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APA 7th edition - Paper Format: Headings

Headings

How to Format Headings - Tutorial

What are headings?

Headings in your paper help organize your argument and signal to your reader what type of information is in each section. 

APA provides 5 levels of headings and sub-headings. Most student papers are not long enough to use all five levels. 

  • Use the title of your paper in a Level-1 Heading at the top of the first page. Do not start your paper with the heading “Introduction”.
  • Do not add extra line spacing (blank lines) above or below headings.

Use the chart and image below to understand how to format headings.

Formatting headings:
Chart explaining the five APA headings with an explanation and demonstration of the format.
Level Format
1

Centered, Bold, Title Case Heading

     Text begins as a new paragraph. Indent the first line of the new paragraph. 
2

Flush Left, Bold, Title Case Heading

     Text begins as a new paragraph. Indent the first line of the new paragraph. 
3

Flush Left, Bold & Italic, Title Case Heading

     Text begins as a new paragraph. Indent the first line of the new paragraph. 
4      Indented, Bold, Title Case Heading, Ending With a Period. Text begins on the same line and continues as a regular paragraph.
5     Indented, Bold & Italic, Title Case Heading, Ending With a Period. Text begins on the same line and continues as a regular paragraph.

Demonstration of headings

 
Title Casing:

Headings, section labels, and titles in APA Style follow Title Casing.

See Mechanics of Style for more information.

 

Section Labels:

Labels separate the different parts of a paper. They are formatted the same as level-1 headings but are not headings. Each section of a paper begins on a new page. Start each new section with a label at the top of a new page. Common sections include: 

  • The Title of Your Paper
  • Abstract
  • References
  • Appendix A (and so on for subsequent appendices)

 

See Additional Resources for more.