Apa Subheadings Example
There are five levels of heading in APA Style. Level 1 is the highest or main level of heading, Level 2 is a subheading of Level 1, Level 3 is a subheading of Level 2, and so on through Levels 4 and 5. The number of headings to use in a paper depends on the length and complexity of the work. If only one level of heading is needed, use Level 1.
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 Heading Levels. Generally, there are 5 levels of headings in APA style. Each level indicates a hierarchy of ideas within a paper. For example, the superior level is Level 1 APA header, which is reserved for major sections such as research methodology or research paper conclusion.Level 5 is the lowest and is usually applied to the minor subsections.
APA level 3 heading. Level 3 APA subheadings are used to further categorize characteristics included under the level 2 subheading. For instance, the level 2 subheading quotTest Samplequot may further be divided into sample groups such as quotPreteensquot, quotAdolescentsquot, and quotAdultsquot. Here are the formatting guidelines for an APA level 3 heading
Subheadings. Subheadings are formatted flush left, boldface, uppercase and lowercase lettering. This sample will give you an example of heading levels used in the body of the paper. The APA Style Blog offers a short sample paper describing level headings and how to properly use headings within a paper.
The format of APA headings and subheadings can be confusing at first. But remember, APA capitalization rules for the 7th APA edition mean using title case for all heading levels no more uppercase and lowercase headings. And you can distinguish the third, fourth, and fifth-level headings through italicization, period, and indentation.
For example, a level 5 heading was centered and all uppercase. This was often seen as confusing, because the level 1 heading was centered with uppercase and lowercase letters. Essentially, the level 5 heading stood out more than the level 1 heading. In APA 6th edition, the APA aimed to improve the flow of heading styles from top to bottom.
The use of headings and subheadings give the readers a general idea of what to expect from the paper and leads the flow of discussion. These elements divide and define each section of the paper. APA recommends five-level heading structure based on the level of subordination.
In APA Style, the Introduction section never gets a heading and headings are not indicated by letters or numbers. For subsections in the beginning of a paper introduction section, the first level of subsection will use Level 2 headings the title of the paper counts as the Level 1 heading.
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