An outline is meant to give organization to your thoughts. The outline is created with a set of nested, ordered lists. This is the standard order of an outline. Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV, V, etc.) Capital letters (A, B, C, etc.) Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) Small letters (a, b, c, etc.) Small Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, v, etc.) Although this is the standard order, some word processors may use a different order and your teacher may prefer a different order. If there is no preference, remember that the outline is for your use, so use whatever order you like. Now, use this idea to arrange the main, or top-level, sections of your report in a logical order in the space below. Before doing this, you will need to decide what your recommendation will be and what main points you will want to make.