Use \addcontentsline
:
% My standard header for TeX.SX answers:
\documentclass[a4paper]{article} % To avoid confusion, let us explicitly
% declare the paper format.
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc} % Not always necessary, but recommended.
% End of standard header. What follows pertains to the problem at hand.
\newenvironment*{TOCabstract}[2]{%
\begin{center}
\textsc{#1}%
\addcontentsline{toc}{section}{#1}\par\nobreak
#2\par
\nobreak\smallskip
}{\end{center}}
\begin{document}
\tableofcontents
\begin{TOCabstract}{The first title}{Arthur Uther Thor}
Abstract one.
\end{TOCabstract}
\begin{TOCabstract}{The second title}{Brutus Cyclops Dull}
Abstract two.
\end{TOCabstract}
\end{document}
Addition: A refined version, that lists the authors along with the titles, and also allows an alternative title to be specified for the ToC (as the sectioning commands do). It uses xparse
:
% My standard header for TeX.SX answers:
\documentclass[a4paper]{article} % To avoid confusion, let us explicitly
% declare the paper format.
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc} % Not always necessary, but recommended.
% End of standard header. What follows pertains to the problem at hand.
\usepackage{xparse}
\NewDocumentEnvironment{TOCabstract}{ o m m }{%
\center
\textsc{#2}%
\IfValueTF{#1}{%
\addcontentsline{toc}{section}{#1, by #3}%
}{%
\addcontentsline{toc}{section}{#2, by #3}%
}%
\par\nobreak
#3%
\par\nobreak\smallskip
}{\endcenter}
\begin{document}
\tableofcontents
\begin{TOCabstract}{The first title}{Arthur Uther Thor}
Abstract one.
\end{TOCabstract}
\begin{TOCabstract}{The second title}{Brutus Cyclops Dull}
Abstract two.
\end{TOCabstract}
\begin{TOCabstract}[Shorter 3rd title]{The third title, long version}
{Jonathan Horatio Quick}
Abstract three.
\end{TOCabstract}
\end{document}
Here is the output:
