APA Headings and Subheadings | With Sample Paper

This article reflects the APA 7th edition guidelines. Click here for APA 6th edition guidelines.

Headings and subheadings provide structure to a document. They signal what each section
is about and allow for easy navigation of the document.

APA headings have five possible levels. Each heading level is formatted differently.

APA headings (7th edition)

Note: Title case simply means that you should capitalize the first word, words with four or more letters, and all “major words” (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns).

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

upload-your-document-ai-proofreader

Additional guidelines for APA headings

As well as the heading styles, there are some other guidelines to keep in mind:

  • Double-space all text, including the headings.
  • Use the same font for headings and body text (e.g., Times New Roman 12pt.).
  • Don’t label headings with numbers or letters.
  • Don’t add extra “enters” above or below headings.
Note: In longer documents, such as dissertations, you might be required to number your headings. Instructions from your supervisor or university always overrule the APA guidelines.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Try for free

How many heading levels should you use?

Depending on the length and complexity of your paper, you may not use all five heading levels. In fact, shorter student papers may have no headings at all.

It’s also perfectly fine for some sections in your paper to go as deep as five levels, where others use only heading level 1.

When to use which APA heading level

Heading level 1 is used for main sections like “Methods”, “Results”, and “Discussion”. There is no “Introduction” heading at the beginning of your paper because the first paragraphs are understood to be introductory.

Heading level 2 is used for subsections under level 1. For example, under “Methods” (level 1) you may have subsections for “Sampling Method” and “Data Analysis” (level 2). This continues all the way down to heading level 5.

Always use at least two subheadings or none at all. If there is just one subheading, the top-level heading is sufficient.

Section labels vs headings

In addition to regular headings, APA works with “section labels” for specific parts of the paper. They’re similar to headings but are formatted differently. Section labels are placed on a separate line at the top of a new page in bold and centered.

Use section labels for the following sections in an APA formatted paper:

Are your APA in-text citations flawless?

The AI-powered APA Citation Checker points out every error, tells you exactly what’s wrong, and explains how to fix it. Say goodbye to losing marks on your assignment!

Get started!

Sample paper with APA headings

APA heading example (7th edition)

Using heading styles in Word or Google Docs

Instead of formatting every heading individually, you can use the “Styles” feature in Word or Google Docs. This allows you to save the styling and apply it with just a click.

The first time you use APA Style, you need to update the default heading styles to reflect the APA heading guidelines. Click here for the instructions for Microsoft Word and Google Docs.

An added benefit of using the “Styles” feature is that you can automatically generate a table of contents.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Streefkerk, R. (2022, October 24). APA Headings and Subheadings | With Sample Paper. Scribbr. Retrieved March 18, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/apa-headings/

Is this article helpful?
Raimo Streefkerk

Raimo has been writing articles for Scribbr since 2017. His areas of expertise are plagiarism and citation. Besides writing articles, Raimo works tirelessly on improving Scribbr's Citation Generator and Plagiarism Checker tools.