apa headings research paper

APA 7th Edition Style Guide: Headings in APA

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• Headings in APA
• APA Quick Guide
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What are headings?

Headings, sections, subsections, or levels of subordination are a style of dividing your research paper into major parts, then minor subsections. Most college papers do not need headings, especially if you are only producing two to five pages. However, if your professor requests you use headings or your are writing an especially long or detailed paper, then use headings to help readers navigate your text. Follow the APA style rules for creating the correct level of heading. Always start with a level one heading and drill down to the last subsection possible (five) in order as seen below. Instructions and examples for headings are available on p. 47- 49 of the new APA 7th Edition manual.

Levels of Headings

Additional headings resources.

• APA Style: Headings This page of the APA Style Blog provides more details about styling paper section headings in APA style.
• Heading Levels Template: Student Paper APA Style 7th Edition This example student paper clearly illustrates how to style section headings including the paper title and the Introduction section (which should not be labeled Introduction as APA assumes all papers begin with an introduction section).

Proper Title Case vs. lowercase paragraph heading

Proper title case is using both uppercase and lowercase letters in a title. It calls for the major words to be capitalized while any small conjunctions are made smaller, i.e., 

The Title of this Paper is Lengthy

Lowercase paragraph heading calls for the first word to be capitalized along with any proper nouns contained within the heading, i.e., 

        The title of this heading is much shorter and all lowercase except for the first word.

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APA Style 7th Edition: Citing Your Sources

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What are headings?

Levels of headings.

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• Additional Resources
• Reference Page

Headings are used to effectively organize ideas within a study or manuscript.  It can also highlight important items, themes or topics within sections.  By creating concise headings, the reader can anticipate key points and track the development of your argument.  The heading levels establish the hierarchy of each section and are designated by their formatting.

Adapted from American Psychological Association. (2009). Format for Five Levels of Heading in APA Journals. Publication manual of the American psychological association (6th ed., p. 62) Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

• If you need to use subsections in any given section, use a least two, otherwise omit their use.
• Do not label headings with numbers or letters
• Use of title case : Use of both upper and lower case letters, all major words are capitalized
• Paragraph headings are immediately followed by text for that subsection, rather than starting on a new line.  The heading sits at the start of the first paragraph for that section.
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• The Complete Guide to APA Format in 2020

APA Headings and Subheadings

• Headings and Subheadings
• Discussion Section
• Websites and Online Sources
• Journals and Periodicals
• Other Print Sources
• Other Non-Print Sources
• In-text Citations
• Footnotes and Endnotes
• Using MyBib Responsibly
• Miscellaneous Questions

There are five levels of headings available to use in an APA formatted paper. These headings indicate the hierchy of the information within the paper.

For example, if your paper contains the standard main sections Method , Results , and Discussion , these should all use the first-level heading.

• Method (level one)
• Results (level one)
• Discussion (level one)

If you want to include Participants and Instruments within the Method section, you would make these a level two heading.

• Participants (level two)
• Instruments (level two)

A subsection of Participants , like Age or Race , would be level three headings. This pattern continues down to level five headings.

• Age (level three)
• Race (level three)

Styling the Different Headings

Each level has specific formatting requirements to make it visibly obvious which level it is. As with all other text in an APA formatted paper, the font size should be 12pt. The differences between each level are as follows:

Level One Heading

Level one headings are centered and bolded, with all major words capitalized (articles and conjunctions are not captalized).

Level Two Heading

Level two headings are similar to level one headings, except are aligned on the left.

Level Three Heading. Level three headings are similar to levels one and two, except they're indented by 5 spaces, followed by a period, and the text following the heading does not start on a new line.

Level Four Heading. The level four heading is identical to level three, except it is also italicized.

Level Five Heading. Finally, the level five heading is identical to level four, except it is no longer bold.

Further Learning

The following video by the University of Maryland is excellent at visually explaining everything on this page.

APA Style 7th Edition

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• In-Text Citations
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Table of Contents

Ai, ethics & human agency, collaboration, information literacy, writing process, apa headings and subheadings.

• © 2023 by Jennifer Janechek - IBM Quantum
• headings when there are at least two subsections within a larger section.
• using subheadings only when the paper has at least two subsections within a larger section

APA headings and subheadings refers to the rules for formatting sections of documents in the 7th Edition of the American Psychological Association’s Publication Manual .

A research paper written in APA style should be organized into sections and subsections using the five levels of APA headings. 

Related Concepts:

Notice how sections contain at least two smaller subsections in the example below:

Design  

Participants. , demographics..

Characteristics.

Limitations

Starting with the first level of heading, the subsections of the paper should progressively use the next level(s) of heading without skipping any levels. Major sections of the paper’s main body, including the Method, Results, and Discussion sections, should always be formatted with the first level of heading. However, keep in mind that the Introduction section, which is preceded by the full title of the paper, should be presented in plain type. Any subsections that fall under the major sections are formatted with the next level of heading.

Note that all paragraphs of the main body, including those that fall under subsections of a larger section, still maintain the pattern of indentation, use Times New Roman font, 12 pt., and are double-spaced. There are no extra lines or spaces between paragraphs and headings.

How are the five levels of APA-style headings formatted?

Format each of the five levels of APA-style headings as demonstrated in the example below. Note that while the example features headings titled “First Level,” “Second Level,” and so on, each heading in your paper should be named according to the section it describes. 

First level

The first level of heading is bolded and centered, and the first letter of each word in the heading is capitalized. The paragraph text should be typed on the following line and indented five spaces from the left.

Second level

The second level of heading is bolded and situated flush left, and the first letter of each word in the heading is capitalized. The paragraph text should be typed on the following line and indented five spaces from the left.

Third level

The third level of heading is bolded, indented five spaces from the left, and followed by a period. Capitalize only the first letter of the first word in the heading and of proper nouns. The first paragraph following this heading should be typed on the same line as the heading.

Fourth level

The fourth level of heading is bolded, italicized, indented five spaces from the left, and followed by a period. Capitalize only the first letter of the first word in the heading and of proper nouns. The first paragraph following this heading should be typed on the same line as the heading.

Fifth level

The fifth level of heading is italicized, indented five spaces from the left, and followed by a period. Capitalize only the first letter of the first word in the heading and of proper nouns. The first paragraph following this heading should be typed on the same line as the heading.

Method  (1st level)

Design (2nd level)

        Participants (3rd level)

        Demographics. (4th level)

              Age Group. (5th level)

Limitations  (2nd level)

• For student papers, include only the page number in the top right margin of every page of the paper
• For professional papers, place the page number in the top right margin and the running head in the top left margin of every page of the paper. Running heads should be a shortened version of the paper title.

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