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Tutorials and Guides

APA Documentation Style: Headings

Parenthetical References | References List | Usage and Style | Formatting

The APA style provides a system for the formatting of headings within a document. This ensures consistent appearance, allowing the reader to easily determine the relationship between headings and subheadings. This is a good thing.

What's not so good, though, is that the system behind this consistency appears to be anything but. To smooth things out, we've reduced the complexities to a set of rules based on how many levels of headings appear in your document.

A note about underlining and italics. Although the APA style calls for certain headings to be underlined, you may use italics instead. Since hypertext language doesn't allow for underlining, we've converted underlined items to italics. Feel free to do the same, unless the assignment forbids.

 

Headings and subheadings show your readers how your paper is organized by labeling the parts and by indicating which parts are equally important and which are subordinate to others.

The APA style provides a system for formatting headings that ensures a consistent appearance, allowing the reader to easily determine the relationship between headings and subheadings. This is a good thing.

What's not so good, though, is that the system behind this consistency appears to be anything but consistent. To smooth things out, we've reduced the complexities to a set of rules based on how many levels of headings appear in your document.

Click the item that applies to you

Some tips about using headings

  • Don’t use a heading for the introduction of your paper.
  • Use the same heading level for topics of equal importance.
  • Be sure that each heading is followed by at least two subheadings, or none at all: you can’t divide your topic or subtopic into a single entity. (This is a principle you may have learned for outlines: an A always has a corresponding B; a 1 a corresponding 2, etc.).
  • Don’t label your headings with numbers or letters as in an outline (although outlining your paper can clarify what headings, on what levels, you need).
  • Not every main section of your paper will necessarily be subdivided, or be subdivided by the same number of levels.
  • Determine how many levels of heading you need by finding the section of your paper with the most levels. For multichapter documents, base the heading structure on the chapter that uses the most levels of headings, and apply that structure to each chapter.

My paper has one level of headings

Use heading Level 1, which consists of centered uppercase and lowercase text. Remember, even if your paper has only one heading level, it must still have at least two of those headings. If your paper consists of only one major section, then you don't need to use headings at all.

Sample Single Heading

Text begins here . . . .

My paper has two levels of headings

Use heading Level 1 (centered uppercase and lowercase text) with Level 3 subheads (flush left, italicized, uppercase and lowercase).

Sample First Heading

Sample Second Heading

Text begins here . . . .

My paper has three levels of headings

Use heading Level 1 (centered uppercase and lowercase text), Level 3 subheads (flush left, italicized, uppercase and lowercase except for the first letter), followed by Level 4 subheads (indented, italicized, lowercase, ending with a period, followed immediately by text).

Sample First Heading

Sample Second Heading

Sample third heading. Text begins here . . . .

My paper has four levels of headings

Use Level 1 (centered uppercase and lowercase text) as your highest headings, followed by Level 2 subheads (centered, italicized, uppercase and lowercase). The next will be Level 3 subheads (flush left, italicized, uppercase and lowercase except for the first letter), followed by Level 4 subheads (indented, italicized, lowercase, ending with a period, followed immediately by text).

Sample First Heading

Sample Second Heading

Sample Third Heading

Sample fourth heading. Text begins here . . . .

My paper has five levels of headings

Use Level 5 (centered uppercase) as your highest level, followed by Level 1 (centered uppercase and lowercase text) subheads; this is followed by Level 2 subheads (centered, italicized, uppercase and lowercase). Next will be Level 3 subheads (flush left, italicized, uppercase and lowercase), followed by Level 4 subheads (indented, italicized, lowercase, ending with a period, followed immediately by text).

SAMPLE FIRST HEADING

Sample Second Heading

Sample Third Heading

Sample Fourth Heading

Sample fifth heading. Text begins here . . . .

 

That should about do it for APA headings styles. If you want to learn all of the details behind the system, then read on. But be warned--it's not pretty. You might just want to get out now with a clear example to use for your paper.


The whole twisted story about headings

Okay, you asked for it. The APA establishes five levels of headings, numbered (you guessed it) 1 through 5. Here's what they look like:

APA Headings
5 
CENTERED UPPERCASE HEADING
1 
Centered Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
2 
Centered, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
3 
Flush Left, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
4 
     Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading with a period.

These are, top to bottom, Level 5, 1, 2, 3, and 4. That's right, Level 5 is the highest-level heading possible. Of course, it's only used as a last resort, when the other four levels are already in use. Perhaps this is a good thing, since centered ALL-CAPS lines are rather unsubtle.

But the complexities are just beginning. If your paper has only one level of headings, then you use Level 1 (so far, so good). But if you add a second level of headings, then you would use Level 1 with Level 3 subheadings. What happened to Level 2? Good question.

Adding another level of headings (to serve as subheads under the Level 3 headings) means using Level 4 headings. So, you'd have Level 1 main headings, Level 3 subheadings, and Level 4 sub-subheadings. What happened to Level 2? We're about to find out.

If your paper requires four levels of headings (this will be unlikely except in fairly complex documents), then Level 2 headings come into play. But they aren't just tacked onto the low end; rather, they are inserted right where you'd expect them: as subheads to Level 1 headings. That means that Levels 3 and 4 get busted down the line, to show up as subheads and sub-subheads to Level 2. Are you still with us? Good, because it's about to get worse.

If you add another level of headings, then you'll need Level 5. Now, given our recent experience with Level 2, we'd expect Level 5 to take its place at the bottom of the rank. Nope. Level 5 comes out on top, and the other four levels serve, in order, as subheads to it. Why? Some say that this is an experiment that the APA is performing on all of us, but cooler heads might argue that placing Level 5 at the top reinforces its role as last resort. In short, if your paper seems to need five levels of headings, you should think carefully about its organization. Perhaps you can simplify it (for your sake and your readers').

For a complete treatment of the politics of headings, take a look at the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, fifth edition (2001), pages 111-115 and 289-290.

The information included in these handouts is, of necessity, generic. Keep in mind that the specific assignment from your course instructor should be your guide, and that you should seek clarification from your instructor if you have any questions. Information used from http://www.researchhaven.com/Style/APAHeadings.htm