Why is an index important?
A good index not only allows a book to achieve its maximum usefulness but is an expected part of the academic apparatus for nonfiction books. The goal of an index should be to outline for the reader the book’s structure and arguments, enumerate its key terms, draw connections by means of cross-references, and allow readers to discover whether the book answers their specific questions about the material – and if so, on which pages.
Who prepares the index?
As an author or volume editor, you are responsible for supplying the index to your book. You may prepare the index yourself, following the instructions in this guide, or you may hire a freelance indexer.
When does indexing take place?
The index is prepared from the first proofs, once the final pagination is known. After copyediting is complete, the manuscript will be typeset, and it is at that stage that you will receive the first proofs. When you submit your corrected proofs, you must at the same time submit the completed index with page references.
Because you will have only about three weeks with the first proofs, it is helpful to prepare a list of indexing terms in advance. If you can, as you await your copyedits and again after you have returned the edited files, spend some time thinking about the structure of the index and the important themes, names, and terms you want to include.
As you start thinking about the structure and content of your index, it is helpful to consult indexes in other books, especially books on the same subject as your own. Consider what each index tells you about the book’s contents, how easily you are able to navigate the index to find a specific term, and whether the index leads you to the information you’re looking for. This will help you to emulate what works and avoid what doesn’t.
Please note that our production workflow cannot, at present, accommodate embedded indexes.
How long should my index be?
When you receive the typeset proofs, you may be advised of a maximum index length. This length refers to typeset pages in layout rather than manuscript pages in Word. In a standard 6" x 9" book, one index page typically accommodates between 350 and 450 words; up to about 600 words per page is possible with reduced type size.
If you are not advised of a maximum length, aim for your manuscript index (double-spaced, 12 pt font, in a single column) to be up to about 5 per cent of the length of the book manuscript (double-spaced, 12 pt font).
Another way to assess whether your index is an appropriate length is to look at the number of page references in each entry. Your index should be detailed enough that entries do not have more than five or six consecutive page references, but not so detailed that more than a handful of entries have only one page reference.
The indexing process
For more detailed instructions on preparing and formatting an index, consult chapter 15 of the Chicago Manual of Style.
Step 1
Read through the proofs and compile your entries.
- As you read each page, mark down important themes, names, and terms and the number of the page they appear on.
- Traditionally index cards are used for this process (one card for each entry), but you can also keep a list in a Word or Excel document.
- Make sure you are compiling only references to substantive discussions of the term.
- Consider whether a reader would find useful information on a given page, or whether they would encounter only a passing mention that should be omitted from the index.
- Searching the PDF for specific terms will help supplement the page references you compile manually and will help ensure consistency. But a read-through is indispensable, as it will uncover discussions that use synonyms in place of the term used in the index, determine the beginning and end point of discussions that continue over more than one page, and distinguish between substantive discussions and passing mentions.
- Do not index citations, material that is already arranged alphabetically such as a glossary or a list of contributors, or front matter such as a table of contents or a list of figures.
- If a note containing a substantive discussion is indexed, mark down both the page on which the note text appears and the note number: 376n12.
Step 2
Refine your terms.
- Make sure each entry is a noun or noun phrase.
- Make sure index terms are succinct and logical.
- Group page references to synonyms under one main entry (usually corresponding to the term you use most often in the text), using cross-references if you think readers are likely to look under another related term or an alternate spelling (dogs. See canines).
Step 3
Arrange your terms in alphabetical order in a Word document.
- You may use letter-by-letter alphabetization (newborn, newcomer, New Deal) or word-by-word alphabetization (New Deal, newborn, newcomer); just use one system consistently throughout the index.
- Numerals may be alphabetized as though spelled out or as though appearing before the letter A in the alphabet, as long as they are treated consistently. Where treating them as though spelled out will give you an illogical order, it may be best to use the alternative system.
- In main entries:
- Invert personal names and alphabetize by surname.
- If a title of a work begins with an article (a, an, the), the article appears at the end of the title, following a comma, and the entry is alphabetized by the next word in the title.
- In subentries:
- Do not invert personal names or titles of works; alphabetize by surname or the first word following an article nonetheless.
- Unlike a main entry, a subentry may begin with a preposition or conjunction; for alphabetizing purposes, skip these functional words. Make sure the first keyword in your subentry is a logical one (de Gaulle, relations with rather than relations with de Gaulle).
- As an alternative to alphabetical order, subentries to a personal name may be presented in chronological order. Use this system only if the chronology is clear and easily navigated by a reader not familiar with the details of the person’s life.
- See the Chicago Manual of Style for more guidelines on alphabetizing index entries.
Step 4
Refine your page references.
- No more than five page references should appear consecutively under any term; avoid, also, having a subentry for every page reference.
- Reduce long lists of page references by adding more specific subentries or by eliminating passing mentions.
- Combine or eliminate subentries that are too specific.
- Customarily, a page range is given for discussions that continue over more than one page (24–6), while separate page numbers are given for separate discussions on consecutive pages (25, 26).
- For page ranges, use minimal forms: 36–7, 207–8, but 114–15. Do not use f or ff for following page or pages.
- For inclusive numbers, use either an en dash or, if you’re not sure how to type one, a double hyphen so we can easily search for and replace these: 36–7 or 36--7.
Step 5
Check over and finalize your index.
- Format the document as a run-in index (in which subentries follow on from the main entry, after a semicolon), rather than beginning subentries on new lines.
- Add cross-references between related terms that are not synonymous (pets, 45, 67. See also cats; dogs).
- Eliminate any cross-references that lead nowhere or that lead only to another cross-reference.
- Eliminate any cross-references to terms that provide no additional page references.
- Where a cross-reference would use more characters than repeating the page references, it may be preferable to double-post (conferences, 15, 17–18 rather than conferences. See Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences).
- Capitalize only the words that would be capitalized in running text.
- Make sure the file is a double-spaced Word document, 12 pt font, arranged in a single column.
- Add a line space between letters of the alphabet; do not add line spaces between entries.
Step 6
Submit your final index and corrected proofs by email.
Sample index entries
Acadians, 21–4, 52, 372n6
agricultural marketing, 35, 37, 79; in constitutional negotiations, 38, 56; and shipping regulations, 53–9
agriculture, 78–104
assets of Canada: legal position of, 110, 179; in regional discussions, 125–6, 213–14. See also financial services
Atlantic provinces, 11, 77, 287–9; access to ROC, 125; dependence on transfers, 27, 77; physical separation from ROC, 9–10, 80, 213
banking. See financial services
Bank of Canada, 44–7, 204, 219; governor of, 316n12
Bartholomew, James, 54, 195