Writing structure: which chapters?

For assignments that are to be written in chapters (rather than sections), decide how many chapters to include for the main body of your work. Decide how many words to allocate to each, and check that the overall total matches the required word length. Update this as your research progresses.	
Section	Need to include?	Words allocated	Details, including names of your chapters	
Abstract/summary	Yes/No		As instructed on your course.	
Acknowledgements	Yes/No		Typically just a few lines.	
Contents page	Yes/No			
List of tables/diagrams	Yes/No		Include if relevant.	
Chapter 1 Introduction	Yes/No		Provides the background to your research. Usually about 10–15%; including literature review, overview of the research, and methods used.	
Chapter 2	Yes/No			
Chapter 3	Yes/No			
Chapter 4	Yes/No			
Chapter 5	Yes/No			
Chapter 6	Yes/No			
Chapter 7	Yes/No			
Chapter 8	Yes/No			
Conclusions	Yes/No		Typically about 10–15%.	
References	Yes/No		Not usually included in the word count.	
Bibliography	Yes/No		Not usually included in the word count.	
Appendices	Yes/No		Custom varies on whether to include in the word
count.	
Index	Yes/No		Not usually required.	
Total word count	–			
Does the word limit include those in charts and tables?	Yes/No