Thank you for your replies. I actually am happy to include them.

Hi,
My university says that the word count for my thesis should exclude footnotes, tables, figures, maps, bibliography, appendices, etc. This means the word count should include only the main content of my thesis, i.e. from the first word of my introduction to the last word of my conclusion.

However, I am uncertain whether the chapter titles and section headings in my thesis should be included in the word count.



For example, if a section in my thesis, like "(2.1) The Cults of Ancient Egypt", is 6 words in length, and the content of this section is 2000 words in length, should the word count for this section be 2006 words or just 2000 words?



Another example: if all the chapter tiles and section headings in my thesis amount to 400 words, and the contents of all these chapters amount to 99,700 words, should the word count for my thesis be 101,000 words (which means I exceed the maximum length) or just 99,700 words (which means I am still safe)?



Thank you very much in advance for your reply.