(like 3.1.2.3 or 3.2.3.2.3) for smaller subsections, which will
tend to encourage you to use overfragmented modes of exposi-
tion. It is also worth remembering that across most disciplines
it will be much easier to get thesis material published as a jour-
nal paper (or even as a book), the less it seems like a report and
the more accessible the text appears. Converting an overnum-
bered chapter into a paper is not a trivial task. If you have relied
on the numbering scheme to give coherence, then you may
have to redo all the links from one section to another, and
much of the internal signposting in the chapter from scratch, if
it is to work as a paper.
(iii) The final common problem with headings occurs when
thesis authors do not use the same system of headings across
all chapters, but employ different systems at various points.
Most inconsistency problems occur because students write up
their chapters one at a time, often beginning with a typical lit-
erature review which goes over length and becomes difficult
to organize. As they write later chapters so they change their
ideas about sections and headings, and start using different
schemas, without going back to their earlier work and redoing
the headings in the new format. Whatever scheme of headings
you arrive at, it must be applied to give the same ‘look and feel’
throughout.
However, this requirement is quite consistent with the need
for your scheme to be flexibly handled, in a way that responds
to the nature of each different chapter and section, rather than
being implemented in a mechanical or robotic-looking fashion.
The system of headings stays the same throughout the main
text, but some chapters may not need to use all the elements of
the schema. For instance, you might use only first- and second-
order headings in shorter chapters, with brief sections. But then
you can introduce third-order headings in bigger chapters
which have longer sections or which handle more complex
material.
Just as a constantly updated rolling synopsis is a useful plan-
ning and revising tool, keeping you in touch with what the cen-
tral argument of your research is really about, so it can be very
helpful to maintain an ‘extended contents page’ showing the
current sequence of materials in your thesis. This page may
never be included in the final thesis, or used by anyone but
ORGANIZING A CHAPTER OR PAPER◆ 83