the heading of an essay

Should you Include Headings and Subheadings in an Essay?

If you have ever tried reading a large blob of text, then you know how hard it can be. However, it becomes easier to read when broken into headings and subheadings.

Academic writings like essays have a standard of writing that must be upheld. While not every essay requires headings and subheadings, they are important for organizing your writing.

Headings describe the succeeding section, while subheading gives supporting information for the heading.

With that said, here is everything you need to know about headings

What are Headings in Essays and Academic Papers?

According to Merriam-Webster, a heading forms or serves as a head.

In academic writing, headings represent what is to come in the assignment. Adding a heading will help structure a piece of writing and guide the reader throughout the content. Short pieces of writing don't always require headings. In long-form writing, each specific section should have its heading to communicate what the reader should expect clearly. Think of it as the title of that section.

Since some points are more important than others, the heading chosen should be based on whether the idea you are talking about is the main point. Each heading chosen should tell the reader what the following idea is about. This is because the main points are the building blocks of the content. Make sure it is short, descriptive, and precise.

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.

Subheadings are not recommended for short essays . However, they improve the overall structure of a long essay, help you frame and explore your topic, and enable the readers to know what to expect (they act as signposts in an essay or research paper).

Heading vs. Title

Headings and titles may look similar at a first glance, but they are not. A title represents the entire paper and explains it in clear and short phrases. It is the first thing the reader will see and determine whether they read the rest of the document. For this reason, you need to think of striking, informative, and appropriate titles. You should also write the title based on why you are writing that document. For instance, if the aim of the documents is tutorial, then the title should be task-based.

On the other hand, a heading represents what each section of the paper discusses. They help guide the reader throughout the documents, which is why you should write effective headings, and they should be as descriptive as possible.

Headings are a requirement in most forms of writing, but some lecturers may be divided about using them in academic essays, which is why you should confirm with them first. 

Headings Vs. Subheadings

Headings are key parts of writing as they will capture the reader's attention and lure them into the document's purpose. They guide the reader to the main points of the paper. You have to set the headings apart from the body of the text by coming up with an enticing phrase.

Subheadings, on the other hand, do more than grab the reader's attention; they show the different subsections of the text. They keep the reader engaged by quickly guiding them to the information they want.

Headings and subheadings appear at the beginning of a section and organize the flow of the documents. In addition, they are both used to break down large blocks of text to make them more scannable. They also have a hierarchy that is Heading (H2) first, followed by subheadings (H3) and (H4) in that order. Subheadings should always come after the heading, as demonstrated.

The Best Length for Headings in Academic Writing

A heading can be as long as you want it to give the reader a snippet of the idea. A good rule of thumb should be no more than 70 characters.

For higher level headings, like H1, H2, and H3s, they could be as low as one word, for instance, the introduction, methodology, and such. For such sections, the one word is clear enough for the reader to know what it represents. Low levels like H5 and below can be much longer and direct the reader to exactly what they are looking for.

Levels of Heading in Academic Writing

Headings are an important part of academic writing as they act as a preview of the document. They guide the reader on what you are talking about, which is why you should assign different heading levels.

There are five levels of headings in APA style. Level 1, Level 2, level 3, level 4, levels 5. Level 1 is the main heading, followed by level 2, its subheading, and level 3 is the subsection of level 2 in that order.

Level 1 headings are your main headings and are usually typed in the center of the paper in title case and bolded. Their text beneath will always start in the next line, indented inward, just as you begin a new paragraph. These help the reader find their way through the document, read what they want and skip what they are not interested in.

The length and complexity of the paper will determine how many levels you will use. If it's just a short piece of writing, you can use Level 1. If you need two headings, use level 1 and level 2. If it's a 2000-word article, research paper, term paper, or essay, you will need between 3 and 5 headings.

Keep in mind that not every paragraph needs a heading. While headings can keep your work neat, too many can defeat the purpose. Also, make sure that each of the headings and subheadings has a connection to the main title.

All these levels are differentiated by different styles and formats depending on the publication manual provided, which can be either APA or MLA format.

Reasons to Use Headings in Academic Writing

Headings are helpful in academic writing for a myriad of reasons, including:

Making Your Content More Readable

Much information goes into academic writing to pass information to the reader. Putting all your information in a large block of text will be overwhelming and can scare away the readers. The white gaps at each heading section will offer a resting place hence a visual break. Therefore, separating the large chunks of text into manageable portions will keep your readers engaged.

Outlining Your Content

Headings serve as the structure of your writing. By dividing the large bulk of text with headings, you guide the reader through each section and what it is about. Otherwise, they won't know what it is about.

Capturing the Reader's Attention

The main aim of any heading is to hook the reader and create curiosity enough for them to continue reading through the rest of the article. Having a catchy and informative heading will entice them to read even further.

Remember that readers rarely read documents from start to finish. Major headings should stand out but so should headings and subheadings if you want the readers to continue reading your paper.

Finding Important Information

Readers will likely scan the essay to get a general idea of what it is about and decide if they want to read it. Well-structured headings will help them achieve that.

Improving Overall Quality

Headings and subheadings improve the quality of the essay. A high-quality essay is suitable for readers and also for search engine optimization (SEO) if you intend to publish it online. Ensure to use keywords in the headings and structure them to improve visibility.

Tips to Include Better Headings and Subheadings

Writing informative and precise headings and subheadings is vital if you want your writing to get the message home. You need to borrow the following tips to show that they should spend time reading your writing.

Use the Right Length

The length of your article or essay will determine how long your headings and subheadings should be. Put yourself in the reader's shoes and think of the heading you would like to read. Lengthy headings aren't attractive. Most readers want something short and precise, which is what you should do. It should only take them a few seconds to read, so be sure the length should be not more than 30 words.

Make It Relevant to the Content and Topic

Headings and subheadings are essential to catch the reader's attention but are not important enough to stand independently. They represent the critical concepts and all the supporting ideas. Therefore, you need to consider the topic's relevance when determining what phrases to use in your subheading. Carefully think about each key piece of information you'd like to include in each of your sections. Then ensure that each subheading is connected to the main title or the heading.

Be Clear and Concise

Headings and subheadings tell the reader what the content is about. They are usually about five words long. Therefore, you should go directly to the point using clear language that is easy to understand. Most readers skim through the text before reading which is why you should use simple and straightforward words. Always remember that readers have questions and are looking for answers and shouldn't have to ponder what you are talking about. If your heading is clear and to the point, they won't leave to look for answers elsewhere.

Place It in the Right Place

Consider where your target audience is likely to look and where they are likely to appear. While doing this, also consider the kind of phrases they are likely to type for the specific information they want. This gives you a general idea of where to place headings and subheadings. Remember that the APA and MLA format requires that all headings be placed hierarchically. So as you choose your phrases, ensure that they align with the content's topic and flow.

Consider the Formatting Style

Heading styles format your headings to make them stand out from the rest of the text. They also give your essay structure and make it more accessible to the target audience. In addition to this, headings also help in:

• Generating a table of contents
• Use style sets to reformat the document
• Rearranging the documents
• Creating a structured pdf file using the heading tag

Remember that each heading is formatted with a different heading style located in the style section. Since you've already used H1 for the major heading, the first subheading will be H2, and the second subheading will be H3.

Related Reading: How to indent an essay well.

Number the Heading or Subheading if Needed

Putting numbers on your heading makes it easy to scan. Top-level headings like H1 are numbered 1,2,3,4 while second-level headings, like H2, are numbered 1.1, 1.2, 1.3

Remember that even though you are numbering the headings, you need to introduce your topic in the first paragraph after the headings. Headings don't speak for themselves, so writing a few sentences restating the main idea will tell the reader what will come.

Be Consistent Throughout the Paper

If you intend to use headings in your paper, ensure each section has a heading and subheading. Also, ensure they are consistent in font, size, color, indentation, etc. The style function in Microsoft Word will help create consistency in your headings. You must select the text you want to convert into a heading, then select the appropriate heading from the Style box.

Avoid Repetition

Avoid repeating any phrases in your headings. Using the same heading more than once can affect the reader's comprehension of your message, negatively impacting their reaction to your essay. Sometimes you may repeat the headings without even noticing. For this reason, you should use the Find Function in MS Word or Google Docs.

Another way you can check for repetition is by reading your essay out loud, and this will help you spot any headings or subheadings that have been repeated.

Capitalize, Format, and Punctuate Well

Effective headings are well capitalized, formatted, and punctuated. The APA style uses two styles for this, title case and sentence case. In the title case, major words are capitalized, while minor ones are lowercase. Sentence cases, on the other hand, only capitalize the proper nouns while the rest remain in lowercase.

Use Automatic Heading in Word Processor

Microsoft Word has a built-in feature that anticipates how you want to format your document. As you begin typing, your text starts in the typical style, but when you press enter and move to a new line, the style changes to H1 with different fonts, colors, etc.

If you are typing a paragraph with a small number of words and press enter and then fail to provide proper punctuation, the feature will assume you are moving to a new paragraph, and it will then automatically enter a new heading with a heading style.

Use Descriptive Headings

Use concrete and descriptive language to make your headings more effective so the reader can know what to expect in each section. Don't use function headings when writing your technical reports; these are not so predictable, and readers benefit from the headings being much more descriptive.

Function headings are only used when writing pieces that need consistent structures, for instance, lab reports. An example is:

• Introduction
• Methodology
• Conclusions

Include Technical Terms Needed

Technical terms should not be used in headings because they may be hard to understand except those who know the languages. Technical terms are primarily used in academic documents that professionals read but if not specified, avoid them.

Related Read: How to write an article title in academic papers.

Final Words

Headings and subheadings are vital features in academic writing that represent the main points of a topic. The difference in formatting helps reader's the main points from the rest of the texts. Ensure you follow all the tips about including headings and subheadings in your text. Talk to your lecturer, professor, teacher, or instructor if you are unsure whether to add them to your essay.

What are Headings in an Essay?

Headings are markers that guide the reader through an essay by showing them what the next section is about. Like a title, they are only a few words long and are essential in structuring your content so as not to overwhelm the reader.

Should I Put Headings in an Essay?

Yes. It will help if you put headings in your essays to make them more readable. Essays consist of three parts: introduction, body, and conclusion. Most of them are written in a continuous, paragraphed text without the need for section headings, especially if it's a short essay. On the other hand, long-form essays need headings and subheadings to make them easy to write and read. Since most lecturers are divided about using them in academic essays, you should confirm with your tutor before you start writing.

How Do I Include Subheadings in an Essay?

Subheadings are mini headlines that come after the headings, and they help explain more about the headings and aid readers in skimming through the content. If you have used the first heading, H1, and need to provide more information about it, add a subheading, H2.

If you have trouble deciding how to use subheadings correctly, think of them as an outline. Therefore, break down your topic into simple ideas, then use them to organize your essay.

How Do You Make a Heading in an Essay or Academic Paper?

You must think carefully about the aim of writing a paper and the main idea. Each heading should be clear and to the point. You don't want to mince words and possibly confuse the reader. Also, remember that headings are meant to enhance, not replace, the main topic. Ensure you set it apart from the body of the text by using H1 formatting in either Microsoft Word or Google Docs.

Borrow some of the following best practices to write an effective heading:

• Create a controversy
• Ensure it short
• Pose a question
• Suggest a number
• Provide an explanation

How Do You Use Headings and Subheadings?

Headings (section headings) are the title of your essay. They appear at the beginning of the page and guide the reader through your content. It is the first one your readers see before reading your essay or text. It doesn't matter whether the reader reads every word in your essay; they can still get the basic idea of your paper. Using different heading levels will help the reader navigate through the document. The headings and subheadings should be captivating enough to make an excellent first impression.

When writing a subheading, keep in mind that the H2s are the headers of each header for the main section of the essay. H3s are the subsections of the main points in H2s. H4s, on the other hand, are detailed subheadings breaking down the text into more specific options. The subheadings amplify the title or heading of the essay, and they also complement the headings. They make your writing flow and should be relevant to the topic. With such an organization, you have achieved a first-class essay level. A good subheading captures the essence of the title and consistently informs the reader that they are still on an idea related to the topic. It is also short, descriptive, clear, and concise.

Should Essays Have Section Headings?

Yes. Just like books are divided into chapters, essays and articles should be divided into sections. Essays should have section headings because they help make your work more organized and easy to read. And within those sections, the text can be divided into subsections.

Are There Specific Words to Use in Headings and Subheadings in Essays?

You will probably be tempted to use more words to make your heading more concise, but this isn't a good idea. Make sure you carefully choose words that clearly describe your chosen topic. If possible, use numbers in your headings because they are like brain candy, making your work more interesting. Also, ensure you use odd numbers because they are more attractive to readers than even numbers, according to the Content Marketing institute . Avoid abbreviations, idioms, or colloquial expressions when writing headings and subheadings.

How Many Headings to Use in an Essay or Academic Assignment?

To be safe, only use a maximum of three headings. However, this will depend on the length of your academic assignments. Remember that headings are short phrases that introduce the topic you are writing about and make it easy for the readers to read through. So if you are writing a short essay of fewer than 1000 words, there is no need for headings. But for articles above 1000 words then, you must use them. Headings will help identify the different sections in an essay.

What Are Heading Levels?

Headings organize your essay in a hierarchical order. Since some points are more critical, assigning different levels will help distinguish them.

Gradecrest is a professional writing service that provides original model papers. We offer personalized services along with research materials for assistance purposes only. All the materials from our website should be used with proper references. See our Terms of Use Page for proper details.

• Features for Creative Writers
• Features for Work
• Features for Higher Education
• Features for Teachers
• Features for Non-Native Speakers
• Learn Blog Grammar Guide Community Events FAQ
• Grammar Guide

MLA Format: The Ultimate Guide to Correctly Formatting Your Paper

Hannah Yang

So you need to create an MLA heading? You’re not alone—MLA format is one of the most common styles you’ll be expected to use when you’re writing a humanities paper, whether you’re a high-school student or a PhD candidate.

Read on to learn what a correct MLA heading looks like and how to create one that works like magic.

What Is an MLA Heading?

How do you format an mla heading, what is an mla header, how do you format an mla header, headings are only the beginning, commonly asked questions about mla headers, final thoughts.

The term “MLA heading” refers to five lines of important information that appear at the top of the first page.

Here are two examples of what an MLA heading could look like:

Hermione Granger

Professor McGonagall

Transfiguration—6th period

18 October 1991

“How to Turn A Matchstick into a Needle”

Harry J. Potter

Prof. Remus Lupin

Defense Against the Dark Arts

4 March 1994

“Why I Think My Professor Is a Werewolf”

Why are these headings important? Well, your teacher probably collects hundreds of papers every year. If any identifying information is missing from these assignments, grading and organizing them becomes much more of a challenge.

MLA headings ensure that all key information is presented upfront. With just a glance at the first page, your teacher can easily figure out who wrote this paper, when it was submitted, and which class it was written for.

What Are the Parts of an MLA Heading?

An MLA heading should include:

• Your instructor’s name
• The name of the class
• The date the assignment is due
• The title of your paper

Your instructor may give you specific guidelines about how much detail to include in each line. For example, some teachers may ask you to refer to them by their titles, while others may ask you to use their full names. If you haven’t been given any specific instructions, don’t sweat it—any option is fine as long as it’s clear and consistent.

Follow these formatting rules for your MLA heading:

• Start each piece of information on a separate line
• Don’t use any periods, commas, or other punctuation at the end of the line
• Keep the heading double-spaced, in the same font as the rest of your paper
• Left-align the first four lines (they should start at the 1-inch margin on the left side of your paper)
• Center the title (it should appear in the middle of your paper)
• Make sure your title is in title case

Title case means that major words should be capitalized and minor words should be lowercase. Major words include nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and any word longer than four letters. Minor words include conjunctions, prepositions, and articles.

Tip: Remember that Hermione’s “Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare” shortens to S.P.E.W., not S.F.T.P.O.E.W—only the major words are capitalized!

The MLA heading should only appear on the first page of your paper . But wait, you’re not done yet! In the rest of your paper, you need to include something called an MLA header at the top right corner of every page.

Think of the MLA header as a short, simple “You are here” marker that shows the reader where they are in the paper. By looking at the MLA headers, your instructor can easily understand where each page goes and which paper it belongs to.

What Are the Parts of an MLA Header?

The MLA header consists of your last name and page number.

For example, the second page of Hermione Granger’s essays would be labeled “Granger 2”, the third would be labeled “Granger 3”, and so on.

Creating MLA Headers in Microsoft Word

If you’re writing your paper in Microsoft Word, follow these steps:

• Click Insert
• Scroll down to Page Numbers and click on it
• Set the position to “Top of Page (Header)”
• Set the alignment to “Right”
• Make sure there’s no checkmark in the box for “Show number on first page”
• Click on the page number and type your last name before the number
• Set your font and font size to match the rest of your paper, if they don’t already

Creating MLA Headers in Google Docs

If you’re writing your paper in Google Docs, follow these steps:

• Scroll down to Page Numbers and hover over it
• Choose the option that sets your page number in the upper right corner
• Set your font and type size to match the rest of your paper, if they don’t already

Tip: After you create your first MLA header, save a template document for yourself that you can re-use next time, so you don’t have to follow these steps every time you write a paper!

Once you've got your headings sorted, it's time to start writing your paper. While we can't help you edit the content of your essay , ProWritingAid is here to make sure your grammar, spelling, and style is on point.

As well as checking your grammar, ProWritingAid also shows you your progress towards key goals like varied sentence structure, active voice, readability, and more. The target scores are all based on averages for real essays, so you'll always know if you're on track.

Ready to start receiving feedback before you submit your work?

Whose last name should you use in your MLA header if you’re writing a group paper?

The MLA Style Guide has no specific guidelines for group projects. You should always include the names of all members of the group project in the first line of your heading, but you don’t necessarily need to do this for the header on every page.

If there are only two or three authors collaborating on your paper, you can include all of your last names in the MLA header, e.g., “Granger, Potter, and Weasley 2.”

If you’re part of a bigger group and it would take up too much space to include all of your last names, you can write the name that comes first in the alphabet and then add “ et al. ”, e.g., “Granger et al. 2.” (The term “et al.” is short for the Latin term “et alia”, which means “and others.” You’ll often see it used in academic papers with multiple authors.)

Should you include your class period in your MLA heading or just the class name?

There’s no MLA rule about this, but when in doubt, it’s always better to err on the side of including too much information in your heading rather than not enough.

If your instructor teaches more than one version of the same course, they’ll probably find it helpful if you specify the class period you’re in. You can either include your class period after the class name, e.g., “History of Magic—2nd period”, or before the class name, e.g., “2nd Period History of Magic.”

What should you write in your MLA heading if you don’t have an instructor?

If you have no instructor, you can explain the situation in the line where you would normally put the instructor’s name, e.g., “Independent Study” or “No Instructor.”

What should you write in your MLA heading if you have multiple instructors?

If you have multiple instructors, you can include both of their names in the line where you would put the instructor’s name. If you’re in a college course where you have a professor and a TA, you should choose whose name to include in the header depending on who will ultimately be reading your paper.

Should you include the date you started writing the paper or the date the paper is due?

The MLA Style Guide has no specific guidelines about which date you need to put in the heading. In general, however, the best practice is to put the date the assignment is due.

This is because all the papers for the same assignment will have the same due date, even if different students begin writing their assignments on different days, so it’s easier for your instructor to use the due date to determine what assignment the paper is for.

Should you format the date as Day Month Year or Month Day Year?

In MLA format, you should write the date in the order of Day Month Year. Instead of writing May 31 2021, for example, you would write 31 May 2021.

What font should you use for your MLA heading and header?

Both the heading and the header should be in the same font as the rest of your paper. If you haven’t chosen a font for your paper yet, remember that the key thing to aim for is readability. If you choose a font where your teachers have to squint to read it, or one where your teachers can’t figure out the difference between what’s italicized and what isn’t, you should rethink your choice.

When in doubt, go with Times New Roman, 12 pt. It’s always a safe bet for MLA papers unless your instructor specifically tells you otherwise.

Do you need to italicize or bold the title of your MLA paper?

No. There’s no need to use any special styling on the title of an MLA paper, such as bold or italics.

How do you format section titles in your MLA paper?

If you’re writing a paper with multiple sections, you may need to include a subtitle at the top of each section.

The MLA Style Guide gives you two options for using subtitles in a paper: one-level section titles or several-level subtitles (for papers with subsections within each section).

For one-level section titles, the formatting is simple. Every subtitle should look the same as the title (centered and double-spaced, with no special formatting).

The only difference is that instead of using title case, you should capitalize only the first word of each subtitle. For example, a title would be spelled “How to Turn a Matchstick into a Needle”, while a subtitle would be spelled “How to turn a matchstick into a needle.”

For several-level subtitles, you will need to format each level in a different way to show which level each section is at. You can use boldface, italics, and underlining to differentiate between levels. For example, subtitles at the highest level should be bolded, while subtitles at the next level down should be italicized.

See the chart below for MLA’s suggested formats.

What is the difference between MLA format and APA format?

MLA and APA are two sets of guidelines for formatting papers and citing research.

MLA stands for the Modern Language Association. The MLA handbook is most often used in fields related to the humanities, such as literature, history, and philosophy.

APA stands for the American Psychological Association. The APA format is most often used in fields related to the social sciences, such as psychology, sociology, and nursing.

The APA manual includes a heading format similar to the MLA heading format with a few key differences, such as using a separate cover page instead of simply including the heading at the top of the first page. Both heading formats ensure that all of your papers include all your key identifying information in a clear and consistent way.

Where can you learn more about MLA style?

If you have questions about how to format a specific assignment or paper, it’s always best to consult your instructor first. Your school may also have a writing center that can help you with formatting questions.

In addition, Purdue has fantastic resources for all kinds of formatting topics, from MLA headings to MLA citations and everything in between.

If you would like to find out more directly from the Modern Language Association, consult the MLA Style Center or the MLA Handbook (8th edition).

Now you’re ready to write an MLA paper with a fantastic heading. Make sure your essay does your heading justice by checking it over with ProWritingAid.

Write Better Essays Every Time

Are your teachers always pulling you up on the same errors? Maybe you're losing clarity by writing overly long sentences or using the passive voice too much?

ProWritingAid helps you catch these issues in your essay before you submit it.

Be confident about grammar

Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.

Hannah Yang is a speculative fiction writer who writes about all things strange and surreal. Her work has appeared in Analog Science Fiction, Apex Magazine, The Dark, and elsewhere, and two of her stories have been finalists for the Locus Award. Her favorite hobbies include watercolor painting, playing guitar, and rock climbing. You can follow her work on hannahyang.com, or subscribe to her newsletter for publication updates.

Get started with ProWritingAid

Drop us a line or let's stay in touch via :

• Comprehensive Guide to Headings and Subheadings in APA 7.0

Section 1: Introduction to Headings and Subheadings in APA 7.0-

In academic writing, the use of headings and subheadings is crucial for organizing and structuring a paper. APA (American Psychological Association) style, specifically in its 7th edition, provides clear guidelines on how to effectively use headings and subheadings to enhance readability and comprehensibility of research papers, essays, and other scholarly works. This section will provide a comprehensive introduction to the importance, purpose, and benefits of using headings and subheadings in APA 7.0 format.

Purpose of Headings and Subheadings

Headings and subheadings serve as visual cues to help readers navigate through the content of a paper. They create a hierarchical structure, indicating the relationships between different sections and subsections, and aid in organizing ideas and presenting information in a logical manner. By using headings and subheadings, writers can effectively divide their work into manageable and coherent sections, making it easier for readers to comprehend and follow the main arguments and supporting details.

Importance of Headings and Subheadings

Clear and well-structured headings and subheadings are essential in academic writing for several reasons. First and foremost, they enhance the overall readability of the paper by breaking down the text into smaller, digestible chunks. This organization allows readers to quickly identify and locate specific information, especially when they are scanning or skimming through the document.

Secondly, headings and subheadings contribute to the coherence and flow of the paper. By providing a clear roadmap, they guide the reader through the main ideas, supporting evidence, and key points presented in each section. This not only improves the overall structure of the paper but also helps maintain the logical progression of thoughts and arguments.

Additionally, headings and subheadings assist both readers and writers in comprehending complex topics. They enable writers to organize their thoughts, ensuring that each section focuses on a specific aspect or theme. This organization facilitates a deeper understanding of the subject matter for both the writer during the drafting process and the reader during the consumption of the paper.

Formatting Guidelines for Headings and Subheadings

APA 7.0 provides specific rules and formatting guidelines for using headings and subheadings. These guidelines include the use of different levels of headings, capitalization rules, and placement within the paper. Understanding and adhering to these guidelines is crucial for maintaining consistency and conformity with APA style.

The APA 7.0 formatting guidelines for headings and subheadings are based on a five-level hierarchy, with each level indicating the level of importance and hierarchy of information. Level 1 headings are the highest level, followed by Level 2, Level 3, and so on. Each level has a specific formatting style, such as font size, boldness, and indentation, to differentiate it from the other levels. Furthermore, APA 7.0 also provides guidance on the appropriate use of sentence case, title case, and capitalization in headings and subheadings. For instance, Level 1 headings are typically written in sentence case and are centered and bolded. Level 2 headings are aligned to the left margin, bolded, and written in title case. To maintain clarity and consistency, APA 7.0 also provides recommendations on the number of headings to use within a paper. It suggests that at least two headings should be used in any given section, as a single heading alone may not adequately represent the content covered.

Section 2: The Purpose and Importance of Headings and Subheadings in APA 7.0

Facilitating information retrieval.

One of the primary purposes of headings and subheadings in APA 7.0 is to facilitate information retrieval for readers. When faced with a lengthy document, readers often engage in scanning or skimming techniques to locate specific information or sections of interest. Well-structured headings and subheadings act as signposts, allowing readers to quickly identify the content they are seeking without having to read the entire text. By providing a clear and organized hierarchy, headings guide readers to the main sections of a paper, while subheadings further break down the content into more specific subsections. This hierarchical structure enables readers to navigate the document with ease, locating relevant information efficiently. Thus, headings and subheadings in APA 7.0 contribute significantly to the overall accessibility and user-friendliness of academic papers.

Enhancing Readability and Comprehensibility

Headings and subheadings play a vital role in enhancing the readability and comprehensibility of academic writing. They help break up large blocks of text into smaller, digestible sections, preventing the overwhelming feeling that dense paragraphs can create. By visually separating different sections and subsections, headings and subheadings allow readers to mentally prepare for the content they are about to encounter. Additionally, headings and subheadings improve the flow and coherence of a paper. They provide a roadmap for readers, helping them understand the organization and structure of the author's arguments and supporting evidence. Well-crafted headings and subheadings enable readers to follow the logical progression of ideas and maintain a clear understanding of the paper's main points. Finally, headings and subheadings aid in the comprehension of complex topics. By breaking down the content into smaller, focused sections, readers can grasp the material more easily. Headings act as cognitive cues, preparing readers for the information presented in each section. This approach not only facilitates understanding but also allows readers to engage with the content at a deeper level, promoting knowledge retention.

Organizing and Structuring Ideas

Headings and subheadings in APA 7.0 serve as valuable tools for organizing and structuring ideas within a paper. They help writers divide their work into meaningful sections, each addressing a specific aspect or theme related to the overall topic. This organization ensures that information is presented in a coherent and logical manner, making it easier for both the writer and the reader to navigate the paper.

By using headings and subheadings, writers can create a clear outline for their work, ensuring that each section has a distinct focus. This outline acts as a framework, guiding the writer in presenting their arguments and supporting evidence in a systematic and organized way. Writers can use headings to delineate major sections or main ideas, while subheadings allow for further subcategorization and exploration of subtopics.

Furthermore, headings and subheadings assist writers in structuring their thoughts during the writing process. By providing a visual representation of the paper's organization, headings help writers maintain a coherent flow of ideas and prevent the inclusion of irrelevant or tangential information. This structured approach not only improves the overall quality of the paper but also enhances the writer's ability to communicate their ideas effectively.

Conveying the Hierarchical Relationship of Information

Another important purpose of headings and subheadings in APA 7.0 is to convey the hierarchical relationship of information. By assigning different levels to headings, the writer can indicate the relative importance and order of ideas within the paper. Higher-level headings represent broader themes or major sections, while lower-level headings address more specific subtopics or subsections. This hierarchical structure helps readers understand the organization and logical flow of the paper at a glance. It allows them to grasp the overall structure and the relationships between different sections without having to read the entire document. Additionally, the use of indentation and formatting styles for each level of heading further reinforces the hierarchical relationship and aids in visual differentiation.

Section 3: Formatting Guidelines for Headings and Subheadings in APA 7.0

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.

Levels of Headings

APA 7.0 introduces a five-level hierarchy for headings, each denoting a different level of importance and significance within the paper. These levels provide a structured framework for organizing the content and help readers understand the organization and flow of ideas. Here are the five headings in APA 7.0:

Level 1: Centered, Bold and Title Case

            Text begins here.

Level 2: Left-Aligned, Bold and Title Case

Level 3: Left-Aligned, Bold, Italics, and Title Case

Level 4: Left-Aligned, Bold, Title Case, and Period. Text begins here.

Level 5: Left-Aligned, Bold, Title Case, Italics, and Period . Text begins here.

Section 4: Organizing and Structuring Your Paper

Using headings and subheadings in apa 7.0.

Organizing and structuring your paper effectively is crucial for presenting your ideas in a logical and coherent manner. Headings and subheadings in APA 7.0 play a vital role in achieving this goal by providing a clear framework for organizing your content. This section will delve into strategies and best practices for utilizing headings and subheadings to organize and structure your paper in accordance with APA 7.0 guidelines.

Preparing an Outline

Before you begin writing your paper, it is helpful to create an outline that outlines the main sections and subsections you intend to cover. An outline acts as a roadmap, allowing you to visualize the overall structure and flow of your paper. It serves as a foundation for developing meaningful headings and subheadings that accurately represent the content and facilitate logical organization. Start by identifying the major sections that your paper will include, such as introduction, literature review, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. These major sections will serve as Level 1 headings in APA 7.0. Next, break down each major section into subsections that address specific subtopics or aspects related to the main theme. These subsections will be represented by Level 2 headings. Depending on the complexity and depth of your paper, you may further divide the subsections into sub-subsections using Level 3, Level 4, and Level 5 headings. Creating a comprehensive outline not only helps you organize your thoughts but also ensures that you cover all the necessary components of your paper. It allows you to see the relationships between different sections and subsections, enabling you to present your arguments and evidence in a logical and coherent sequence.

Maintaining Consistency and Parallelism

Consistency is key when it comes to organizing and structuring your paper using headings and subheadings. It is important to establish a consistent framework that is followed throughout the entire document. Consistency ensures that readers can easily understand the hierarchy and relationships between different sections and subsections. When creating headings and subheadings, aim for parallelism in terms of grammatical structure and formatting. Parallelism means that headings at the same level should have a similar grammatical structure and formatting style. For instance, if you choose to use noun phrases for Level 2 headings, maintain this pattern consistently across all Level 2 headings in your paper. This helps readers navigate through the content smoothly and maintain a sense of coherence. Furthermore, parallelism extends to the use of punctuation and capitalization within headings and subheadings. Maintain consistent capitalization rules, such as sentence case for Level 1 headings and title case for Level 2 headings. This uniformity enhances the visual hierarchy and clarity of your paper.

Balancing Depth and Granularity

Effective organization and structuring involve finding the right balance between depth and granularity in your headings and subheadings. Level 1 headings represent major sections and should encapsulate broad themes or concepts, providing an overview of what will be discussed within each section. Level 2 headings, as subsections, delve into more specific topics or aspects related to the main theme of the major section.

Reviewing and Revising the Organization

Organizing and structuring your paper using headings and subheadings is not a one-time task. It is an iterative process that requires regular review and revision to ensure optimal clarity and coherence. Once you have completed the initial draft of your paper, review the organization of your headings and subheadings. Ask yourself if the structure effectively reflects the flow of your ideas and supports your main argument. Consider whether the headings accurately represent the content of each section and subsection. During the review process, pay attention to transitions between sections and subsections. Ensure that the headings and subheadings create a smooth transition from one topic to another, guiding readers through the logical progression of your paper. If you notice any gaps or inconsistencies, revise and refine the organization accordingly. Additionally, seek feedback from peers, mentors, or instructors. Their fresh perspective can provide valuable insights into the clarity and effectiveness of your headings and subheadings. Incorporate their feedback and make necessary adjustments to improve the overall organization and structure of your paper.

Section 5: Common Mistakes to Avoid in Using Headings and Subheadings in APA 7.0

While using headings and subheadings in APA 7.0 can greatly improve the organization and readability of your paper, it's important to be aware of common mistakes that can compromise the effectiveness of your headings. By understanding and avoiding these mistakes, you can ensure that your headings enhance the clarity and coherence of your academic writing. This section will explore some common mistakes to avoid when using headings and subheadings in APA 7.0.

Inconsistent Formatting

One of the most common mistakes is inconsistent formatting of headings and subheadings. In APA 7.0, it is crucial to maintain consistency in capitalization, alignment, and formatting styles across headings at the same level. Inconsistencies can confuse readers and disrupt the visual hierarchy of your paper. Ensure that all Level 1 headings have the same formatting, all Level 2 headings have the same formatting, and so on. Consistency in formatting contributes to the overall professionalism and readability of your work.

Poor Alignment and Spacing

Another mistake to avoid is incorrect alignment and spacing of headings and subheadings. In APA 7.0, Level 1 headings are centered and typically start on a new page or a new line with an extra line space before and after the heading. Level 2 headings and lower-level headings, however, are left-aligned and generally require an extra line space before the heading but not after. Failure to align and space headings correctly can create confusion and disrupt the logical flow of your paper. Review APA 7.0 guidelines carefully to ensure proper alignment and spacing of your headings.

Lack of Parallelism

Parallelism, or consistent grammatical structure, is crucial when using headings and subheadings. Headings at the same level should follow a similar structure to maintain coherence and readability. For example, if you use noun phrases for Level 2 headings, ensure that all Level 2 headings follow this pattern. Lack of parallelism can make your headings appear disjointed and may confuse readers. Consistently apply parallel structure within each level of headings to create a smooth and organized flow of information.

Overcomplicating the Heading Structure

While it is important to provide a clear and hierarchical structure to your paper, overcomplicating the heading structure can lead to confusion and excessive fragmentation. Strive to find a balance between providing enough detail to cover your content effectively and avoiding an excessive number of headings and subheadings. Each heading should represent a meaningful subdivision and contribute to the overall organization and coherence of your paper. Aim for a clear and concise heading structure that guides readers without overwhelming them with excessive levels or overly specific subdivisions.

Lack of Descriptiveness

Headings and subheadings should be descriptive and informative to accurately represent the content covered within each section. Avoid using generic or ambiguous headings that do not provide a clear indication of what readers can expect to find. Vague headings can leave readers uncertain about the content or make it challenging to locate specific information within your paper. Ensure that your headings succinctly capture the main ideas or themes of each section, guiding readers through your content effectively.

Ignoring the Reader's Perspective

When creating headings and subheadings, it's important to consider the perspective of your readers. Put yourself in their shoes and think about how your headings will facilitate their understanding and navigation through your paper. Consider whether your headings effectively communicate the main points, guide readers through the logical flow of your arguments, and enable them to locate specific information easily. Ignoring the reader's perspective can result in headings that are unclear, unhelpful, or inconsistent, hindering the overall readability and comprehension of your work.

Neglecting to Revise and Edit Headings

Headings should not be an afterthought or treated as static elements in your paper. Neglecting to revise and edit your headings can lead to inaccuracies, lack of clarity, or poor alignment with the final content of your paper. As you progress through the writing process, continuously review and refine your headings to ensure they accurately represent the content and flow of your arguments. Make necessary adjustments, reword headings for better clarity, and ensure that they align with the finalized structure and organization of your paper.

Recent Posts

ChatGPT and Literature Classrooms

Stata Breakpoint Regression

Introduction to R

Chi Squared Analysis in Stata

Have any questions?

Our support team is ready to answer your questions.

Help Center FAQ  

To mark our first year, we've slashed all our prices in half. Order now to seize this limited opportunity!

                Place Your Order

How to Write Essay Titles and Headers

The deadline for your latest writing assignment is mere minutes away. You’re rushing to get the final details together and suddenly realize you’ve forgotten a title. You quickly throw something random on top of the page and submit it to your teacher.

You’re not satisfied with your title, but you vow to do better next time. And you will!

You’ve learned from your mistake: essay titles are not a last-minute detail. They’re an integral part of any piece of written work and should be planned out earlier on in the writing process.

Titles lead to your reader’s first impression of your essay, and the headings help organize your thoughts and make the essay easier to read. Let’s take a look at how you can turn your titles from an afterthought into a well-thought-out writing element.

How Do You Write a Great Title?

People DO judge a book by its cover, and they will judge your essay by its title. So writing a strong title is an important part of starting your writing off on the right foot.

Your essay title has two main functions:

• Inform your reader
• Spark your reader’s interest

Additionally, keep in mind these three pointers:

Be clear and concise

Vague titles do not inform the reader. Provide a specific description of what your focus will be. Your audience wants to know precisely what they will be reading.

Bad Example: Oceans

Good Example: Disappearing Ocean Life in the Pacific Rim

Offer an exciting tidbit or interesting fact

If your title is boring, readers will not want to keep reading. Offer them something that will get attention.

Bad Example: How Consumers are Wrongly Spending Money

Good Example: The Seven Million Dollar Mistake

Everyone may be writing a college admissions essay, but don’t title yours: My College Admissions Essay . No matter what the prompt, make your title something that stands out from the stack.

Bad Example: My Research Project

Good Example: Relocating the Human Race to Mars

How Do You Create a Great Header?

Essay headers are often overlooked by writers, but they can really help your readers as they journey through your essay. While the title may get the reader hooked, the headers keep them moving smoothly through your paper. They enhance readability and help explain what is most relevant in the essay.

Each essay header should answer these two questions:

• What will I learn?
• What is the focus?

When readers approach a new section of your essay, they will have a better reading experience if they have a small preview of what’s to come.

Writing a useful header should be relatively easy. Read through your paragraphs and see what the main idea of is. From here, make a list of sub-topics that are discussed in each section. The best way to do this is to pull from the main points you listed out in your outline (which you, of course, remembered to do!).

Remember the following details about writing a header:

Be simple, but informative

You don’t want to give away all of your ideas here, but you need to give some guiding information.

Bad Example: Eating Too Many Fatty Foods Can Increase Your Cholesterol Levels

Good Example: How Your Diet Affects Your Health

Be consistent throughout your essay.

Choose a pattern and stick with it throughout the entirety of the assignment. If you start off by having a heading for each paragraph, keep it that way until the end. Also, make sure the format remains the same. If your first heading is in the form of a question, all of the rest should be as well.

Bad Example: Beaches, What is Up With Littering?, I Want to Clean Up the Planet

Good Example: Neglected Beaches, Effects of Litter, Motivated Activists

Just like when you are writing a title, there are generic headings you can lean on to get it done quick and easy. But don’t use these. Your conclusion shouldn’t have the header, "Conclusion." Come up with something unique for each part of your essay to keep your reader from feeling fatigued as they read on.

Bad Example: Conclusion

Good Example: Will the Pandas Survive?

Be organized and helpful

Your essay should be scannable. This means that if someone needs information fast, they can find it without having to read every word of your piece.

Although titles and headers are often neglected, they are very important to your pieces of writing. They grab your reader’s attention from the start and keep them focused throughout the rest of your essay. Taking the time to craft great titles and headers can advance your writing to the next level.

Don’t overlook the title and section headers when putting together your next writing assignment. Follow these pointers for keeping your writing organized and effective.

101 Standout Argumentative Essay Topic Ideas

Need a topic for your upcoming argumentative essay? We've got 100 helpful prompts to help you get kickstarted on your next writing assignment.

Writing a Standout College Admissions Essay

Your personal statement is arguably the most important part of your college application. Follow these guidelines for an exceptional admissions essay.

The Plagiarism Checker Online For Your Academic Work

Start Plagiarism Check

Editing & Proofreading for Your Research Paper

Get it proofread now

Online Printing & Binding with Free Express Delivery

Configure binding now

• Academic essay overview
• The writing process
• Structuring academic essays
• Types of academic essays
• Academic writing overview
• Sentence structure
• Academic writing process
• Improving your academic writing
• Titles and headings
• APA style overview
• APA citation & referencing
• APA structure & sections
• Citation & referencing
• Structure and sections
• APA examples overview
• Commonly used citations
• Other examples
• British English vs. American English
• Chicago style overview
• Chicago citation & referencing
• Chicago structure & sections
• Chicago style examples
• Citing sources overview
• Citation format
• Citation examples
• College essay overview
• Application
• How to write a college essay
• Types of college essays
• Commonly confused words
• Definitions
• Dissertation overview
• Dissertation structure & sections
• Dissertation writing process
• Graduate school overview
• Application & admission
• Study abroad
• Master degree
• Harvard referencing overview
• Language rules overview
• Grammatical rules & structures
• Parts of speech
• Punctuation
• Methodology overview
• Analyzing data
• Experiments
• Observations
• Inductive vs. Deductive
• Qualitative vs. Quantitative
• Types of validity
• Types of reliability
• Sampling methods
• Theories & Concepts
• Types of research studies
• Types of variables
• MLA style overview
• MLA examples
• MLA citation & referencing
• MLA structure & sections
• Plagiarism overview
• Plagiarism checker
• Types of plagiarism
• Printing production overview
• Research bias overview
• Types of research bias
• Example sections
• Types of research papers
• Research process overview
• Problem statement
• Research proposal
• Research topic
• Statistics overview
• Levels of measurment
• Frequency distribution
• Measures of central tendency
• Measures of variability
• Hypothesis testing
• Parameters & test statistics
• Types of distributions
• Correlation
• Effect size
• Hypothesis testing assumptions
• Types of ANOVAs
• Types of chi-square
• Statistical data
• Statistical models
• Spelling mistakes
• Tips overview
• Academic writing tips
• Dissertation tips
• Sources tips
• Working with sources overview
• Evaluating sources
• Finding sources
• Including sources
• Types of sources

Your Step to Success

Plagiarism Check within 10min

Printing & Binding with 3D Live Preview

How to write a heading – get to know the rules

How do you like this article cancel reply.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Headings help bring out an outline of the content immediately after it. They appear at the top of a paragraph, chapter, or page to brief what the succeeding content is about. Read on to find out how to write a heading, how long headings should be, the difference between a heading and a title, and what descriptive headings are. If you know how to write a heading, you get the reader’s attention which gives them the urge to read on and on.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• 1 How to write a heading - FAQ
• 2 How to write a heading: Definition
• 3 Headings vs. titles
• 4 How long should headings be?
• 5 Descriptive headings
• 6 Repetitive headings – a no-go
• 7 Technical terms in headings
• 8 In a Nutshell

How to write a heading - FAQ

How do you write a proper heading.

A heading should be brief but must also bring out the information it’s intended to. It should be related to the content it stands for to ease the reader’s experience. Make sure it’s brief and straight to the point.

Tip: If you are done with your academic work, we can help you with thesis printing !

What is the format of heading?

There are 3 levels of heading formats. The first level should be centered, bold, and anywhere near font size 14. The second level should be aligned on the left, bold font, and about font size 12. The last format level is the third, whereby the font is left-aligned, bold and italics, and has a font size of about 12. You should know how to write a heading with these three formats.

What is the difference between heading and title?

There’s little difference in how to write a heading and a title. Titles and headings are pretty comparable but have their differences. A title stands for the whole reading and incorporates its content in a phrase or two. At the same time, a heading only crowns and captures the content of a section or chapter.

Why are headings important in writing?

How to write a heading is the first step. Headings convey an overview of what the whole writing is about. The reader is supposed to find out what the entire document is about by going through the headings assigned. It’s essential to know how to write a heading because it helps you organise your thoughts and understand what content to write and where.

How long should headings be?

Do you want to know how to write a heading? Not too long or short? However long it gets, make sure you have a suitable heading. Don’t go past one line because it’ll be too long. A good understandable heading for your sections or paragraphs should intrigue the reader to read more and not be too long to bore them.

How to write a heading: Definition

A heading can be a word, phrase, or sentence at the top of a paragraph, section, or chapter describing what it’s about. There’s no big deal on how to write a heading as its similar to a caption or a title. You have to know how to write a heading for your essays or research project to maintain a logical flow of ideas as the lecturer reads on.

Headings vs. titles

A heading should be brief and explain the exact information the writer wants to convene in the section or chapter below. Having a heading one line or just three words long is appropriate, as long as it is precise and straight to the point. These are primary skills to knowing how to write a heading.

Descriptive headings

There’s nothing complicated on how to write a heading of this type as it focuses on giving the reader more information for easy understanding. More details of the primary subject are provided in the heading. These headings are suitable for emails, academic reports, or even on online platforms.

An example is, say, you are crafting an essay of The American Revolution. If you give a heading like “Causes,” it will not be as clear as “Causes of The American Revolution.” The latter is a descriptive heading. Another example is, maybe you have a report to submit on corn growing in the USA. A heading like “Corn farms” will not be as suitable as the descriptive heading, “Corn Farms in the USA.”

For your academic reports or essays, you can incorporate some descriptive headings to give clear information. If you know how to write a heading of this type, the lecturer or reader will peruse your document and know what it’s about by just reading the headings. You can use some descriptive subheadings too for a much more detailed report or essay.

Repetitive headings – a no-go

There’s no way two sections can have the same title. This will dilute the whole document. If you know how to write a heading, you should know that all headings in a document must be unique. Descriptive headings will help avoid repetitive headings because you explain what the section is about on the heading itself. Chapters cannot have the same content; therefore, the headings can’t be the same too. Knowing how to write a heading that is as descriptive as possible will help arrange your ideas and give the reader an easy time.

Essential tips on how to write a heading without repetition are; varying the lengths of your headings, using different transition words, and using the thesaurus to get synonyms to terms. Knowing how to write a heading will help you know how to craft different headings for different paragraphs.

Technical terms in headings

Technical and jargon terms used on headings of documents may not be understandable to every reader except those familiar with the languages. An example is betting site languages. If you don’t get the terms used in betting, you may not understand anything on the betting site.

For academic documents intended to be read by professionals, such as instructors, you can use jargon if it is allowed. If there’s no need to use the terminology, avoid it at any cost. If you are familiar with how to write a heading, you should know how to craft one for general readers.

In a Nutshell

• Headings should have a length of one to five words and not exceeding a whole line, as said above. A unique tip on how to write a heading is that it looks more like a title than a subheading.
• Not all paragraphs need a heading. If you know how to write a heading, use headings for two or more ideas, and do not overdo them.
• Headings should boost the outline of your main topic, paragraph to another and not overshadow it. Knowing how to write a heading forms the basis of a quality document.
• Try using descriptive headings and subheadings often to have a quality outlook of your work.
• Do not repeat a heading at any cost, mainly if you know how to write a heading for your academic work. Use informative or descriptive headings for a logical and easy-to-understand document.

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential, while others help us to improve this website and your experience.

• External Media

Individual Privacy Preferences

Cookie Details Privacy Policy Imprint

Here you will find an overview of all cookies used. You can give your consent to whole categories or display further information and select certain cookies.

Accept all Save

Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us to understand how our visitors use our website.

Content from video platforms and social media platforms is blocked by default. If External Media cookies are accepted, access to those contents no longer requires manual consent.

Privacy Policy Imprint

• Online Course

Beyond the Title: Why Your Essay’s Headings Matter

Essay writing is now a ubiquitous part of academia, extending beyond literature courses.

Essays aren’t just a test of writing chops; they’re a full-on mental workout, sharpening critical thinking and problem-solving skills. But to truly nail it, you need more than just coherent content and solid references—structure and headings are your secret weapons. Let’s unpack the art of the heading and reveal why it’s the unsung hero of essay writing.

“The headlines screamed at him as soon as he saw the paper. He almost screamed back.”― Terry Pratchett, Going Postal

Why Headings Are Your Essay’s Best Friend

Think of headings as your essay’s trusty sidekick. They’re not just there for show; they’re the backbone of a well-structured argument. With headings, you’re not just dumping information onto the page; you’re organizing it into digestible, bite-sized pieces. This isn’t just about making your essay look neat—it’s about respect for your reader’s time and attention. By breaking down your thoughts under snappy headings, you’re guiding your readers through a maze of ideas, ensuring they can follow along without getting lost.

1. They Attract Your Reader’s Gaze

Headings are like the spotlight on a stage—they draw your reader’s eyes and give them the lay of the land at a glance. A well-crafted heading is a sneak peek, a trailer of sorts, that entices your reader with the promise of what’s to come. Forget the abstract; it’s the headings that first whisper to your reader’s curiosity, urging them to lean in closer. Academic gurus are onto something when they urge students to craft headings that pop. A catchy heading doesn’t just snag attention—it’s a handshake, a first impression that can set the tone for the entire reading experience. Just like a book’s chapter titles, your headings and subheadings are signposts that guide your readers through the landscape of your logic, ensuring they absorb the essence of your argument. If you are looking for help with essay writing , you can visit the website Fresh Essays, and check how they structure their essays.

2. They Make Your Paper a Breeze to Read

They don’t just guide; headings amplify your paper’s readability, making your words a breeze to navigate. This isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s strategic. A well-headed paper travels far and wide, reaching corners of the academic world you might not even know. And let’s not forget the digital realm: those same headings can give your paper a leg-up in the Google rankings. Imagine this—someone types in a keyword, and there’s your article, popping up like a friendly guide in the vast wilderness of search results. Why? Because Google’s bots love a good heading, too. They use them to categorize and serve up content just like a librarian might. So when you pepper your paper with clear, keyword-rich headings, you’re not just organizing thoughts; you’re setting up signposts for search engines and readers alike, paving the way for more eyes on your work and, ultimately, more citations. It’s a simple move that can make a world of difference: divide, conquer, and watch your paper rise to the top.

3. They Boost Your Grade Game

They’re not just for show—headings can be your golden ticket to better grades. In the halls of academia, structure is king, and headings are your essay’s crown jewels. They don’t just tidy up your paper; they elevate its entire stature. With each clever heading and subheading, you’re not just breaking text; you’re building quality, crafting a paper that stands tall and proud. And when it comes to grades, those little headings can swing big points. They’re like a secret handshake with your professor, signaling that you’ve got the organization game down pat. Heading into university applications? Those well-placed headings can make your essay pop in a sea of sameness, giving admissions a clear view of your thought process. So, wield the power of headings wisely, and watch as they open doors to academic opportunities , one well-defined section at a time.

4. They Direct The Flow of Information

They’re your paper’s traffic signals—headings and subheadings expertly direct the flow of information. Picture each heading as a container where you tuck away key facts and figures, neatly sectioning your thoughts for maximum impact. This isn’t just about making your paper look good—it’s about mastery over the cascade of ideas, ensuring each part is accessible and digestible. Subheadings take it further, breaking down complex narratives into manageable insights. The result? A paper that’s not just informative but also inviting, leading your readers through a seamless journey from start to finish. With headings as your guide, you’re not just writing; you’re architecting an experience that holds quality and readability in perfect balance.

Crafting Headings That Hook Readers

Mastering the art of the heading is akin to a chef perfecting their signature dish—it’s all about the right ingredients and execution. Here’s how to concoct headings that will keep your readers hungry for more:

Clarity Meets Brevity

Your heading should be a clear window into the soul of your essay. It’s the make-or-break handshake with your reader, so make it count. Aim for the sweet spot—clear enough to be understood at a glance, yet intriguing enough to draw the reader in. Remember, a vague or cluttered title is like a foggy road sign—it’ll lead your readers astray.

Dare to Stand Out

In the vast ocean of essays, your heading is your beacon. Don’t just blend in; blaze a trail. When you craft a title, you’re not just labeling your work—you’re branding it. Make it as unique as your fingerprint and watch as your essay rises above the sea of sameness.

Sprinkle in Some Intrigue

Why not garnish your essay with a dash of the unexpected? An interesting fact or a provocative question in the heading can act as an intellectual appetizer, whetting the reader’s appetite for the feast of insights your essay promises.

Decoding the Heading A Step-by-Step Interrogation

Crafting a headline that captures attention and encapsulates your message is an art. To hone your headline-writing prowess, interrogate each potential candidate with these probing questions:

Does Your Heading Capture the Essence?

Can the reader understand the central theme of your content just by glancing at the heading?

Is There a Hook?

Does your heading have a compelling element that piques curiosity or promises value?

Is It Succinct Yet Descriptive?

Have you stripped away excess words without losing the heading’s descriptive power?

Does It Speak to the Reader’s Interests or Needs?

Have you tailored the heading to resonate with the reader’s personal interests or address their specific problems?

Is the Benefit Clear?

If your content provides value, does the heading clearly state what the reader stands to gain?

Illustrating the Impact of Powerful Headings:

To truly grasp the power of a well-crafted heading, let’s look at some transformations. A heading can be the deciding factor between a skimmed-over article and a thoroughly read masterpiece. Here are examples that turn the mundane into the magnetic:

Example 1: The Makeover of a Mundane Heading

• Before: “The Effects of Global Warming”
• After: “Our Planet’s Fever: Can We Cool Down the Global Warming Crisis?”

The original heading is straightforward but snooze-worthy—it states the topic but doesn’t challenge or engage the reader. The revamped version, however, adds urgency and a personal touch, making the global issue feel close to home and inviting the reader into a critical conversation.

Example 2: From Generic to Specific

• Before: “Tips for Writing Better”
• After: “Write Like Hemingway: 5 Tips for Crafting Compelling Narratives”

The first heading is as bland as unbuttered toast, offering little to no incentive to read on. The second, however, promises a specific outcome with a reference to a renowned writer, suggesting that the reader can achieve something extraordinary by following these tips.

Example 3: Injecting Curiosity

• Before: “How to Save Money”
• After: “10 Surprising Money Hacks You Can’t Afford to Ignore”

Saving money is a common topic, but the ‘before’ heading could be slapped on a million articles. The ‘after’ heading teases with the promise of unexpected advice, making it irresistible to anyone looking to bolster their bank account.

Example 4: The Power of Personalization

Before: “Improving Your Diet” After: “Revamp Your Meals: A Personal Journey to a Healthier You”

The first heading is impersonal and could apply to anyone, anywhere. The second heading suggests a transformative experience, offering a narrative arc that the reader can see themselves in.

Example 5: Adding Action and Benefit

• Before: “Growing a Garden”
• After: “Cultivate Your Sanctuary: Grow a Lush Garden in 30 Days”

The initial heading is simple and to the point, but it lacks zest. By adding action (“Cultivate”) and a clear benefit (“in 30 Days”), the new heading promises a rewarding and timely outcome, which is far more enticing.

The Final Flourish

In essence, headings are the pillars that uphold the structure of your essay. They don’t just map out the journey for your readers; they enhance the scenery along the way. By channeling the flow of information with precision and flair, you don’t just write—you captivate, educate, and inspire. Remember, a heading is more than a label; it’s a promise of the value that lies within your words. Craft it with care, and your essay will not just be read—it will be remembered. Next up, you may want to explore a guide on how to start an essay .

Digital marketing course: Join my full AI Marketing course, with over 6h and 30 minutes of video lessons and 5 bonuses and learn the skills necessary to thrive as a marketer in the digital era.

Rafal Reyzer

Hey there, welcome to my blog! I'm a full-time entrepreneur building two companies, a digital marketer, and a content creator with 10+ years of experience. I started RafalReyzer.com to provide you with great tools and strategies you can use to become a proficient digital marketer and achieve freedom through online creativity. My site is a one-stop shop for digital marketers, and content enthusiasts who want to be independent, earn more money, and create beautiful things. Explore my journey here , and don't miss out on my AI Marketing Mastery online course.

Online Learning Resources

Academic skills office, academic skills.

• Introduction
• Academic essays
• Thesis statement
• Question analysis
• Sample essay
• Introduction paragraphs
• Beginner paragraphs
• Perfecting Paragraphs
• Academic paragraphs
• Conclusion paragraphs
• Academic writing style

Using headings

• Using evidence
• Supporting evidence
• Citing authors
• Quoting authors
• Paraphrasing authors
• Summarising authors
• Tables & figures
• Synthesising evidence
• About academic reading
• Identify your purpose for reading
• Some reading techniques
• Effective reading keto diet and alcoholic cirrhosis will uric acid pills lower blood pressure where can you get diet pills how many beets to eat to lower blood pressure 2015 learn about keto diet blood pressure medication makers what diabetes meds cause high blood pressure does lithium cause erectile dysfunction the most extreme weight loss pills for men what can help lower blood pressure it you rum out of meds perscription diet pills will formula 303 lower blood pressure diet v8 splash on keto irwin naturals ripped man reviews just angina raise or lower blood pressure
• Making notes keto diet skin on chicken thighs cons on keto diet federal funding for viagra african penis enlargement custom what kind of yogurt can you eat on keto diet different types of diets to lose weight fast can i have banana on keto diet phen phen diet pills for sale how to lose weight fast fully raw christina sugar bear hair vitamin and keto diet san diego county adolescent sexual health data where can i buy elite max keto diet pills how can i get a prescription for blood pressure medicine forged supplements keto diet ad
• Overcoming reading difficulties lifestyle changes to lose weight forskolin trim diet reviews blood pressure medicine used for does a keto diet make you gain fat medication chart for home a guys dicks what can you naturally take to lower your blood pressure immediately how do i tell if my health insurance will cover diet pills fessiona male enhancement how ro increase your sex drive how to lower yuor systolic blood pressure adam secret extra strength medication cognitive function and high blood pressure g herbal medicine for bp which high blood pressure meds are recalled

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. If you do use headings, then use them wisely and correctly.

About using headings

Most students who have just completed secondary studies come to university with the firm belief that you should not use headings in essay writing. The use of headings in formal writing was once restricted to business style writing, such as report writing. However, in more recent times, headings are often used in formal academic writing such as books and journals. Also, texts on the Internet are easier to read on screen if they have headings.

Headings are signposts that focus the reader on the most important content in a piece of writing, and are usually connected to the set question. Provided that they are well structured, a few headings make longer pieces of writing easier to write and easier to read (for the marker). Look at headings systems in your unit reading material, and you will get a ‘feeling’ for their structure and suitability.

It’s easy to see why you need a few rules to help you develop a good system of headings. Compare the following sets of headings then answer the questions that follow:

Read this description of a well-structured set of headings:

• The heading system is clear and logical
• The sub-headings are all at the same level and in the same font style
• The wording of the headings and sub-headings is alike
• If you used this heading system, the reader would not be confused

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.

Graded heading system

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

Information in logical sections

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:

• Keep headings brief (avoid two and three liners)
• Make them specific to the written work that follows
• Follow a PARALLEL structure

For example:

• If you use a question as a heading, then follow that pattern for that heading level and for that section (e.g. if your level 1 heading is What are the rules for heading levels?, then the next level 1 heading would need to be a question also: How do you word headings effectively?).
• If you use a phrase starting with an ‘ing’ word, then follow that pattern for that heading level and for that section (e.g. Designing heading levels; Wording headings effectively).
• If you use a noun phrase, then continue to use noun phrases for that level and for that section (e.g. Design of heading levels; Effective wording of headings).
• You can change your heading style between levels, but you must be consistent at level 1 then in each section (i.e. all level 1 headings should follow the same pattern; each level 2 heading in a section should follow the same pattern.)

Correct punctuation for headings

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:

• Minimal capitalisation—only the first word of a title and any proper nouns and names are capitalised (e.g. Punctuation rules for Australian texts)
• Maximal capitalisation—all words are capitalised EXCEPT for articles (e.g. a, an, the), prepositions and conjunctions (e.g. Punctuation Rules for Australian Texts)

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.

What NOT to do

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.

• DO NOT use headings in smaller documents (i.e. less than a 1000 words)
• DO NOT use too many headings
• DO NOT change the style of heading levels midway through your writing (work out your system and stick to it)
• DO NOT number headings in an essay unless you are asked to
• DO NOT put headings on individual paragraphs (normally a heading applies to a number of paragraphs in a section)
• DO NOT leave a heading at the bottom of a page by itself (‘widowed’ heading)
• DO NOT ‘stack’ headings (e.g. a level 1 heading followed by a level 2 heading without any text in between)
• AVOID using ‘isolated/lone’ headings (e.g. using only one sub-heading with no other sub-headings of that type following)
• AVOID writing headings more than one line long
• AVOID using definite articles (e.g. a, an, the) to begin headings (e.g. ‘ An example problem’ should be ‘Example problem’)

Headings for essay planning

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.

• Report broken link
• Found an error?
• Suggestions

• Place order

Incorporating Headings in Academic Essays and Papers

A consistent structure is a big thing when writing an academic essay or paper. The framework for writing an academic paper encompasses using headings and subheadings to divide the content into manageable chunks or sections.

When writing longer essays and research papers (10 pages and above), breaking the test into different but related sections might be helpful to avoid unnecessary strained transition sentences. 

The headings are the first thing the readers look at when reading the essay. They are akin to the headlines in a magazine or webpage. Subheadings are the additional subtopics or headings immediately after the main title or header. Headings are meant to grab the readers' attention, but the subheadings make them draw the readers deeper into the topic.

A subheading is a mini-headline given to a section or paragraph within the main text. They are often smaller than the main heading but larger than the paragraph text.

While headings can be used in most academic papers of different lengths (even those less than ten pages), subheadings are reserved for shorter sections within a larger section. 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.

Let's dig deeper and see how to make headings and subheadings in an essay.

Why Use Headings and Subheadings in Essays and Research Papers

Headings and subheadings capture the readers' attention, making it easier to sell your ideas to those who skim through written pieces first to determine whether it is worth their time.

Using headings and subheadings helps organize your thoughts. They enable readers to focus on the critical aspects of the essay or research paper. In an essay or research paper, each subheading is considered a mini-essay with thoughts limited to a specific element or perspective of the topic.

Using headings and subheadings informs your readers about where they are in the paper. Also, these subheadings act as signposts or directions that orient the readers to your thoughts in the paper.

The subheadings ensure that your thoughts are structured and that you remain focused on the topic within a limited area. For instance, if you are writing a mental health essay or research paper, you can have a subheading dealing with risk factors and another dealing with the impacts of stigma on mental health.

Subheadings also make the research process easier because you can organize your research around them. This way, you can approach your research systematically and limit its scope. You can then scrutinize and organize the scholarly resources rather than focus on the entire research pile.

Having subheadings in essays or research papers makes writing the paper easier. You can plan, draft, and polish each essay section independently. Doing so helps you to write the paper with ease. Consequently, you can fight off writer's block by putting points of argument under each subheading and organizing it later when you are psyched up to write.

Features of a Good Subheading for an Essay or Research Paper

In research writing, it is imperative to have a refined heading and subheading. We discussed how to do this when we wrote about titling an essay and other academic papers. However, certain features make a subheading or a heading stand out. A good subheading can be many things, but let's sample some of the outstanding features it must have. Here are some aspects that make an excellent subheading and heading:

• A good subheading is brief, concise, and focused. Shorter headings and subheadings give meaning and enhance the readability of a research paper or essay.
• It must have a line space between it and the content.
• It contains the keywords that relate to the thesis and topic, telling the reader precisely the main idea of the section's content.
• Its wording matches the rest of the subheadings and headings
• Can create a flow that summarizes the work independently at a glance
• Is ten words or less and refined to have meaning on its own
• It stands out from the rest of the text in terms of styling and formatting
• It engages the readers such that it gives clues about what to expect
• Uses signposting words to realign the interests of the readers
• Are they relevant to the text
• It uses parallel structures for consistency

How to Make Subheadings in An Essay or Paper

If you are like many students who wonder about how to integrate subheadings into an essay, this section clarifies everything. First, however, there are some crucial tips that you need to consider.

Remember, a subheading expands your heading and comes after the latter. While both hook the audience by grabbing their attention, the subheading enables your readers to delve deeper into the topic. Subheadings are used to divide an otherwise large chunk of paper into sections or chapters.

Subheadings are primarily written in sentence cases and should never be in capital letters. Therefore, you should capitalize the first letter of the subheading of your essay. This is unlike the heading in the title case, meaning that all the major words (nouns, adverbs, pronouns, and adjectives) and words with four or more letters have their first words capitalized. Subheadings subordinate the higher levels. To make a good subheading, here are the tips.

1. Choose the correct length

A good essay subheading should be easy to read. Precisely, it should take a few seconds to read. Our experts recommend keeping the subheading between 4 to 10 words, the standard length of subheadings in academic writing. Ensure as well that it fits a single line. If your subheading runs over, it will be ambiguous and might alter the structure of your essay or paper.

2. Limit the information

You only have a few words to impress your readers. Therefore, only bring in the most crucial information you want to use to bait your readers. Avoid examining every aspect and focus on one aspect of the topic. As long as you have aroused the reader's curiosity to explore your essay, that's it!

3. Maintain Consistency

When you use headings and subheadings in an essay or academic paper, ensure that each maintains the same level. You should not skip subheading levels. And if the first subheading is the only subheading, you are better off eliminating it and maintaining the heading. An excellent strategy to maintain this consistency is planning your essay, which you can do by creating an outline .

4. Number appropriately. It is a must

APA or MLA format does not allow you to label headings and subheadings with numbers or letters. However, there are some instances, such as when writing a dissertation or thesis, where you will most likely be required to use multilevel numbering for the headings and subheadings. Therefore, when you number the headings and subheadings, ensure that it is in a consistent format that you can later use when referring to them elsewhere, for instance, in a table of contents. Microsoft Word automates the process of numbering by choosing the heading styles.

5. Be persuasive

A good subheading should coax the readers to read the text. It should give them an appetite to devour your paper. And it should be persuasive because it does the work of signposting the ideas to expect in a subsection.

6. Ensure Progression

When writing the subheadings, ensure they each add new information to your text to avoid repetitive subheadings. It would be wise to ensure that each subheading addresses a unique aspect of the topic instead of echoing the previous subheadings discussed. As you edit your paper, guarantee that the subheadings progress and add new and relevant information to engage the readers.

7. Stay away from puns, contractions, and idioms

Although tempting, avoid using corny words, jokes, and puns in your subheadings. You should not use contractions as well. Introducing these aspects can make your subheadings and headings ambiguous, deterring the readers from reading the content.

8. Ensure they are relevant and engaging

As you write the subheadings, ensure that they are relevant to the content of your essay. Eliminate any irrelevant subheadings in your essay. Think about the vital information you must include and how you need to format it into a separate section. The strategy helps write subheadings that address your essay's real issues. The subheadings should also give the readers a clue of what to expect to grab their attention further.

9. Include Keywords and Phrases

When writing the subheadings, you should include relevant keywords and phrases that attract the readers' attention. In addition, the keywords and phrases should be related to your topic and thesis statement.

10. Format them well

If you are writing an academic paper (research paper or essay), ensure that your subheadings and headings are formatted per the citation and formatting styles. Later in this article, we look at how to format subheadings and headings in MLA and APA, which are the most common styles. You can also acquaint yourself with other academic writing styles such as Chicago, Vancouver, Oxford, Bluebook, or Harvard.

If you intend to write an A essay, consider reading our guide on writing first-class essays to integrate other factors that professors look for when assigning higher grades for essays.

Related Read:

• How to write an introduction .
• Using headings and subheadings in the dissertation literature review.

Headings and Subheadings in APA

In APA formatting and citation style, headings are used in essays and research papers to separate and classify paper sections. The headings are meant to guide the readers through the document. Headings and subheadings are organized in subordination levels, with each section of the paper starting with the highest heading level.

You can organize headings into five different levels in APA. However, it would help if you used the headings in order beginning from level 1, regardless of the number of heading levels.

Below is how to organize the levels:

• Heading 1 is bold, centered, and written in the title case. This can include the main elements of the paper, such as Literature Review , methods, conclusion, discussion, recommendations, etc.
• Heading 2 is flush left, in boldface, and written in title case. These are the headings directly under heading 1. So, for example, under methods (level 1), you can have subsections such as sampling strategy, data analysis, or data processing as level 2.
• Heading 3 is flush left, in boldface italics, and title case.
• Heading 4 is indented, in boldface, and written in title case.
• Heading 5 is indented, in boldface italics, and title case.

You can use at least two subheadings in APA or non at all. If there is just one subheading, the top-level heading is enough, so do away with it.

When writing a paper in APA , the first paragraph is automatically understood as the introduction. Therefore, there is no need to start with the heading "introduction." The paper's title, which is centered and bolded, becomes the de facto level 1 heading. If your introduction has subsections, you can use headings within the introduction beginning with level 2 headings for the first level subsection, level 3 for the subsections of level 2 headings, and so on. After writing the introduction, use the level 1 heading for the following main section of the paper. Headings should be descriptive and concise. They should be well-formatted and clearly worded for visual and content appeal.

Formatting Headings and Subheadings in APA

When writing headings and subheadings in APA, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• The headings in APA are never labeled with numbers or letters
• You should not use more than one subsection within a section
• Ensure that the APA headings and subheadings are descriptive and concise
• Use as many headings and subheadings as you may require
• Headings 3-5 should all be indented and terminated with a period.
• Headings levels 1 and 2 should be formatted in sentence cases.
• Ensure that the first word in the heading level 3-5 is capitalized.
• Begin a paragraph below levels 1 and 2. However, levels 2-5 begin in line with the headings.
• There should be double line spacing for the APA heading.

MLA headings and subheadings enhance a paper's coherence, soundness, and quality. Using the hierarchy of 5 heading levels in APA should be easier now that we have explained everything.

Headings and Subheadings in MLA

MLA headings are sometimes confused with the header. While the MLA heading is found on the first page and serves the purpose of identifying information, the header is the identifier located on top of every document page.

Using section headings in MLA help improve the readability of the document. Students are mainly not required to use headings when writing essays and papers.

Formatting Headings and Subheadings in MLA

• The font should be readable, most preferably Times New Roman or Arial
• Use double-line spacing
• Every new paragraph after the headings or subheadings should have a half an inch indent.
• All the headings and subheadings must be written in the title case
• You should not include a period after the MLA headings and subheadings
• The title is the main heading. It should be center-aligned and written in sentence case. It should never be italicized, bold, underlined, or put into quotation marks unless when referring to works within it.
• All headings that succeed the title of the document are subheadings.
• The subheadings have five different levels, just like in APA formatting.
• The subheadings are styled as per their order of prominence.

Unlike APA, MLA allows the use of font styling to differentiate the levels of the subheadings. However, the styling of the subheadings should be consistent so that the readers can follow the structure of the essay or paper.

Every subheading should appear in the same size, format, and style for easier identification as one reads your text. The subheadings in MLA papers or essays should flush to the left margin to avoid confusing them with block quotes. Avoid online one level for the internal levels. For instance, if you have a level between 1 and 5, you should ensure that there is more than one instance. If you have one level 2 subheading, ensure that you also have a second level 2 subheading. Above all, every heading and subheading must have content or text beneath them. The content should support the thesis statement of your paper.

Related reading:

• Writing case study answers for business and nursing classes . 
• Analytical essay writing steps and tips. 

Levels of subheadings in MLA formatting

• Level 1 is bold, flush, or aligned with the left margin
• Level 2 is italicized, flush, or aligned with the left margin
• Level 3 is bold and center-aligned
• Level 4 is italicized and center-aligned
• Level 5 is underlined, flush, or aligned with the left margin

Ensure you use the correct subheading level to help you navigate through your essay or paper. It also helps to know what to be added to the automatic table of contents. Use the subheadings as illustrated below:

• Subheading 1 for the first subsection after the chapter title
• Subheading 2 for the subsections that are directly under Subheading 1
• Subheading 3 for the subsections that are directly under Subheading 2
• Subheading 4 for the subsections that are directly under Subheading 3
• Subheading 5 for the subsections that are directly under Subheading 4

Take some time and watch this video by Dr. Andy Jonson illustrates how to use headings and subheadings in academic writing.

Below are some sample questions, expert answers, and recommendations for essay subheadings and headings.

Should essays have subheadings?

Although shorter essays are written in continuous, flowing, and paragraphed texts and do not need subheadings, longer essays are carefully structured using headings and subheadings.

An essay or research paper can have headings and subheadings (subtopics) if it is long enough to accommodate different sections. Nevertheless, when writing the headings and subheadings, they should be relevant and consistent with the topic and contribute to the overarching goal of the essay or research paper (the thesis statement). A good length for a heading or subheading should be ten words or less. While standard essays do not use subheadings, they assuredly improve the structure of extended essays.

Subheadings subordinate the headings (the title of the essay). They should be persuasive, descriptive, and conversational. They should elaborate on what is in the headline and capture the importance of the topic. Maintain consistency when writing them.

Can introductions have subheadings?

For short papers, no. However, you can include sub-sections for longer papers with appropriate headings and subheadings. For instance, when writing a proposal, dissertation, or thesis, you can have sections and subsections for the problem statement, background information, research questions, hypothesis, aims/objectives, and paper overview.

Can a conclusion have a subheading?

You should not include subheadings in the concluding paragraphs of an essay unless for more extended research papers.

Can subheadings in essays be questions?

No, section headings and subheadings must not be phrased as questions in MLA, APA, or Harvard formatting styles.

Need a Discount to Order?

15% off first order, what you get from us.

Plagiarism-free papers

Our papers are 100% original and unique to pass online plagiarism checkers.

Well-researched academic papers

Even when we say essays for sale, they meet academic writing conventions.

24/7 online support

Hit us up on live chat or Messenger for continuous help with your essays.

Easy communication with writers

Order essays and begin communicating with your writer directly and anonymously.

• Translators
• Graphic Designers
• Editing Services
• Academic Editing Services
• Admissions Editing Services
• Admissions Essay Editing Services
• AI Content Editing Services
• APA Style Editing Services
• Application Essay Editing Services
• Book Editing Services
• Business Editing Services
• Capstone Paper Editing Services
• Children's Book Editing Services
• College Application Editing Services
• College Essay Editing Services
• Copy Editing Services
• Developmental Editing Services
• Dissertation Editing Services
• eBook Editing Services
• English Editing Services
• Horror Story Editing Services
• Legal Editing Services
• Line Editing Services
• Manuscript Editing Services
• MLA Style Editing Services
• Novel Editing Services
• Paper Editing Services
• Personal Statement Editing Services
• Research Paper Editing Services
• Résumé Editing Services
• Scientific Editing Services
• Short Story Editing Services
• Statement of Purpose Editing Services
• Substantive Editing Services
• Thesis Editing Services

Proofreading

• Proofreading Services
• Admissions Essay Proofreading Services
• Children's Book Proofreading Services
• Legal Proofreading Services
• Novel Proofreading Services
• Personal Statement Proofreading Services
• Research Proposal Proofreading Services
• Statement of Purpose Proofreading Services

Translation

• Translation Services

Graphic Design

• Graphic Design Services
• Dungeons & Dragons Design Services
• Sticker Design Services
• Writing Services

Please enter the email address you used for your account. Your sign in information will be sent to your email address after it has been verified.

APA Heading Format: All 5 Levels Explained Plus Examples

Headings are tools used in documents to organize information. They group information into categories based on content and organize those categories into sections and subsections throughout a document. Organization is key to helping the reader understand what they are reading. APA heading format is ultimately designed for clarity and purpose to help writers maintain a clear flow throughout their document.

There are various types of heading styles across different industry style guides, but APA has very clear guidelines on heading styles. With documents formatted using APA style, headings are especially useful because there is a lot of information presented in those documents. From capitalization to bold type to alignment, APA heading format helps you to organize your document with an easy-to-follow structure.

Why should you use headings?

Without headings, works in the behavioral and social sciences, such as sociology, history, psychology, and business, would become cumbersome to read and understand. Separating information into sections that flow smoothly through the document ensure that the information you are presenting is clear in meaning and purpose. The APA style blog states , Headings help writers highlight the important content in their work, and they also help readers easily find the information they need.

Imagine reading a 200-page dissertation without having headings to identify specific topics and key information. Without the headings, you would have a difficult time knowing where a section started for a specific historical figure or event. With the headings, however, finding a section for those specifics would be simple.

Definitions for terms used in heading styles

Before we get into the current defined heading styles in APA 7th edition, it's important to understand the terminology used when referring to text styling.

• Boldface: This means the text has thick, heavy lines. Using boldface type helps the text to stand out, as can be seen by the headings used in this article.
• Flush Left: Flush means to be in line with. In the case of headings and text, flush left means that the text starts at the very left margin, no indent and no spaces before the text begins. As you may have guessed, flush right would mean that the text starts at the right margin.
• Title Case: Title case means that the first letter of each word is capitalized, while the rest of the letters are lowercase. The exception is usually articles (e.g., "the" or "a") and words with fewer than four letters. Note that the first word is always capitalized no matter how many letters it has.
• Italic: Google Fonts describes italic type as a type style that's almost always slanted and is designed to create emphasis in text. Originally based on semi-cursive forms, italics are a direct contrast to the upright style.
• Indented: Indenting text means starting the text one half inch from the left margin.
• Inline: This means that the heading is on the same line as the paragraph text that follows it, rather than the paragraph text starting on a different line.

APA 7th edition heading format

APA 7th edition defines the required heading format using five distinct levels.

Level 1 headings are designed to identify the main, high-level sections or the title of your work. They are centered, boldface, and title case. Note that the centering is based on the margins, not the page. Check the indents and margin settings to ensure that there are no indents on the Level 1 heading line.

Example: If your work was about the history of Blue Bell ice cream, the paper title would show up like this:

The Unbelievably Delicious History of Blue Bell Ice Cream

Notice that "The" at the beginning of the title is capitalized even though it's only three letters long and is an article. In addition, do not use an "Introduction" heading. The beginning of the paper is automatically assumed to be the introduction.

Level 2 headings are used for the first subsections within a Level 1 section. Remember that the topics of equal importance should use the same heading level . This means that if you have two experiments each with their own Methods and Results, you would use the same heading levels for the Methods and Results sections for both experiments.

To show what the Level 2 heading would look like in continuing with our example above, the first subsection in the history of Blue Bell ice cream would appear like this:

Early Starts in Brenham, Texas

From the early starts, you might then discuss the growth phase of Blue Bell Creameries, with another Level 2 heading of:

Business Boom in the 1980s

Because both of these subsections describe definite periods of time within the business's history, they deserve to be the same heading level.

Level 3 headings are nested as subsections of a Level 2 subsection. Not every work will require three or more heading levels, so you are not obligated to use them. If you were to describe three significant events in the early days of Blue Bell ice cream, you would use a Level 3 heading for each one, like this:

From Butter to Ice Cream

Name Change

Giving Up on Butter

You want to avoid having only one of any heading level, meaning that if you only have one Level 3 heading, you should opt instead to not use the Level 3 heading and simply keep that content in with the Level 2 subsection.

Level 4 is the first of the heading levels to be indented rather than flush left or centered. Indenting can easily be done if you are using a word processing program. This is usually accomplished by pressing the tab key. APA recommends not using spaces to create indentation. Instead, use the tab key default or manually move the indent using the ruler functions. For example:

Homemade Vanilla. This was the first flavor of ice cream made by the Brenham Creamery Company in 1910.

Dutch Chocolate. This was the next flavor made by the Brenham Creamery Company and was a natural follow up to the vanilla.

Level 5 headings are subsections of Level 4 headings and further group information to maintain organization of ideas throughout a paper. Maintain the indent, boldface type, and inline paragraph text, but italicize the heading:

Interacting With the Local Population. Take a tour of the Blue Bell Creamery to see the inner workings of the factory, shop at the Country Store, and get a taste of the best ice cream in America.

Marketing Strategy. The wide range of flavors Blue Bell has developed over the years are a testament to the success of their business model and their tenacity in the marketplace.

While Level 5 headings aren't common, they can come in handy in works that are extensive or have many facets that require good organization.

APA heading format changes

The APA style guide has undergone changes over the years, just like all other style guides. APA's goal has been to continue to make updates to improve clarity in APA-formatted documents. APA 6th edition made many improvements over APA 5th edition headings. In the 5th edition, there was more use of centered text and italics. 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 level 1 headings were centered and boldface, with mixed case capitalization. Level 2 was flush left and boldface, with mixed case capitalization as well. From there, the remaining levels were indented and lowercased, with variations in italics and boldface type.

A few years later, the APA updated the heading styles once more to be even more clear. You can see that the headings have been adjusted to follow three basic rules:

• All title case
• All boldface
• Italics and then indents differentiate between levels

APA defines five heading levels, but you don't have to use all five levels. It's up to you how many levels your work needs to be properly organized. The key is to maintain the order of the headings, from level 1 through to level 5.

With this information, you have the tools you need to properly organize your next document in a way that is sure to keep your reader engaged and informed. Start with an outline, and model that outline when creating your headings, sections, and subsections to create a document that flows well.

Header image by Drobot Dean .

Related Posts

What Is a Peer-Reviewed Journal?

Best Practices for Dissertation Writing in a Second Language

• Academic Writing Advice
• All Blog Posts
• Writing Advice
• Admissions Writing Advice
• Book Writing Advice
• Short Story Advice
• Employment Writing Advice
• Business Writing Advice
• Web Content Advice
• Article Writing Advice
• Magazine Writing Advice
• Grammar Advice
• Dialect Advice
• Editing Advice
• Freelance Advice
• Legal Writing Advice
• Poetry Advice
• Graphic Design Advice
• Logo Design Advice
• Translation Advice
• Blog Reviews
• Short Story Award Winners
• Scholarship Winners

Master your APA formatting with expert editors

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

MLA General Format 

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

MLA Style specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and citing research in writing. MLA Style also provides writers with a system for referencing their sources through parenthetical citation in their essays and Works Cited pages. 

Writers who properly use MLA also build their credibility by demonstrating accountability to their source material. Most importantly, the use of MLA style can protect writers from accusations of plagiarism, which is the purposeful or accidental uncredited use of source material produced by other writers. 

If you are asked to use MLA format, be sure to consult the  MLA Handbook  (9th edition). Publishing scholars and graduate students should also consult the  MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing  (3rd edition). The  MLA Handbook  is available in most writing centers and reference libraries. It is also widely available in bookstores, libraries, and at the MLA web site. See the Additional Resources section of this page for a list of helpful books and sites about using MLA Style.

Paper Format

The preparation of papers and manuscripts in MLA Style is covered in part four of the  MLA Style Manual . Below are some basic guidelines for formatting a paper in  MLA Style :

General Guidelines

• Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper.
• Double-space the text of your paper and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman). Whatever font you choose, MLA recommends that the regular and italics type styles contrast enough that they are each distinct from one another. The font size should be 12 pt.
• Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise prompted by your instructor).
• Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.
• Indent the first line of each paragraph one half-inch from the left margin. MLA recommends that you use the “Tab” key as opposed to pushing the space bar five times.
• Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor may ask that you omit the number on your first page. Always follow your instructor's guidelines.)
• Use italics throughout your essay to indicate the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, provide emphasis.
• If you have any endnotes, include them on a separate page before your Works Cited page. Entitle the section Notes (centered, unformatted).

Formatting the First Page of Your Paper

• Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested or the paper is assigned as a group project. In the case of a group project, list all names of the contributors, giving each name its own line in the header, followed by the remaining MLA header requirements as described below. Format the remainder of the page as requested by the instructor.
• In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text.
• Double space again and center the title. Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks. Write the title in Title Case (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters.
• Use quotation marks and/or italics when referring to other works in your title, just as you would in your text. For example:  Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas  as Morality Play; Human Weariness in "After Apple Picking"
• Double space between the title and the first line of the text.
• Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a space with a page number. Number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor or other readers may ask that you omit the last name/page number header on your first page. Always follow instructor guidelines.)

Here is a sample of the first page of a paper in MLA style:

The First Page of an MLA Paper

Section Headings

Writers sometimes use section headings to improve a document’s readability. These sections may include individual chapters or other named parts of a book or essay.

MLA recommends that when dividing an essay into sections you number those sections with an Arabic number and a period followed by a space and the section name.

MLA does not have a prescribed system of headings for books (for more information on headings, please see page 146 in the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing , 3rd edition). If you are only using one level of headings, meaning that all of the sections are distinct and parallel and have no additional sections that fit within them, MLA recommends that these sections resemble one another grammatically. For instance, if your headings are typically short phrases, make all of the headings short phrases (and not, for example, full sentences). Otherwise, the formatting is up to you. It should, however, be consistent throughout the document.

If you employ multiple levels of headings (some of your sections have sections within sections), you may want to provide a key of your chosen level headings and their formatting to your instructor or editor.

Sample Section Headings

The following sample headings are meant to be used only as a reference. You may employ whatever system of formatting that works best for you so long as it remains consistent throughout the document.

Formatted, unnumbered:

Level 1 Heading: bold, flush left

Level 2 Heading: italics, flush left

Level 3 Heading: centered, bold

Level 4 Heading: centered, italics

Level 5 Heading: underlined, flush left

Ultimate Guide to Writing Your College Essay

Tips for writing an effective college essay.

College admissions essays are an important part of your college application and gives you the chance to show colleges and universities your character and experiences. This guide will give you tips to write an effective college essay.

Want free help with your college essay?

UPchieve connects you with knowledgeable and friendly college advisors—online, 24/7, and completely free. Get 1:1 help brainstorming topics, outlining your essay, revising a draft, or editing grammar.

Writing a strong college admissions essay

Learn about the elements of a solid admissions essay.

Avoiding common admissions essay mistakes

Learn some of the most common mistakes made on college essays

Brainstorming tips for your college essay

Stuck on what to write your college essay about? Here are some exercises to help you get started.

How formal should the tone of your college essay be?

Learn how formal your college essay should be and get tips on how to bring out your natural voice.

Taking your college essay to the next level

Hear an admissions expert discuss the appropriate level of depth necessary in your college essay.

Student Stories

Student Story: Admissions essay about a formative experience

Get the perspective of a current college student on how he approached the admissions essay.

Student Story: Admissions essay about personal identity

Get the perspective of a current college student on how she approached the admissions essay.

Student Story: Admissions essay about community impact

Student story: admissions essay about a past mistake, how to write a college application essay, tips for writing an effective application essay, sample college essay 1 with feedback, sample college essay 2 with feedback.

This content is licensed by Khan Academy and is available for free at www.khanacademy.org.

• AI Content Shield
• AI KW Research
• AI Assistant
• SEO Optimizer
• AI KW Clustering
• Customer reviews
• The NLO Revolution
• Press Center
• Help Center
• Content Resources
• Facebook Group

A Clear Guide to Headings in Essays

Table of Contents

Whether to use headings in essay writing is a question of preference. Headings are standard for some written forms, such as report writing and case studies. But some lecturers prefer headings while others don’t want you to use headings in essays.

You must confirm the preference of your lecturer. Let’s explore more about the basic structure of essays and using headings in your essay writing.

Basic Structure of Academic Essay Writing

The majority of essays are written in continuous, flowing paragraphs without headings . At first glance, this could appear to be unorganized, yet good articles are meticulously structured.

Essays usually have no section headings. Only the title page, author declaration, and reference list have a heading. The basic structure of essay writing contains three parts:

Introduction

The following five components make up a typical introduction:

• An opening statement that grabs the reader’s attention.
• Background and contextual information on the topic.
• Include any important definitions where necessary.
• A brief outline of the key points, issues, theories, arguments, or other relevant information.
• A few sentences to explain your goals and objectives.

You must organize the body of the essay into paragraphs. And each section should address a different aspect of the issue.

However, it should also be connected to the ones before and after it in some way. This is a difficult task to master even for seasoned writers because there are a variety of effective ways to organize and combine paragraphs. There is no ideal or fixed template for a paragraph.

The conclusion of a paper should not introduce any new idea or information. Typically, there should only be one paragraph in the conclusion. It combines all the main points of your essay, so you don’t need to repeat the small detail unless you are emphasizing anything.

The conclusion is used to accomplish three things:

• Remind the audience of the purpose of your essay.
• Answer the question posed in the title, if possible.
• Remind your reader of how you arrived at your conclusion.

Headings in Essay Writing

If you do use headings, make sure to do so correctly and sensibly. Headings help readers to be able to find the differences between different sections without drifting off.

If you decide to use heading, then know that subheadings play an important role in your essay. It will not only capture the audience’s attention but also make the writing more visually catchy.

The subheading gives the essay a more organized appearance while refocusing the reader on its important parts. This subheading will provide a hint of what to expect in the content.

An essay can have subheadings if it is long enough to hold several sections with subtopics in each. However, subtitles must be compatible with the central theme and help to support the thesis of the essay. The recommended approach is to keep essay subheadings to 10 words.

Using headings in essay writing is not a convention, but it is not incorrect either. Whether or not to incorporate headings in your essay depends on the lecturer’s preference. This article explains the basic pattern of essay writing and how to use headings in your essays.

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

Explore All Blog Title Generator Articles

Why are headings used in articles.

As a writer, you should master everything about writing content. Your understanding of the profession reflects on the quality of…

• Blog Title Generator

How to Create a Good Title With Title Examples

Whether you’re writing a blog or a feature article, you NEED a good title. With a good title, you can…

Interesting Thesis Title Examples for Research Papers

Writing a research paper can be daunting. What’s even more challenging is picking a suitable topic. Even after brainstorming, you…

Best Tips for Writing a Great Blog

Anyone who has read a blog post has taken in information from a thought leader who is a pro in…

What Are Listicles? How to Start Them?

List posts, also known as lists, have a bad reputation in the online world, where the value of your blog’s…

How to Come up With Name Ideas for a Tech Blog

Do you want to build a successful tech blog? Are you looking for great tech blog name ideas to come…

Cornell Chronicle

• Architecture & Design
• Arts & Humanities
• Business, Economics & Entrepreneurship
• Computing & Information Sciences
• Energy, Environment & Sustainability
• Food & Agriculture
• Global Reach
• Health, Nutrition & Medicine
• Law, Government & Public Policy
• Life Sciences & Veterinary Medicine
• Physical Sciences & Engineering
• Social & Behavioral Sciences
• Coronavirus
• News & Events
• Public Engagement
• New York City
• Photos of the Day
• Big Red Sports
• Freedom of Expression
• Student Life
• University Statements
• Around Cornell
• All Stories
• In the News
• Expert Quotes
• Cornellians

‘A completely different game’: Faculty, students harness AI in the classroom

Grace Honeyman ’26 describes her final project, made with AI, for Juan Hinestroza’s class “Textiles, Apparel and Innovation Design” in fall 2023.

By Susan Kelley, Cornell Chronicle

For 15 years, Professor Juan Hinestroza had been teaching his course on innovative textiles essentially the same way. But last fall, he changed it up, requiring his students to use generative AI.

In the past, the final project took a five-student team two months to finish. Last semester, each student working alone with AI did it in two weeks – with superior results.

Documenting their progress with blog posts, the students used AI tools to summarize research papers, then used that information to update an existing design that applies innovative textiles to a garment or object to solve a real-world problem. Some improved gloves that ease arthritis. Others updated shoes that convert the wearer’s movement to energy that warms the feet of people with diabetes. They also used the tools to create images of their designs. For the final research posters, they used only AI for imagery, text and references.

Juan Hinestroza, the Rebecca Q. Morgan ’60 Professor of Fiber Science and Apparel Design in the College of Human Ecology, has embraced the use of AI in his courses.

“AI really liberated them to dig deeper. It’s like a calculator: You can spend your time doing your calculations by hand. But if you have a calculator, then you can spend more time doing something else,” said Hinestroza, the Rebecca Q. Morgan ’60 Professor of Fiber Science and Apparel Design in the College of Human Ecology (CHE).

He is one of many faculty members across Cornell’s colleges and disciplines who are embracing AI’s capabilities and limitations in their classrooms.

To be sure, some faculty members do not allow the use of AI in their courses; a university committee initiated by Provost Michael I. Kotlikoff offered faculty guidance on the use of AI in the classroom in fall 2023.

“I tell my colleagues, especially those who are opposed to these tools, that you cannot teach the same way you were taught. Because it’s a completely different game,” Hinestroza said. “The reality is that these tools are being used by companies. They’re being used by other universities. So you have to train the students for the real world. The world that we as faculty members think exists – it doesn’t exist anymore.”

Hinestroza is one of five winners of the 2024 Teaching Innovation Awards (see sidebar). They will discuss their approaches at the Provost’s Teaching Innovation Showcase: Creative Responses to Generative AI, on April 11.

“The award winners, and other applicants as well, represent a wide and impressive range of responses to the new challenges and opportunities associated with generative AI in the classroom,” said Steven Jackson, vice provost for academic innovation. “They provide more great evidence of the skill and imagination of Cornell teachers in responding to ongoing changes in the teaching environment.”

‘We’re going to experiment’

Grace Honeyman ’26 had minimal experience with AI prior to taking Hinestroza’s course, “Textiles, Apparel and Innovation Design.” She had never even opened a ChatGPT account on her computer.

Grace Honeyman ’26 gave the AI platform Midjourney the prompt “create a schematic image of an elderly man wearing a piezoelectric nanogenerator embedded textile for medical monitoring” to create this image.

The course introduced her and other students to AI tools that can create images and interpret scientific literature, including ChatGPT, Midjourney, BingChat, Claude.ai, DALL-E, Jasper.ai and Adobe’s Firefly and Sensei. “I told them, ‘I’m learning as you are. And we’re going to experiment,’” Hinestroza said. “The students were incredibly patient and played along as we made mistakes and found ways to optimize the use of tools.”

For her final project, Honeyman redesigned a medical undershirt, which reads the vital signs of people with congestive heart failure, to include a piezoelectric nanogenerator that converts the kinetic energy of the wearer’s movement into electrical energy within the textile, eliminating the need for a bulky battery pack.

Nancy Wang ’24 used the AI DALL-E3 and the prompt “create a schematic of one layer of flexible battery, one layer of woven conductive thread, and one layer of textile” to create this image.

She fed a series of prompts into Midjourney and Bing.AI, which eventually created images that matched what she had in mind. “I don’t have time to do a five-hour Photoshop tutorial and put together a schematic of what my textile looks like,” she said. “Doing that on DALL-E or Midjourney take five or 10 minutes, depending on how long it takes you to type in your prompt.”

That gave her more time to research how to update the technology, textile applications and intended use. “A lot of what people are missing is that students start with an image in our minds,” she said. “It’s not really all being done by AI – we still have to use our creativity.”

And they had to watch out for the tools’ mistakes. Sometimes AI creates images of a hand, for example, that has only three fingers, or “hallucinates” research papers that don’t exist.

“Honestly, being very, very critical of all this technology is one of the most important skills to learn and one of the most important things I did learn from this class,” Honeyman said.

‘The genie is out of the bottle’

A few major AI image-generating tools were released about a month before Jennifer Birkeland , assistant professor of landscape architecture in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, started teaching her course on graphic communication.

And she had heard many professionals in landscape architecture were using them already, so she started playing around with the tools herself. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is really weird and interesting. This is a really critical tool. I need to incorporate this somehow into my class,’” she said.

Matthew Sprague, MLA ’26, used Midjourney AI to create this digital landscape for a class on graphic communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Her students wrote a series of prompts to make the tools create an image that they’d work with for the rest of the semester. They used Rhinoceros 3D, a modeling software, to create 3D models and then cross-sections of the object, and further iterations through the traditional design process.

She aimed to teach students to think critically and become AI literate. “It’s two-sided,” Birkeland said. “Yes, AI is cool and smart, but it’s also dumb.”

For example, she asked students to use one prompt with different AI tools and compare the results. The exercise demonstrated that each tool draws from a different library of data to generate images – and often include racial and gender biases. “I asked, ‘Did you get only men in this one? Or did you only get white men, versus another tool that might have had something else?’” Birkeland said.

The tools are helping Matthew Sprague, MLA ’26, learn to recognize good design, he said. The images AI tools create are “pretty peculiar and strange-looking, mostly,” he said. “It makes you think about style and what visually works or doesn’t. And you can identify some of that in your own work. You need to have some design skills to take that and make it look right.”

Matthew Sprague, MLA ’26, used Midjourney AI to create this image of an urban garden for a class on graphic communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The tools have other limitations. For example, they wouldn’t be able to do assignments for his main studio class, Sprague said. “If I tried to tell it to make those drawings, it wouldn’t have any clue what I was talking about, especially with architectural drawings that need to be precise. It’s not there yet.”

But the tools do level the playing field for students who don’t have a fine-art background, Birkeland said. “People who don’t draw are now able to generate these images, and then use them as references to show people what they’re envisioning.”

Given the increasing use of AI, instructors have a responsibility to teach students how to use it, Birkeland said. “Whether we like it or not, it’s not going away – not at this point. The genie is out of the bottle.”

Transformative change

In the government class “America Confronts the World,” students treated large language models like ChatGPT as interlocutors that supported, rather than substituted for, original writing.

“After attending Center for Teaching Innovation workshops and consulting instructor reflections, we implemented a two-pronged approach that required responsible yet creative student engagement with AI,” said Peter Katzenstein , the Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. He collaborated with his teaching assistants – doctoral candidates Amelia C. Arsenault, M.A. ’23, and Musckaan Chauhan, M.A. ’23 – to integrate AI into the classwork.

“This is a tool that students are using already, and it’s probably not going away,” said Arsenault, whose research focuses on surveillance technologies, which rely heavily on AI. “We thought this would be an opportunity for us to teach them how to use it in a way that was actually most useful for them.”

2024 Teaching Innovation Award

Five faculty members have been honored with the 2024 Teaching Innovation Award, sponsored by the Vice Provost for Academic Innovation and the Center for Teaching Innovation . This year’s theme, “Creative Responses to Generative Artificial Intelligence,” recognizes creative approaches from the last year developed in response to generative AI.

Award winners will present their experiences at the Provost’s Teaching Innovation Showcase: Creative Responses to Generative AI, on April 11. The winners will collaborate with CTI to share their experiences with colleagues.

The winners:

• Jennifer Birkeland , assistant professor of landscape architecture, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences;
• Tracy Carrick , senior lecturer, John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines, College of Arts & Sciences (A&S);
• Juan Hinestroza , the Rebecca Q. Morgan ’60 Professor of Fiber Science and Apparel Design, College of Human Ecology;
• Peter Katzenstein , the Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies, Department of Government, A&S; and
• Amie Patchen , lecturer, Department of Public and Ecosystem Health, College of Veterinary Medicine.

The course focuses on the wide range of views at play in American politics and foreign policy. Four written assignments integrated AI, while four had non-AI prompts.

In one assignment, students wrote an essay based on class readings and then brainstormed an objecting argument; in another, they fed their essay into an AI tool and asked it to come up with an objecting argument that they then counterargued to strengthen their thesis. Throughout the course, the students did reflections on their experiences with AI.

“The students appreciated that we were willing to deal with it in some way, shape or form,” Arsenault said.

Esteban Lau ’25, a government major in A&S, was surprised to find that when he prompted the AI tool to counter his essay, it argued for his point instead. Like other students, he found he had to try several different prompts to get the result he wanted. “I guess that comes down to what people call ‘prompt engineering.’ I’m actually getting better at using the AI tool,” he said.

“But at the same time, I think there’s a lot of value in not using them and developing your own analytical thought,” he said. “And it’s a difficult balance to strike because, you know, some students do use AI writing as a crutch, and they rely on it too heavily. And I think that impacts their education.”

Increasingly there are tools that purport to identify when a student has cheated and used an AI tool to write their essay, but they are highly unreliable, Arsenault said. “Rather than getting yourself in that position where you have to make very difficult, probably impossible decisions about what is and what is not generated by ChatGPT, we can put up parameters about how we would like to see it used in the class. The goal is, the students will learn real skills, and hopefully take those forward with them as they enter the workplace.”

Katzenstein thinks of AI as transformative rather than marginal change, he said. “Students will have to find their way in this world while writing, as a basic cultural technology, will fundamentally change.”

Media Contact

Lindsey knewstub.

Get Cornell news delivered right to your inbox.

You might also like

Gallery Heading

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• Personal Finance
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Election Results
• Delegate Tracker
• AP & Elections
• March Madness
• AP Top 25 Poll
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Personal finance
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

College newspaper sweeps up 2 tiny publications in a volley against growing news deserts

Executive Editor Sabine Martin works in The Daily Iowan newsroom, Feb. 29, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. With many small town newspapers closing, student journalists across the country are heading to school board meetings and covering local elections to fill the void. But now an effort at the University of Iowa has taken it one step further, with the student paper buying two struggling weeklies in what is believed to be a first. (Emily Nyberg/The Daily Iowan via AP)

Sports Editor Kenna Roering works with sports reporters in The Daily Iowan newsroom, Feb. 29, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. With many small town newspapers closing, student journalists across the country are heading to school board meetings and covering local elections to fill the void. But now an effort at the University of Iowa has taken it one step further, with the student paper buying two struggling weeklies in what is believed to be a first. (Emily Nyberg/The Daily Iowan via AP)

Editors talk in The Daily Iowan newsroom, Feb. 29, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. With many small town newspapers closing, student journalists across the country are heading to school board meetings and covering local elections to fill the void. But now an effort at the University of Iowa has taken it one step further, with the student paper buying two struggling weeklies in what is believed to be a first. (Emily Nyberg/The Daily Iowan via AP)

A designer puts a page together in The Daily Iowan newsroom, Feb. 29, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. With many small town newspapers closing, student journalists across the country are heading to school board meetings and covering local elections to fill the void. But now an effort at the University of Iowa has taken it one step further, with the student paper buying two struggling weeklies in what is believed to be a first. (Emily Nyberg/The Daily Iowan via AP)

Executive Editor Sabine Martin, right, passes a drafted paper to Managing Editor Parker Jones in The Daily Iowan newsroom, Feb. 29, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Emily Nyberg/The Daily Iowan via AP)

A designer puts a page together in The Daily Iowan newsroom, Feb. 29, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Emily Nyberg/The Daily Iowan via AP)

• Copy Link copied

With hundreds of U.S. newspaper closings leaving legions with little access to local news, a college newspaper in Iowa has stepped up to buy two struggling weekly publications.

The move by The Daily Iowan, a nonprofit student paper for the University of Iowa, is believed to be a first, though other universities are stepping up to fill America’s news void in different ways.

Students will work alongside the papers’ existing one- or two-person reporting staffs and put themselves to work covering the small communities of Mount Vernon, Lisbon and Solon, Iowa. The weeklies’ owner proposed the buyout to save the publications, which have a combined circulation of 1,900.

“It’s a really great way to help the problem of news deserts in rural areas,” said Sabine Martin, executive editor of The Daily Iowan , who will copy edit stories for one of the papers. She already oversees editorial operations for a school paper whose most recent tax filings show had more than $2 million in net assets.

Since 2005, the U.S. has lost about 70% of newsroom jobs and one-third of all newspapers, said Zach Metzger, director of the State of Local News Project at Northwestern University. He described the industry’s downfall as a “cliff dive.”

Traditional media has been in that dive since big tech and social media began siphoning off the monster share of advertising dollars.

Richard Watts, director for the Center for Community News at the University of Vermont, said his group has identified 120 university-led student reporting programs that provide local news.

A handful of college publications had already been heavily invested in local news, including the University of Missouri, where professional editors supervise journalism students who have produced a community newspaper for decades.

“There’s lots of examples of programs stepping in because the local media ecosystem doesn’t exist in the way it once did,” said Watts, whose school oversees a service that provides student stories to professional news outlets.

It’s a microcosm of industry experimentation, said Barbara Allen, director of college programming at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank.

“I don’t think anybody out there is bold enough yet to say, you know, this is the magic bullet,” she said. “We now believe in a magic shotgun ... it’s going to take hundreds of pellets.”

Each college newspaper attack on news deserts — wide swaths of U.S. communities with no dedicated source of local news — looks different. Some report on state legislatures and distribute the stories statewide. Others produce stories for Spanish-language publications or expand their coverage beyond campus events so they can circulate their papers throughout the community, Watts said.

The man behind selling the two Iowa papers is Bob Woodward, no relation to the Watergate scandal reporter. His family’s business, Woodward Communications, was trying to figure out what to do with two properties that “weren’t performing very well.”

Woodward knew that journalism students at the University of Kansas run an online news site for a nearby community that lost its newspaper. He also knew that the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication saved a 148-year-old weekly, The Oglethorpe Echo, in 2021 by taking it over and turning it into a nonprofit that students write stories for. The deal went through virtually for free, distinguishing it from The Daily Iowan transaction.

And then there is the University of Oregon, where students stepped up to help the Eugene Weekly after it fell victim to an embezzlement scheme in late 2023 that forced layoffs. The students even helped break a story that led to the local school superintendent being outsted, said Peter Laufer, chair of the university’s journalism school.

With these stories in mind, Woodward approached The Daily Iowan’s publisher, Jason Brummond, and asked if it would be interested in a deal.

“We don’t like being in the business of closing newspapers, frankly, or even selling them, but we just felt like they probably deserved a better home,” said Woodward, who stepped down as vice president of the news business earlier this year to oversee fundraising to pay reporters.

Brummond took the proposal to Student Publications Inc., the non-profit that manages The Daily Iowan, and its board approved it unanimously. (The board’s chair, Ryan J. Foley, is an AP correspondent in Iowa City who graduated from the university in 2003.)

The deal was finalized in February, with the nonprofit that runs The Daily Iowan taking over the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun and the Solon Economist.

Neither Woodward nor Brummond disclosed the sale price, though Woodward described it as “a fairly nominal amount.” Brummond said Student Publications may ultimately be required to disclose the amount as part of a tax filing.

Interviews will start soon for interns for the two Iowa papers, said Brummond, who also is serving as publisher of the two weeklies. So far the work has been mainly behind the scenes, absorbing the papers’ half dozen part- and full-time reporters and ad employees and redesigning the publications’ print and online editions.

By fall, university reporting classes will assign stories on the two communities and the editors will decide whether to use them. Ultimately, non-journalism majors might be enlisted to help with the business side of operations.

“Our hope for this is that these are sustainable models that are producing really good journalism,” Brummond said.

Nathan Countryman, the editor at the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun, is eager for the help covering meetings, graduation and beloved community events like Sauerkraut Days. More importantly, though, the deal means the paper won’t close.

“We know what that means for our community,” he said.

The Perks of Being a Sociopath

“Don’t take things personally,” my professor warned my class. “Therapists have a responsibility to compartmentalize social emotions like shame and guilt. Try to ignore them,” he added. “What a patient is feeling toward you is not about you.”

It was day one of Clinical Practicum, a graduate-level psychology course meant to teach us how to work as clinicians. In addition to practical skills like assessment and treatment methods, we were introduced to the concept of transference, the inevitable unconscious process of patients redirecting their feelings onto their therapists. Negative transference was something that evidently contributed to a great deal of clinical burnout, as many therapists have a difficult time separating themselves from the emotions layered upon them by those they’re counseling.

 “What’s the benefit in ignoring social emotions,” I asked.

“It allows you to observe your patient’s feelings,” he replied, “instead of absorbing them.”

That sounded like an advantage.

It wasn’t the first time I’d considered the upside of not connecting with guilt and empathy, social emotions which most people learn in early childhood. As a sociopath, these feelings come less easily to me than inherent emotions like joy and sadness. Dealing with this has certainly been a challenge, but I’ve also come to believe that some atypical traits of my personality type can be beneficial.

The American psychologist George E. Partridge suggested in 1930 that the term “sociopathy” be used to refer to the condition of the subset of individuals exhibiting atypical, antisocial tendencies. Current estimates indicate the prevalence of my personality disorder to be about 5% of the population . That means roughly 15 million people in America could reasonably be considered sociopathic. Yet any Google search on the topic will yield a who’s-who of serial killers and monsters. Like many sociopaths, I can assure you I’m neither. Though, I always knew something about me was different.

Read More: The Evolution of a Narcissist

I’ve never been able to internalize remorse. I started stealing in kindergarten, and my behavior worsened in elementary school. I had urges of violence and struggled with impulse control. By junior high, I was breaking into houses after school to relax. As my personality grew, so did my obsession with the word I’d heard used to describe it. “Sociopath.” Even as a teen I recognized some version of myself in its description. Except I never felt like a monster. And I didn’t want to be destructive.

My rebelliousness was not against parents, or teachers, or authority. It was more of a compulsion, my brain’s desperate way to jolt itself out of a suffocating apathy I had no way to convey to others. My struggle with feeling was like an emotional learning disability.

I knew I lacked empathy and wasn’t as emotionally complex as everyone else. But that was the point: I noticed these differences. This contributed to a unique type of anxiety, a stress associated with the inner conflict some believe compels sociopaths to behave in a way that is damaging. Unlike many on the sociopathic spectrum, I was fortunate to have a support system that enabled me to learn how to cope with this anxiety. That meant I was capable of both self-awareness and evolution, key milestones of emotional development that sociopaths supposedly can’t achieve.

It didn’t add up for me. Why did conventional wisdom, mainstream media, even college-level psychology courses, all pigeonhole such a significant portion of the population as irredeemable villains? There is nothing inherently immoral about having limited access to emotion. Millions of people spend billions every year in an attempt to free their mind and elevate their consciousness through meditation (or prayer) with the goal that is—for me, at least—my default state. Because it’s not what we feel or don’t feel. It’s what we do .

Of course, some sociopathic traits can be used destructively. I’m not trying to minimize the negative aspects of sociopathy or any of the anti-social personality disorders. But they can also be used con structively.

In pursuit of my PhD in clinical psychology, I spent thousands of hours counseling patients. My apathetic baseline enabled me to help people process their complex “big” feelings. I was able to act as an impartial container into which they could pour their deepest secrets, and I reflected no judgment about what they told me. I could better function as a neutral witness instead of a reactive participant because of my personality type. I recognized when negative transference occurred in my sessions, but it didn’t affect me the way it did other clinicians.

Secure in the knowledge that my psychological well-being isn’t something they need to protect, my friends and family, too, spare no details when looking to me for advice, support, or encouragement. This transparency allows me to be impartial when helping them confront often overwhelming feelings of indecisiveness, inferiority, shame, or guilt. Because I don’t experience those learned social emotions the way most people do, I can usually offer an insightful, helpful point of view.

I feel fortunate to have been spared the downside of these societal constructs. While research on sociopathy may still be sparse, there is no shortage of resources detailing the harmful effects of shame and guilt. From low self-esteem and a propensity toward anxiety and depression, to problems with sleep and digestion, the negative aspects of these emotions seem, to me, to far outweigh the positive.

Society would undoubtably fall to pieces if nobody ever felt bad about doing bad things. I get that. I acknowledge that “good” behavior is beneficial to society, just as I know there are tremendous benefits to living in a harmonious community. But, contrary to popular belief, it’s quite possible to make good choices even without the burdens of guilt and shame.

As someone whose choices are not dependent on these constructs, I like to think I can offer a helpful perspective. I’ve found that lending this point of view to people I care about lets them see their obligations through a more objective lens. This allows for healthy boundary-setting and self-advocacy, which can be just as helpful to overall well-being. Conversely, I’ve been able to adopt pro-social perspectives offered by others, enabling me to learn how they interpret things and better internalize empathy and compassion.

Like so many psychological conditions, sociopathy exists on a severity spectrum. For more than half a century we have identified sociopaths based solely on the most extreme negative behavioral examples, which only further alienates those living on the less extreme end of the scale. But there are millions of us who would prefer to peacefully coexist, who have accepted our own apathy, and have learned how to be valuable members of our families and community. We’ve learned to do this while living in the shadows. My hope is that one day we can step into the light.

More Must-Reads From TIME

• Jane Fonda Champions Climate Action for Every Generation
• Passengers Are Flying up to 30 Hours to See Four Minutes of the Eclipse
• Biden’s Campaign Is In Trouble. Will the Turnaround Plan Work?
• Essay: The Complicated Dread of Early Spring
• Why Walking Isn’t Enough When It Comes to Exercise
• The Financial Influencers Women Actually Want to Listen To
• The Best TV Shows to Watch on Peacock
• Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time

Contact us at [email protected]

Generate accurate MLA citations for free

• Knowledge Base
• MLA format for academic papers and essays

MLA Format | Complete Guidelines & Free Template

Published on December 11, 2019 by Raimo Streefkerk . Revised on March 5, 2024 by Jack Caulfield.

The MLA Handbook provides guidelines for creating MLA citations and formatting academic papers. This quick guide will help you set up your MLA format paper in no time.

Start by applying these MLA format guidelines to your document:

• Times New Roman 12
• 1″ page margins
• Double line spacing
• ½” indent for new paragraphs
• Title case capitalization for headings

For accurate citations, you can use our free MLA Citation Generator .

Download Word template Open Google Docs template

(To use the Google Docs template, copy the file to your Drive by clicking on ‘file’ > ‘Make a copy’)

Table of contents

How to set up mla format in google docs, header and title, running head, works cited page, creating mla style citations, headings and subheadings, tables and figures, frequently asked questions about mla format.

The header in MLA format is left-aligned on the first page of your paper. It includes

• Your full name
• Your instructor’s or supervisor’s name
• The course name or number
• The due date of the assignment

After the MLA header, press ENTER once and type your paper title. Center the title and don’t forget to apply title-case capitalization. Read our article on writing strong titles that are informative, striking and appropriate.

For a paper with multiple authors, it’s better to use a separate title page instead.

At the top of every page, including the first page, you need to include your last name and the page number. This is called the “running head.” Follow these steps to set up the MLA running head in your Word or Google Docs document:

• Double-click at the top of a page
• Type your last name
• Insert automatic page numbering
• Align the content to the right

The running head should look like this:

The Works Cited list is included on a separate page at the end of your paper. You list all the sources you referenced in your paper in alphabetical order. Don’t include sources that weren’t cited in the paper, except potentially in an MLA annotated bibliography assignment.

Place the title “Works Cited” in the center at the top of the page. After the title, press ENTER once and insert your MLA references.

If a reference entry is longer than one line, each line after the first should be indented ½ inch (called a hanging indent ). All entries are double spaced, just like the rest of the text.

Generate accurate MLA citations with Scribbr

Prefer to cite your sources manually? Use the interactive example below to see what the Works Cited entry and MLA in-text citation look like for different source types.

Headings and subheadings are not mandatory, but they can help you organize and structure your paper, especially in longer assignments.

MLA has only a few formatting requirements for headings. They should

• Be written in title case
• Be left-aligned
• Not end in a period

We recommend keeping the font and size the same as the body text and applying title case capitalization. In general, boldface indicates greater prominence, while italics are appropriate for subordinate headings.

Chapter Title

Section Heading

Tip: Both Google Docs and Microsoft Word allow you to create heading levels that help you to keep your headings consistent.

Tables and other illustrations (referred to as “figures”) should be placed as close to the relevant part of text as possible. MLA also provides guidelines for presenting them.

MLA format for tables

Tables are labeled and numbered, along with a descriptive title. The label and title are placed above the table on separate lines; the label and number appear in bold.

A caption providing information about the source appears below the table; you don’t need one if the table is your own work.

Below this, any explanatory notes appear, marked on the relevant part of the table with a superscript letter. The first line of each note is indented; your word processor should apply this formatting automatically.

Just like in the rest of the paper, the text is double spaced and you should use title case capitalization for the title (but not for the caption or notes).

MLA format for figures

Figures (any image included in your paper that isn’t a table) are also labeled and numbered, but here, this is integrated into the caption below the image. The caption in this case is also centered.

The label “Figure” is abbreviated to “Fig.” and followed by the figure number and a period. The rest of the caption gives either full source information, or (as in the example here) just basic descriptive information about the image (author, title, publication year).

Source information in table and figure captions

If the caption of your table or figure includes full source information and that source is not otherwise cited in the text, you don’t need to include it in your Works Cited list.

Give full source information in a caption in the same format as you would in the Works Cited list, but without inverting the author name (i.e. John Smith, not Smith, John).

MLA recommends using 12-point Times New Roman , since it’s easy to read and installed on every computer. Other standard fonts such as Arial or Georgia are also acceptable. If in doubt, check with your supervisor which font you should be using.

The main guidelines for formatting a paper in MLA style are as follows:

• Use an easily readable font like 12 pt Times New Roman
• Set 1 inch page margins
• Apply double line spacing
• Include a four-line MLA heading on the first page
• Center the paper’s title
• Indent every new paragraph ½ inch
• Use title case capitalization for headings
• Cite your sources with MLA in-text citations
• List all sources cited on a Works Cited page at the end

The fastest and most accurate way to create MLA citations is by using Scribbr’s MLA Citation Generator .

Search by book title, page URL, or journal DOI to automatically generate flawless citations, or cite manually using the simple citation forms.

The MLA Handbook is currently in its 9th edition , published in 2021.

This quick guide to MLA style  explains the latest guidelines for citing sources and formatting papers according to MLA.

Usually, no title page is needed in an MLA paper . A header is generally included at the top of the first page instead. The exceptions are when:

• Your instructor requires one, or
• Your paper is a group project

In those cases, you should use a title page instead of a header, listing the same information but on a separate page.

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. (2024, March 05). MLA Format | Complete Guidelines & Free Template. Scribbr. Retrieved April 3, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/mla/formatting/

Is this article helpful?

Raimo Streefkerk

Other students also liked, creating an mla header, block quoting in mla style, how to format your mla works cited page, what is your plagiarism score.

Colman Domingo Pays Tribute to Louis Gossett Jr. : ‘There Would Be No Me, if There Was No Him’

Gossett Jr., the trailblazing Oscar and Emmy winning actor, died Friday at age 87

By Colman Domingo

Colman Domingo

Colman Domingo is an Emmy winner, as well as Academy Award and Tony-nominated actor, playwright and director. Domingo and Gossett Jr. co-starred in 2023’s “ The Color Purple ,” one of the late Oscar winner’s final films.

There is a moment that our wunderkind director Blitz Bazawule set up for the great Louis Gossett Jr. and me that is one of my most memorable cinematic moments of my entire career. It is a moment created just for our offering of Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple.”

So much being said, so much left unsaid. Just the depth of Lou and I staring straight into each other’s souls and bringing generations of Black men with us in that room. Our families. The history of slavery and its effects on the Black family. The women have left the Easter dinner table — and left no crumbs — as liberation took hold in that hot Georgia home. In our eyes I felt horror, fear, trauma, pain, hurt, rage and regret.

The first day that I met Mr. Gossett, I said “Thank you.” Those were the words I wanted to say. Because I knew that there would be no me, if there was no him. And other giants like him. I always looked to him and James Earl Jones and Glynn Turman and Roscoe Lee Browne and Paul Winfield and Morgan Freeman and Sidney Poitier. Men who came from the theater, like me, who gave such dignity to heroes and villains. Every character had grace in some way shape or form.

Lou and I had many moments off screen just chatting about life and art, and he constantly would talk about the responsibility of youth. To get involved and make this world better. He was a teacher and a humanitarian. He wore Kente cloth and sat with a walking stick. He would ask me after a take, with all the humility in the world, “Was that okay?” I looked at him and said, “Anything you give us is a gift.” And I meant that. He brought years of experience, intelligence, with good humor, light and love to our set. I felt a kinship with him. I called him “Daddy” the entire time, since he was Ole Mista and I was his son.

When he wrapped, I kissed his hands twice. I asked Fantasia to sing a song of thank you. He told us, “Knock ‘em dead, now.” He had tears in his eyes. I couldn’t thank him enough for all that he had given. He ran his race for us. It is up to us to “Knock ‘em dead, now.”

More From Our Brands

Trump lies that it ‘came out’ he won wisconsin during gaffe-filled rally, how bovet’s newest watch solves the horological conundrum of daylight savings time, another ratings record falls as iowa advances to the final four, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, sabrina star kiernan shipka calls chance perdomo ‘a one of a kind soul’ in heartfelt tribute, verify it's you, please log in.

• Share full article

Advertisement

Subscriber-only Newsletter

Paul Krugman

Stuck ships and supply-chain inflation.

By Paul Krugman

Opinion Columnist

It has been a week since the Dali, a container ship, struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. It’s still stuck there, and the images remain amazing, in part because the vessel is so huge compared with what’s left of the bridge. How could planners not have realized that operating superships in the harbor’s confined waters posed a risk?

And with the ship and pieces of the bridge blocking the harbor entry, the Port of Baltimore remains closed. How big a deal is that for the economy?

Well, it would have been quite a big deal if it had happened in late 2021 or early 2022, when global supply chains were under a lot of pressure. Remember when all those ships were steaming back and forth in front of Los Angeles, waiting for a berth?

It’s less important now: Pre-Dali Baltimore was only the 17th busiest U.S. port , and there’s apparently enough spare capacity that most of the cargoes that would normally have passed through Baltimore can be diverted to other East Coast ports. The Dali is no Ever Given , the ship that blocked the Suez Canal when it ran aground in 2021.

Still, global supply chains don’t have as much slack as they did, say, last summer, after the pandemic disruptions were mostly a thing of the past, because Baltimore isn’t the only problem. The Panama Canal is operating at reduced capacity because a historic drought , probably in part a consequence of climate change, has limited the supply of water to fill the canal’s locks.

Elsewhere, the Houthis have been firing missiles at ships entering or leaving the Red Sea, that is, heading to or from the Suez Canal. Presumably as a result of these and other problems, the New York Fed’s widely cited index of global supply chain pressure, while still not flashing the red lights it was showing in the winter of 2021-22, has worsened significantly since last August:

And given what we know about the causes of the inflation surge of 2021-22, this worsening makes me a bit nervous.

I think it’s fair to say that a great majority of economists were caught flat-footed one way or another by inflation developments over the past three years. Along with many others, I failed to predict the big initial run-up in inflation. But even most economists who got that part right appear in retrospect to have been right for the wrong reasons, because they failed to anticipate the “immaculate disinflation” of 2023: Inflation plunged, even though there was no recession, and the high unemployment some claimed would be necessary to get inflation down never materialized.

A side remark: Official measures of inflation were somewhat hot in the first two months of 2024. But much of this probably reflects the so-called January effect (which is actually spread out over January and February), in which many companies raise their prices with the coming of a new year. The Federal Reserve and many independent economists expect disinflation to resume in the months ahead.

So what explains the swift rise and fall of inflation? Way back in July 2021, White House economists argued that we were in a situation resembling the surge in inflation that began in 1946 — that recovery from Covid had created conditions similar to the early postwar period of pent-up demand and disrupted supply chains. The postwar inflation surge ended relatively quickly — after two years — without an extended period of high unemployment.

In retrospect, that analysis looks spot on, since pretty much the same thing seems to have happened in the latest inflation cycle. Following Mike Konczal of the Roosevelt Institute, who has just joined the Biden administration, here’s a plot of annual changes in core inflation — measured as consumer prices excluding food, which is the best number available back to the 1940s — against the unemployment rate:

As you can see, 2023 looks like the late 1940s, not, as inflation pessimists predicted, like the Volcker disinflation of the early 1980s.

A more recent White House analysis puts additional numbers to this diagnosis, estimating a Phillips curve — an equation that is supposed to track inflation — that includes the effects of supply-chain pressure, using the New York Fed measure. According to this model, supply chain pressures (plus the interaction of these pressures with demand) accounted for most of the rise in inflation above the Fed’s 2 percent target during the past several years:

Conversely, the model says that the easing of supply-chain problems as businesses adapted to economic change accounts for most of the disinflation since 2022.

This all makes a lot of sense, and until recently made me feel rather comfortable about the prospects for a soft landing — inflation falling to an acceptable level with unemployment staying low.

But if you think supply-chain disruptions were the main driver of inflation and the easing of these disruptions the main driver of disinflation, you have to be worried about the effects of a renewed worsening of the supply-chain situation.

Now, supply chain problems today aren’t remotely as bad as they were in 2021-22; if the Dali disaster had occurred back then, it really would have been a collapsed bridge too far. At least according to the New York Fed measure, we’ve actually been experiencing a stretch of below-normal supply pressure, and all that has happened is a return to normal. This might not have much adverse effect on inflation.

But I’m not as sure about this as I’d like. Supply chains are making me nervous again.

One difference from the 1940s: Price controls were never a serious prospect.

Immigration and the U.S. post-Covid boom.

Surprise: “ Italy has weathered recent crises well .”

Inflation expectations are down.

Facing the Music

Creating the score for “Dune .”

Paul Krugman has been an Opinion columnist since 2000 and is also a distinguished professor at the City University of New York Graduate Center. He won the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on international trade and economic geography. @ PaulKrugman