headings for literature review apa

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APA Headings and Seriation

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Note:  This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style  can be found here .

APA Style uses a unique headings system to separate and classify paper sections. Headings are used to help guide the reader through a document. The levels are organized by levels of subordination, and each section of the paper should start with the highest level of heading. There are 5  heading levels  in APA. Regardless of the number of levels, always use the headings in order, beginning with level 1. The format of each level is illustrated below:

Thus, if the article has four sections, some of which have subsections and some of which don’t, use headings depending on the level of subordination. Section headings receive level one format. Subsections receive level two format. Subsections of subsections receive level three format. For example:

Method  (Level 1)

Site of Study  (Level 2)

Participant Population  (Level 2)

Teachers  (Level 3)

Students  (Level 3)

Results  (Level 1)

Spatial Ability  (Level 2)

Test One  (Level 3)

     Teachers With Experience.  (Level 4)

     Teachers in Training.  (Level 4)

     Teaching Assistants .  (Level 5)

Test Two  (Level 3)

Kinesthetic Ability  (Level 2)

In APA Style, the Introduction section never gets a heading and headings are not indicated by letters or numbers. For subsections in the beginning of a paper (introduction section), the first level of subsection will use Level 2 headings — the title of the paper counts as the Level 1 heading. Levels of headings will depend upon the length and organization of your paper. Regardless, always begin with level one headings and proceed to level two, etc.

Special headings called section labels are used for certain sections of a paper which always start on a new page.

• Paper title
• Appendix A (and so on for subsequent appendices)

These labels should be positioned on their own line at the top of the page where the section starts, in bold and centered. 

APA also allows for seriation in the body text to help authors organize and present key ideas. For lists where a specific order or numbered procedure is necessary, use an Arabic numeral directly followed by a period, such as:

On the basis of four generations of usability testing on the Purdue OWL, the Purdue OWL Usability Team recommended the following:

• Move the navigation bar from the right to the left side of the OWL pages.
• Integrate branded graphics (the Writing Lab and OWL logos) into the text on the OWL homepage.
• Add a search box to every page of the OWL.
• Develop an OWL site map.
• Develop a three-tiered navigation system.

Numbered lists should contain full sentences or paragraphs rather than phrases. The first word after each number should be capitalized, as well as the first word in any following sentence; each sentence should end with a period or other punctuation.

For lists that do not communicate hierarchical order or chronology, use bullets:

In general, participants found the user-centered OWL mock up to be easier to use. What follows are samples of participants' responses:

• "This version is easier to use."
• "Version two seems better organized."
• "It took me a few minutes to learn how to use this version, but after that, I felt more comfortable with it."

Authors may also use seriation for paragraph length text.

For seriation within sentences, authors may use letters:

On the basis of research conducted by the usability team, OWL staff have completed (a) the OWL site map; (b) integrating graphics with text on the OWL homepage; (c) search boxes on all OWL pages except the orange OWL resources (that is pending; we do have a search page); (d) moving the navigation bar to the left side of pages on all OWL resources except in the orange area (that is pending); (e) piloting the first phase of the three-tiered navigation system, as illustrated in the new Engagement section.

Authors may also separate points with bullet lists:

On the basis of the research conducted by the usability team, OWL staff have completed

• the OWL site map;
• integrating graphics with text on the OWL homepage;
• search boxes on all OWL pages except the orange OWL resources (that is pending; we do have a search page);
• moving the navigation bar to the left side of pages on all OWL resources except in the orange area (that is pending);
• piloting the first phase of the three-tiered navigation system, as illustrated in the new Engagement section.

If your bulleted list is part of the sentence and is not preceded by a colon, treat the bullets like a part of the sentence, adhering to standard capitalization and punctuation. This option is helpful for complex or longer bulleted sentences that may be more difficult to read without the aid of punctuation. For items in a bulleted list that are phrases rather than sentences, no punctuation is necessary.

Method of Research--Research Process

• Explore Web Resources
• Reference Books
• Scholarly Articles
• Set up a Research Account!
• Article Log
• Keywords and Subject Terms
• Trunication and Wild Card Symbols
• Evaluating Information
• Primary and Secondary Sources
• Academic, Popular, and Trade Publications
• Scholarly and Peer-Reviewed Journals
• Grey Literature
• Finding Scales, Measurements and Assessments
• Annotated Bibliography
• Literature Review
• Library Guide

AP 7th Edition Headings

You'll want to use headings to structure your lit review. The APA 7th Additions specifies five levels of headings, in descending levels of emphasis (i. e. level 1 headings are the most important and level 5 headings the least).  The number of headings you use will depend on the length and complexity of your paper, but in any case, make sure to begin with a level 1 heading and proceed sequentially to level 2, then level 3, etc.

The introduction to your paper does not begin with a heading of any kind. Note that there cannot be single level 3, 4, or 5 headings. That is, you must have more than one heading at each of those levels.

Level 1 Headings Are Centered, Title Case and Bold With No Closing Period

Start a new, indented paragraph on the next line after Level 1 headings.

Level 2 Headings Are Flush Left (Not Centered and Not Indented) and Are Title Case and Bold With No Closing Period

Start a new, indented paragraph on the next line after Level 2 headings.

Level 3 Headings Are Flush Left (Not Centered and Not Indented) and Are Title Case, Bold, and Italicized, With No Closing Period

Start a new, indented paragraph on the next line after Level 3 headings.

               Level 4 Headings are Indented Left , Title Case and Bold With a Closing Period. Continue writing the paragraph on the same line after Level 4 headings.

          Level 5 Headings are Indented Left , Title Case , Bold, and Italicized With a Closing Period .  Continue writing the paragraph on the same line after Level 5 headings.

Template for APA 7th Edition Papers

• APA 7th Edition Template Here's a handy template for writing papers conforming to the APA 7th Edition, created by our own Prof. William Doverspike. This is a great resource to use when formatting your research papers.

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How to Write a Literature Review: Writing a Literature Review in APA Format

• Writing a Literature Review in APA Format
• Chicago/Turabian Citation Style
• Primary and Secondary Sources
• Basic Research Strategies
• Evaluating Sources
• Using the Library's Ebooks
• Using the Library's Catalog
• Copyright Information
• Contact Information & Feedback

Writing a Literature Review in APA

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Literature Reviews for Medical Sciences

• Introduction

Headings and subheadings

• Heading Levels
• Using Headings and Subheadings
• Special Headings

Level 1 Heading: Centered, Bolded, No Period

          Paragraph will begin on the next line, indented. 

Level 2 Heading: Left-flush, No Indent, Bolded, No Period

           Paragraph will begin on the next line, indented.

Level 3 Heading: Left-Flush, No Indent, Bolded, Italicized, No Period

           Level 4 Heading: Left-Flush, Indented, Bolded, With a Period at the End.  Paragraph will begin on the same line without indentation.

           Level 5 Heading: Left-Flush, Indented, Bolded, Italicized, With a Period at the End.  Paragraph will begin on the same line without indentation.

Always begin with Level 1 Headings for a new section. This is the most important heading, and is used to introduce a new section of your paper, like the introduction, body, and conclusion. Levels 2-5 are considered to be subheadings. You must go in order of the Levels when using headings (start with Level 1 and work your way to Level 5).

Most assignments will only use Levels 1-3 for headings. Levels 4-5 are reserved for complex topics or upper-level research. 

There is no rigid formatting for a body paragraph that uses headings and subheadings. Depending on the complexity of your paper, you may use as many levels of headings as you feel is natural in your paper. As long as your headings are properly formatted in the way listed above, then your paper can be structured with as many/few headings as you like. 

To see an example where these headings are used in proper format, please look at this sample paper . 

Section labels are considered to be special headings. They will always begin on a new page of their own, be bolded, and centered. The following sections of a literature review are considered to be section labels:

• Paper Title

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