How to get rid of zeros in the section numbering in LATEX report document class?

Question

So I'm writing a report using Latex and the document class I am using is report: \documentclass[a4paper]{report}

But for some reason the section numbering is written so that it is preceded with "0.", for example it looks like:

0.1 Introduction

0.2 Theory

0.3 Experimental Method

and so on.

Can somebody help me get rid of those zeros so that it appears how it is supposed to be?

Answer 1

report assumes you'll be using \chapters as your main sectional unit. As such, all sectional units are marked "relative" to the \chapter counter. Specifically, \section counters are set using \thechapter.\arabic{section}. Either use

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}

to remove any reference of \chapters, or add

\renewcommand{\thesection}{\arabic{section}}

to your document preamble.

The former would have greater impact on the actual output, as the setting of a \title and possibly the layout may be different. The latter would just remove the \chapter counter from being printed with every \section (and lower-level section unit).