LaTeX Document Structure - Sections, chapters, table of contents

A well-structured LaTeX document is easier to read, edit, and maintain. This guide explains how to organize your document with sections, chapters, and automatically generate a table of contents.

Document classes

The first line of any LaTeX document defines its class. It determines the overall layout, available commands, and document style.

Class	Usage	Structure levels
`article`	Short articles, simple reports	section, subsection, subsubsection
`report`	Long reports, dissertations	chapter, section, subsection...
`book`	Books, theses	part, chapter, section...
`beamer`	Presentations (slides)	frame, block

LaTeX

% Article type document
\documentclass[12pt, a4paper]{article}

% Report type document (with chapters)
\documentclass[12pt, a4paper]{report}

% Book type document
\documentclass[12pt, a4paper, twoside]{book}

Common options The options in brackets allow customization: 12pt (font size), a4paper (paper format), twoside (double-sided printing).

Sections and subsections

LaTeX offers several levels of hierarchical structuring. Numbering is automatic.

Command hierarchy

Command	Level	Available in
`\part{}`	-1	book, report
`\chapter{}`	0	book, report
`\section{}`	1	all
`\subsection{}`	2	all
`\subsubsection{}`	3	all
`\paragraph{}`	4	all

LaTeX

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[english]{babel}

\begin{document}

\section{Introduction}
Introduction text...
\section{Methodology}

\subsection{Data collection}
Description of data collection...
\subsection{Analysis}

\subsubsection{Quantitative analysis}
Quantitative analysis details...
\subsubsection{Qualitative analysis}
Qualitative analysis details...
\section{Results}
Presentation of results...
\end{document}

Unnumbered sections

Add an asterisk * to remove numbering:

LaTeX

\section*{Acknowledgements}
I thank all the people who contributed...
\section*{Appendices}
Supplementary documents...

Warning Sections with * are not automatically included in the table of contents. Use \addcontentsline{toc}{section}{Title} to add them manually.

LaTeX automatically generates the table of contents from your sections. A single command is all you need:

LaTeX

\documentclass{report}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[english]{babel}

\title{My report}
\author{John Smith}

\begin{document}

\maketitle

\tableofcontents  % Generates the table of contents
\newpage          % New page after the table

\chapter{Introduction}
...

\chapter{Development}
\section{First part}
...

\end{document}

Multiple compilation The table of contents requires two compilations to be up to date. The first creates a .toc file, the second uses it to generate the table.

Table of contents depth

By default, the table includes up to subsection. Change the depth with tocdepth:

LaTeX

% In the preamble
\setcounter{tocdepth}{3}  % Includes up to subsubsection

% Possible values:
% 0 = chapter only
% 1 = chapter + section
% 2 = chapter + section + subsection (default)
% 3 = up to subsubsection

The preamble

The preamble is the part between \documentclass and \begin{document}. This is where you configure your document.

LaTeX

\documentclass[12pt, a4paper]{article}

% === PREAMBLE ===

% Encoding and language
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[english]{babel}

% Margins
\usepackage[margin=2.5cm]{geometry}

% Mathematics
\usepackage{amsmath, amssymb}

% Images
\usepackage{graphicx}

% Clickable links
\usepackage{hyperref}

% Metadata
\title{My document}
\author{First Last}
\date{\today}

% === END OF PREAMBLE ===

\begin{document}

\maketitle

\section{Introduction}
Here is a document using the packages configured in the preamble.
\section{Formula}
Einstein's equation: $E = mc^2$
\end{document}

Special pages

Title page

The \maketitle command generates a title page based on information from the preamble:

LaTeX

\title{Document title}
\author{Main Author \and Co-author}
\date{January 15, 2025}  % or \today for the current date

\begin{document}
\maketitle  % Generates the title page
\end{document}

Abstract

LaTeX

\begin{abstract}
This document presents a complete analysis of...\nThe results show that...
\end{abstract}

Appendices

LaTeX

\appendix  % Changes numbering (A, B, C...)

\section{Raw data}
Data table...
\section{Source code}
Code listing...

Complete example

Here is a complete structured report template:

LaTeX

\documentclass[12pt, a4paper]{report}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage[margin=2.5cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{hyperref}

\title{Internship report}
\author{Mary Smith}
\date{June 2025}

\begin{document}

% Title page
\maketitle

% Abstract
\begin{abstract}
This report presents the work carried out during my three-month\ninternship at company XYZ...
\end{abstract}

% Table of contents
\tableofcontents
\newpage

% Content
\chapter{Introduction}
\section{Context}
Presentation of the context...
\section{Objectives}
The internship objectives were...
\chapter{Work carried out}
\section{First task}
\subsection{Description}
...
\subsection{Results}
...

\section{Second task}
...

\chapter{Conclusion}
In conclusion, this internship allowed me to...
% Appendices
\appendix
\chapter{Supplementary documents}
...

\end{document}

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