Division of headings and text
Heading levels
Isolated headings
Length of headings
Informative wording
Parallel structure and content
What are the heading hierarchies?
Isolated headings
Length of headings
How does using parallel structure and content help with writing headings?
Read this description of a well-structured set of headings:
This description applies to:
Correct! When you see headings set out like this, it becomes obvious that you need to create a plan for your headings before you start. Heading set 1 follows the rules and is logical, whereas Heading set 2 breaks the rules and would send the reader on a ‘chase’ to work out what the writer means. So, take a couple of minutes to work out a consistent plan for using headings and apply it to all of your essays.
In general, you are expected to use headings correctly so that your writing is clear, and it is obvious that you have answered the set question. There are rules to help you to do this.
Click on the links to see more details and examples.
BEFORE YOU START YOUR ESSAY, HAVE A CLEAR AND LOGICAL HEADING HIERARCHY.
Work out a system of headings that you can use with all of your essays. Headings should be graded at levels to show a clear order of importance (e.g. level 1 – most important; level 2 – next important and so on). You will mainly use one to three levels of headings in your essay, depending on the length of your assignment. For example, most 2000 word essays may only require 3-5 level 1 headings (i.e. a level 1 heading every 2-3 pages). Remember that the aim of using headings is to keep your reader on track. Too many headings and too many levels creates confusion.
When you design a heading system, show the relative importance of headings with the type size, position (e.g. centred or left justified), using boldface, underlining or capital letters. You can follow a recommended pattern or make up your own system—so long as it is clear and consistent. Example: Level 1: CAPITALS , bold, 14pt, centred, space below Level 2: Lowercase , bold, 12pt, left justified, space below Level 3: Lowercase , italics, 12pt, left justified, no space below
USE HEADINGS FOR SECTIONS IN YOUR DOCUMENT (NOT FOR EACH PARAGRAPH).
The key to working out your essay sections is to work from your question analysis. Consider the following question:
Many lecturers now approve of the use of headings in academic essays. Consider whether the benefits outweigh the problems for the writers and markers. Identify and discuss the key rules for using headings appropriately in academic essays. (2000 words)
Example of a heading plan for this question:
Level 1 headings INTRODUCTION BENEFITS OF USING HEADINGS PROBLEMS WITH USING HEADINGS RULES TO GUIDE HEADING USAGE CONCLUSION
Level 2 headings (example from one section) The heading RULES TO GUIDE HEADING USAGE could have the following level 2 headings:
Heading hierarchies (3 paragraphs)
Effective wording of headings (2 paragraphs)
Effective wording of headings
WHEN YOU DESIGN YOUR HEADINGS SYSTEM, MAKE SURE THAT THE WORDING IS CONSISTENT.
Use three basic principles to word your headings:
For example:
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU KNOW AND APPLY PUNCTUATION RULES TO YOUR HEADINGS.
Headings can be single words or short phrases and DO NOT require a full stop unless you have used a question as a heading—a question mark is then required. The use of capital letters may follow either of the following approaches provided that you are consistent:
INTRODUCE THE TOPIC OF YOUR HEADING IN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH FOLLOWING YOUR HEADING.
When you place a heading in the text, it is a signpost for a section of writing. You need to begin the following paragraph with a sentence that introduces the reader to the heading topic and then announce what will be coming in that section in the essay—just as you do in the essay introduction. A heading is not part of the text of your paragraph, so you should not refer to it with a pronoun reference (e.g. this, these, that).
This means that the wording of the heading matches the information of the following section. Do not make the heading part of the first sentence.
Incorrect | Correct |
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There is much to learn from what is NOT wanted. Following are some of the common mistakes made in the use of headings in formal written work:
Click on the links to see more details.
Designing a good headings system is also very helpful for setting up a plan for writing as you can quickly see whether you have included and balanced all of the parts of a question. Make sure your headings match the information you signal in the outline statement of your introduction paragraph.
Organise your essays to demonstrate your knowledge, show your research and support your arguments
Essays are usually written in continuous, flowing, paragraphed text and don’t use section headings. This may seem unstructured at first, but good essays are carefully structured.
How your assignment content is structured is your choice. Use the basic pattern below to get started.
An essay consists of three basic parts:, introduction.
The essay itself usually has no section headings. Only the title page, author declaration and reference list are written as headings, along with, for example, appendices. Check any task instructions, and your course or unit handbook, for further details.
Content in assignment introductions can vary widely. In some disciplines you may need to provide a full background and context, whereas other essays may need only a little context, and others may need none.
An introduction to an essay usually has three primary purposes:
A standard introduction includes the following five elements:
You should aim to restrict your introduction to information needed for the topic and only include background and contextual information which helps the reader understand it, or sets the scene for your chosen focal points.
In most essays you will have a considerable range of options for your focus. You will be expected to demonstrate your ability to select the most relevant content to address your focal points.
There are some exceptions. For example, if an assignment brief specifically directs the essay focus or requires you to write broadly about a topic. These are relatively rare or are discipline-specific so you should check your task instructions and discipline and subject area conventions.
Below are examples of an opening statement, a summary of the selected content, and a statement at the end of the introduction which tells the reader what the essay will focus on and how it will be addressed. We've use a fictional essay.
The title of our essay is: 'Cats are better than dogs. Discuss.'
To submit this essay you also would need to add citations as appropriate.
People have shared their lives with cats and dogs for millenia. Which is better depends partly on each animal’s characteristics and partly on the owner’s preferences.
Here is a summary of five specific topics selected for the essay, which would be covered in a little more detail in the introduction:
This essay will examine both cats’ and dogs’ behaviour and abilities, the benefits of keeping them as pets, and whether people’s perceptions of their nature matches current knowledge and understanding.
The body of the essay should be organised into paragraphs. Each paragraph should deal with a different aspect of the issue, but they should also link in some way to those that precede and follow it. This is not an easy thing to get right, even for experienced writers, partly because there are many ways to successfully structure and use paragraphs. There is no perfect paragraph template.
The first sentence, or sometimes two, tells the reader what the paragraph is going to cover. It may either:
It should be clear if the point has come to an end, or if it continues in the next paragraph.
Here is a brief example of flow between two summarised paragraphs which cover the historical perspective:
It is known from hieroglyphs that the Ancient Egyptians believed that cats were sacred. They were also held in high regard, as suggested by their being found mummified and entombed with their owners (Smith, 1969). In addition, cats are portrayed aiding hunters. Therefore, they were both treated as sacred, and were used as intelligent working companions. However, today they are almost entirely owned as pets.
In contrast, dogs have not been regarded as sacred, but they have for centuries been widely used for hunting in Europe. This developed over time and eventually they became domesticated and accepted as pets. Today, they are seen as loyal, loving and protective members of the family, and are widely used as working dogs.
There is never any new information in a conclusion.
The conclusion usually does three things:
The conclusion should usually occupy just one paragraph. It draws together all the key elements of your essay, so you do not need to repeat the fine detail unless you are highlighting something.
A conclusion to our essay about cats and dogs is given below:
Both cats and dogs have been highly-valued for millenia, are affectionate and beneficial to their owners’ wellbeing. However, they are very different animals and each is 'better' than the other regarding care needs and natural traits. Dogs need regular training and exercise but many owners do not train or exercise them enough, resulting in bad behaviour. They also need to be 'boarded' if the owner is away and to have frequent baths to prevent bad odours. In contrast, cats do not need this level of effort and care. Dogs are seen as more intelligent, loyal and attuned to human beings, whereas cats are perceived as aloof and solitary, and as only seeking affection when they want to be fed. However, recent studies have shown that cats are affectionate and loyal and more intelligent than dogs, but it is less obvious and useful. There are, for example, no 'police' or 'assistance' cats, in part because they do not have the kinds of natural instincts which make dogs easy to train. Therefore, which animal is better depends upon personal preference and whether they are required to work. Therefore, although dogs are better as working animals, cats are easier, better pets.
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Subheadings in an essay
Subheadings happen to be among the essential sections of an essay. The subheading helps to capture the reader’s attention. Furthermore, the subheading makes the essay to stay more attractive and interesting.
The subheading restores the reader’s focus on the critical components of the essay as it makes the essay appear more structured. The subheading will be giving a clue of what to expect in the content.
An essay can have subheadings or subtopics if it is long enough to accommodate many parts with subtopics in each part.
However, the subtopics and subtitles must be consistent with the overall topic by contributing to prove the thesis of the essay. If necessary, the best practice is to limit essay subheadings to 10 words.
While they are not recommended for standard essays, subheadings can help improve the structure of a long essay. They frame the topic of your content.
Different subheadings exist, which you will include in your essay as a way of indicating their relative importance. Ensure that such subheadings are easy to see at the initial look. Furthermore, they offer minor details, which are great at supporting the key idea in the essay.
No, but you can only use them when instructed by the teacher. If you are not using them, ensure that your content makes sense and lacks grammatical mistakes. Also, ensure that your paragraphs are short and precise to the point to catch the attention of the reader.
Tips on how to incorporate subheadings in an essay.
The subheading is a text under the heading that expands on what is on the heading. The same subheading should have the power to hook the audience into reading your piece. They assist the author in saying something which one cannot say in a single headline.
Authors use the subheadings to make divisions of various chapters.
Notably, the subheading should not be in capital letters.
However, you should capitalize the first letter of the subheading.
The subheading should perform a subordinate to the higher levels. You can make an irresistible subheading by performing the following actions.
The correct subheading should take the reader a few seconds to read through. The correct standard should have between 4 to 10 words. The proper practice should ensure that you do not go beyond the length of the headline.
You should stick to the most critical information that the reader requires to know. You should avoid explaining everything. You should just provide enough details and leave the curiosity to cause them to continue exploring your essay.
One should include the correct amount of persuasion. The best practice is to use the subheadings for the intended purpose. In other words, it should coerce the reader to convert.
The free-standing subheading should end the page; there should be an allowance for the heading space preceding it.
Alternatively, you should move the subheading to the top of the preceding page. That is the incidence where we allow a gap in the text if it is not the end of the chapter.
One can opt to number the subheading using a standard numbering system. You can use Arabic numerals and keep the sequence and the flow of your article logical.
First, it is correct to begin with the most vital points and make the less relevant ones at the bottom.
Ensure that every subheading level appears in the same form. For example, let the subheadings be in the same order without skipping one. In this case, the first subheading will follow the same order if preceding to toe and three and not vice versa.
The author should determine the number of subheadings to place in an article. Establish that they all follow the pattern of the sub-heading.
More on this, read our guide to writing good essays so that you can learn more about the same and become a better essay writer.
Check out the guide on whether an essay can have bullet points to look at another angle of writing essays.
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How do you use headings and subheadings in an essay.
The headline is an integral part of an essay because it is the first thing the reader sees before reading the piece. The headline should grab the reader’s attention to encourage them to continue reading the content.
Besides, we amplify the information in the title by backing them with the subheadings. These subheadings will make the title more relevant by giving minute details about the topic. It is a standard way of organizing your content for the reader to understand your points clearly.
You should avoid using abbreviations such as won’t, don’t, or can’t. Furthermore, the use of idiom is a no-go -zone. Last but not least, avoid rhetorical questions.
Josh Jasen or JJ as we fondly call him, is a senior academic editor at Grade Bees in charge of the writing department. When not managing complex essays and academic writing tasks, Josh is busy advising students on how to pass assignments. In his spare time, he loves playing football or walking with his dog around the park.
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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. Note: Title case simply means that you should capitalize the first word, words with four or more letters, and all ...
You can include headings and subheadings/subtopics in an essay if it is long, but ensure that the subtopics or subheadings are relevant to the content and consistent throughout the text in a manner to contribute to your thesis statement. As a good practice, ensure that the essay headings and subheadings do not exceed 12 words.
Headings should be styled in descending order of prominence. After the first level, the other headings are subheadings—that is, they are subordinate. Font styling and size are used to signal prominence. In general, a boldface, larger font indicates prominence; a smaller font, italics, and lack of bold can be used to signal subordination.
If you have a paper with just three main points and the first point has three subpoints, you can use subheadings to organize the subpoints under the main point. When used in an essay, research paper, or other longer papers, the headings and subheadings should be formatted such that they are distinguishable from the contents of your text.
Incorporating headings and subheadings into your longer pieces of writing; Enhances the readability of your work by organizing the content in your essay and guiding your reader. Delineates subsections of a topic and provides an avenue to expanding on more complex ideas within a main idea. Demonstrates your understanding of a particular citation ...
Proper formatting of headings and subheadings is crucial in APA 7.0 style to ensure consistency, clarity, and readability in academic writing. This section will delve into the specific formatting guidelines provided by APA 7.0 for headings and subheadings, including the use of different levels, capitalization rules, and placement within the paper.
Set the headers in the correct header size. Click the "Normal Text" dropdown and choose Header 1 for Level 1 APA headings, Header 2 for Level 2, and so on. Go to Insert>Table of Contents. Note: Keep in mind that APA 7th style guide dictates that the headings and text should have the same font size and typeface.
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.
Using Headings and Subheadings in Social Science Writing. For longer papers (>10 pages), it may be helpful to break the text into sections in order to avoid unnecessarily strained transition sentences. Headings can help by keep the reader informed about where they are in the paper: i.e., headings and subheadings are like directions or signposts ...
At the outset, make a plan for how you will deal with matters of capitalization, formatting and sequencing of headings. Headings at the same level should be formatted the same. For instance, "Section 2.2" should get the same treatment as "Section 4.1". They should also have parallel structure.
Strategy #2: Use subheadings, even if you remove then later Scientific papers generally include standard subheadings to delineate different sections of the paper, including "introduction," "methods," and "discussion." Even when you are not required to use subheadings, it can be helpful to put them into an early draft to
Formatting APA Headings and Subheadings. In American Psychological Association style, APA headings and subheadings are used to give readers a general idea of the content and what to expect from a paper, and it leads the flow of discussion by dividing up a paper and defining each section of the content. APA style is different than Modern ...
If you only need one section header (e.g. Methods) and one level of subsection headers (e.g., Participants, Experimental Design, and Statistical Analysis), use Level 1 and Level 2 headers. If you need three levels of headings, use Levels 1, 2, and 3 (and so on). Do not skip levels or combine them in a different way.
An essay subheading can act in both ways of the descriptions mentioned above, depending on how the sub-heading is used in your paper. Proper use of essay subheadings is a process that builds bridges and can make your essay flow from start to end. Essay writing is easy when a well-written essay subheading is used.
Headings are used to help guide the reader through a document. The levels are organized by levels of subordination, and each section of the paper should start with the highest level of heading. There are 5 heading levels in APA. Regardless of the number of levels, always use the headings in order, beginning with level 1.
Sections and Subheads Create a subhead for each section and use the same font size and style every time you use that level of subhead. First-level heads should be more eye-catching (such as bold) than second-level heads (such as italic). Two subhead levels may appear together (with a blank line between). An alternative to subheads: Between
Title of Paper. Begin your paper with the paper title at the top of the first page of text. The paper title acts as a de facto Level 1 heading: It is centered and in bold title case font. Do not use the heading "Introduction"; text at the beginning of the paper is assumed to be the introduction. APA Style headings have five possible levels.
Using headings. Headings are standard for some written forms (e.g. report writing, case studies). However, lecturers can be divided about whether they allow/prefer you to use headings in your academic essays. Some lecturers prefer headings while others don't want you to use headings. You will need to check your lecturer's preference.
Do not use numbers or letters as labels in headings ; Do not use Introduction as your first heading; The title of the paper is not considered a heading. Place the title at the top of the first page; Use regular font in title case (all words except words like and, to, a, the are capitalised. These words are capitalised if first word in title).
3. Include keywords and phrases. Once you have a general idea of what subheadings apply to your writing, you can examine where to include keywords. For example, if you were writing an article about baking a cake, it might include keywords like "cake" or "baking." Besides including keywords, you can also incorporate key phrases like "baking a ...
An essay consists of three basic parts: Introduction. Body. Conclusion. The essay itself usually has no section headings. Only the title page, author declaration and reference list are written as headings, along with, for example, appendices. Check any task instructions, and your course or unit handbook, for further details.
If you would like to utilize subheadings (subtitles) in your research paper, it is a good idea to first check with your instructor to be 100% sure what subheading format he/she would like you to use. Depending on how long your paper is, you will need either one level subheadings or several levels subheadings. One Level Subheadings:
An essay can have subheadings or subtopics if it is long enough to accommodate many parts with subtopics in each part. However, the subtopics and subtitles must be consistent with the overall topic by contributing to prove the thesis of the essay. If necessary, the best practice is to limit essay subheadings to 10 words.
If you're stuck, try making a list of all the key points, details, and evidence you want to mention. See if you can fit them into general and specific categories, which you can turn into headings and subheadings respectively. 5 Write a rough draft. Actually writing the rough draft, or first draft, is usually the most time-consuming step. Here ...
More than 100 reference examples and their corresponding in-text citations are presented in the seventh edition Publication Manual.Examples of the most common works that writers cite are provided on this page; additional examples are available in the Publication Manual.. To find the reference example you need, first select a category (e.g., periodicals) and then choose the appropriate type of ...