header. It is also necessary to cancel the links between the previous and following sections to avoid wrong headers on the abstract page or reference page.
- Preview the entire document, start from the cover page and read page by page, confirm that the page numbers switch between sections in the correct position, and finally generate a table of contents to check whether the page numbers in the table of contents are consistent with the page numbers in the text.
Check each item after completion
After the page number setting is completed, it is recommended to use the following checklist to check each item. Many problems are only exposed after the table of contents is generated or the PDF is exported.
| Check items | How to see | What to do if there is a problem |
|---|---|---|
| cover | Whether the cover footer is empty | Go back to the footer of the cover section, remove the page number, and confirm that the link is unlinked |
| summary page | Whether the page number is in Roman numerals and starts with i | Check the page number format and starting page number of the preceding section to confirm that it is no longer associated with the cover section |
| First page of text | Does the page of the title of the first chapter display 1 | Check that the starting page number of the body section is set to 1, and make sure that the previous section breaks are in the correct position |
| Table of contents page number | Whether the page number listed in the catalog is the same as the body page number | Update the catalogue, if it is still inconsistent, check the title style and section location |
| References and thanks | Whether the page number is continuous and whether the header is correct | Make sure that these pages are in the same section as the text, or set up separately as required by the school. |
| Export PDF | Whether the page number after printing or export is the same as in Word | Update all fields in Word before export, and then check the export results |
If you eventually need to submit your paper in PDF, you can finalize it in Word before exporting it. The PDF editor of the OmniDoc desktop client can insert, delete, rotate and reorder PDF pages, and it can also merge and split files, but it is not responsible for numbering papers. The page numbers still need to be set in Word. When you need to check the content of the text, you should also check it yourself. the text from machine translation or OCR cannot be regarded as final directly.
# which method is suitable for you?
- the school requires that the abstract be clearly written in Roman numerals : according to the above section method, the front page uses Roman numerals, and the text starts with the Arabic numeral 1, which is a common situation. - the school only requires the text to be numbered from 1, and the front page is not mentioned : the front page can be left blank, only ensure that the starting page number of the text section is 1, and there is no need to force Roman numerals. - the school requires the number of catalogue pages to be included in the total number of pages *: the way the page number of the catalog page is displayed and the "total number of pages" are two different things. The display page number is set according to the pre-section rules, and the total number of pages is handled according to the school's instructions on counting.
# frequently asked questions (FAQ)
1. From which page does the catalogue page number and page number of the graduation thesis start?
The table of contents page usually belongs to the front part and the page number is Roman numeral or unnumbered. The number of pages is calculated from which page, depending on the description of the school: some are calculated according to the physical number of pages of the document, and some only count the number of pages in the text. Both statements should be based on the format requirements, and you can consult your tutor or faculty when you are uncertain.
2. How to set the page number of the header and footer of the graduation thesis so that the page number can only be displayed in the body?
After the section, insert the page number in the footer of the body section and make sure that the footer of the front section and cover section is unlinked and that there is no page code field. The header is the same, setting the content in each section to avoid the interaction between the front and back sections.
3. Why do I start from 1, but the text shows other numbers?
A common reason is that the text section is still linked to the previous section, or the previous section break is misplaced, causing the cover or summary page to be counted as the body. Check the section break location and the link status of the footer, and update the catalog and page number after correction.
4. Should the page number of the English abstract be continuous with that of the Chinese abstract?
Most schools require continuous arrangement of Chinese and English abstracts, that is, Chinese abstracts are followed by Roman numerals, and English abstracts no longer start with I. Specific to the requirements of the school, set up to keep the two in the same pre-section.
5. How to set the page number of graduation thesis starting from the text? can you skip the catalogue page?
Sure. Insert a section break after the directory and set the starting page number of the body section to 1, and the directory page will not be counted as the body number. If the table of contents page needs to display Roman numerals, it is set separately in the front section.
# Summary
The key to setting the page number of graduation thesis is sub-section: the cover is not numbered, the front page is Roman numeral, and the text starts with the Arabic numeral 1. After setting up step by step, use the checklist to check the summary page, body home page, catalog page number, and export results. When there are specific requirements in the school format, the school regulations shall prevail, so that the page number of the graduation thesis can withstand the inspection.
