Headings clarify the logic and organization of ideas in a paper. They convey a hierarchy of the paper’s sections, showing the reader their relative significance and how they logically relate to each other.
Headings can help both writers and readers understand the structure of a paper. Writers can use headings like an outline, helping them organize their topics into distinct sections and stay on track as they write. Readers can use headings to get a quick overview of a paper and more effectively find information they need within it. For these reasons, headings should accurately reflect the paper’s content and progress logically from beginning to end.
This example shows how an outline for a paper on diabetes would be reflected in the headings used for that paper. Note that, in an actual paper, each heading would be followed by at least one paragraph of body text.
Topic: Understanding Diabetes
Understanding Diabetes
Causes of Diabetes
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 2 Diabetes
Gestational Diabetes
Effects of Diabetes
Kidney Disease
Blindness
Amputation
Successful Health Interventions
Medication
Exercise and Nutrition
Conclusion
In APA 7, all heading levels use title case. In title case, the first letters of words with four or more letters are capitalized, while all other letters are left lowercase.
Title [Centered, Bold, Title Case—also used for References heading]
Introductory paragraph(s) go here. The first line of each paragraph is indented a half inch from the left margin. Do not justify the right margin. Also remember to double-space your lines throughout the document. There is no need to include an Introduction heading above these introductory paragraphs (see APA 7, Section 2.27).
Level 1 [Centered, Bold, Title Case]
First paragraph begins on next line, indented.
Level 2 [Left-Aligned, Bold, Title Case]
Level 3 [Left-Aligned, Bold Italic, Title Case]
Level 4 [Indented .5 inches, Bold, Title Case, Period]. The first sentence of the paragraph in this section begins on the same line.
Level 5 [Indented .5 inches, Bold Italic, Title Case, Period]. The first sentence of the paragraph in this section begins on the same line.
Headings help clarify the logic and structure of ideas in a paper for both writers and readers.
Each heading level in APA 7 has specific formatting requirements, including alignment, bolding, italicizing, and indentation.
OASIS