1
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. Each main section starts with the highest
level of heading, even if one section has fewer levels of subheading than another section. For
example, in a paper with Level 1 Method, Results, and Discussion headings, the Method and
Results sections may each have two levels of subheading (Levels 2 and 3), and the Discussion
section may have only one level of subheading (Level 2).
Level 2 Heading in the Introduction
Use Level 2 headings for any headings within the introduction, Level 3 for subsections of
any Level 2 headings, and so on.
Level 2 Heading in the Introduction
Avoid having only one subsection heading within a section, just like in an outline. Use
at least two subsection headings within a section or use no subsection headings at all (e.g., in an
outline, a section numbered with a Roman numeral would be divided into either a minimum of A
and B subsections or no subsections; an A subsection would not stand alone).
Level 1 Heading for First Main Section After the Introduction
After the introduction (regardless of whether it includes headings), use a Level 1 heading
for the next main section of the paper (e.g., Method).
Level 2 Heading
Use Level 2 headings for subsections of Level 1 headings. Do not label headings with
numbers or letters.
Level 2 Heading
All topics of equal importance should have the same level of heading. For example, in
a multiexperiment paper, the headings for the Method and Results sections for Experiment 1
should be the same level as the headings for the Method and Results sections for Experiment
2, with parallel wording. In a single-experiment paper, the Method, Results, and Discussion
