How to Develop and Format Term Paper Headings

Table of Contents

Why Use Headings and Subheadings?
Which Term Paper Sections Need Headings?
How to Craft an Excellent Heading for a Term Paper
How to Formal Term Paper Headings In APA, MLA, and Turabian
APA Term Paper Headings
MLA Term Paper Headings
Chicago and Turabian Term Paper Headings
FAQ
What Is the Proper Way to Have Headings on Term Paper?
Should I Use Paragraph Headings in a Term Paper?
What Does the Abstract Heading Mean on a Term Paper?

Term paper headings make your work easy to navigate and add a polished, professional look that professors love. Crafting and formatting section headings for a term paper is also excellent practice for when your capstone project or thesis comes around. Today, we’ll answer all your questions and walk you through the formatting minefield. 

Why Use Headings and Subheadings?

Headings and subheadings are titles preceding term paper sections or chapters. Their primary purpose is to improve the reading experience for your audience. It’s the same principle blog posts like this one use. Instead of publishing a long sheet of unbroken text, we’ve included headings to help you better navigate the article and find what you’re looking for faster. So if your reader wants to focus on methodology or results first and skip the term paper introduction and literature review, headings will be invaluable. Moreover, if you craft your subheadings to summarize individual sections, your readers can grasp core ideas at a glance.

The term paper headings’ secondary goal is making your paper look good. If you follow the appropriate formatting rules, your piece will look polished and professional, making an excellent first impression on your TA and professor.

Which Term Paper Sections Need Headings?

If you don’t know the answer to this question, consult your TA or professor. 

We can only provide you with common term paper headings considerations, although your school’s requirements may differ.

• Major section headings. These usually include Introduction, Background, Literature Review, Methodology, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion. The specific list of major sections depends on your class and research. For example, if your study is purely literature-based, you can likely avoid the Results and Discussion sections. 
• Subsection headings. Some major sections, like Introduction, do not need subdivision, but others do. For example, you can split your Methodology chapter into subsections devoted to each experiment or different theoretical and empirical research methods.
• Subsubsection headings. You can use third, fourth, and fifth-level headings if certain sections of your research paper calls for it, but don’t overuse them. Individual paragraphs do not require separate titles.

Abstract, Acknowledgements, Reference List, and Appendices are considered section labels. Still, we do not include them in this discussion, as specific formatting style requirements usually cover them.

How to Craft an Excellent Heading for a Term Paper

Once again, we refer you to your assignment prompt or professor’s office hours for specific requirements regarding term paper headings. Your professor may limit you to standard Level 1 headings or give you the complete creative freedom to use as many headings of different levels as you see fit. 

Still, we can share a few standard recommendations most professors will not protest:

• Choose Level 1 headings among the standard options: Introduction, Literature Review, Conclusion, etc.
• Levels 2 through 5 headings should be concise and specific. Sentence fragments are acceptable—for example, Statistical Analysis or Population Sample.
• Level 2 to 5 headings should follow the same pattern to make the paper look consistent. For example, if you formulate one heading as a question, the rest should also end in a question mark.
• All levels of heading should follow subordination. Each consecutive level should be more specific. You’ll need a higher-level header if you wish to include general information.
• Same-level subheadings within the same section should be coordinated, have equal weight, and cover similar portions of the term paper.

How to Format Term Paper Headings In APA, MLA, and Turabian

APA Term Paper Headings

The APA formatting guidelines allow five levels of headings that follow the same basic rules:

• They are not numbered in any way (no Arabic or Roman numbers or letters).
• They all use title case, with only the major words capitalized.
• They all use bold typefaces.

Otherwise, the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual requires the following format for headings:

And the example:

Literature Review (Level 1)

Methodology (Level 1)

Experiment Design (Level 2)

Population (Level 3)

Sample Size. (Level 4)

Experiment 1. (Level 5)

Experiment 2. (Level 5)

Statistical Analysis (Level 2)

Results (Level 1)

Conclusion (Level 1)

Each section starts with a Level 1 heading and goes through the lower level headings in order, without skipping levels. However, the paper title is considered a Level 1 heading for the opening section, and the “Introduction” heading is omitted. Instead, the subheadings are formatted as Level 2 and lower. 

Section labels, such as Abstract, Paper title, References, Footnotes, and Appendix A (and the following), always start on a new page and are formatted as Level 1 headings.

MLA Term Paper Headings

There are no specific requirements regarding headings in the 9th edition of the MLA Handbook. However, the main recommendations applicable to all headers require you to:

• Use title case, capitalizing only the major words of the headings.
• Number headings with an Arabic number with a period and a space before the section name.
• Avoid periods at the end of the headers and start the paragraph on a new line, indented.
• Use consistent formatting throughout the paper and provide your professor with a formatting key.

The following sample demonstrates possible heading formatting and should not be considered a requirement.

And the example:

1. Literature Review (Level 1)2. Methodology (Level 1)

2.1 Experiment Design (Level 2)

2.1.1 Population (Level 3)

2.1.1.1 Sample Size. (Level 4)

2.1.1.1.1 Experiment 1. (Level 5)

2.1.1.1.2 Experiment 2. (Level 5)

2.2 Statistical Analysis (Level 2)

2.3 Results (Level 1)

2.4 Conclusion (Level 1)

Chicago and Turabian Term Paper Headings

Like the MLA Handbook, The Chicago Manual of Style doesn’t have specific requirements regarding term paper heading format. Still, there are general recommendations:

• Use title case for headings and avoid terminal period.
• Develop consistent and distinctive formatting for different heading levels.
• Use no more than three heading levels.
• Start each heading on a new line.

The following Turabian term paper headings formatting is a sample. Feel free to alter it to fit your paper best.

And the example:

Literature Review (Level 1)

Methodology (Level 1)

Experiment Design (Level 2)

Population (Level 3)

Sample size. (Level 4)

Experiment 1. (Level 5)

Experiment 2. (Level 5)

Statistical Analysis (Level 2)

Results (Level 1)

Conclusion (Level 1)

Employ the above recommendations and examples to craft informative and correctly formatted headings for your paper. Alternatively, order your term papers from our writing service and forget about academic stress and sleepless nights.

FAQ

What is the proper way to have headings on term paper?

Most term papers should have at least Level 1 headings, like Introduction, Conclusion, etc. Ask your professor for heading requirements and follow the appropriate formatting rules. The wording of the headings should be specific and concise, and their structure should be the same within each primary section. Sounds too complicated? Type "write my college term paper" into our live chat, and we'll take care of your term paper.

Should I use paragraph headings in a term paper?

Not unless your professor requests them. Section headings are not necessary for individual paragraphs. Instead, use them to divide large portions of the paper and highlight your piece’s structure and logical flow. Remember, headings are primarily necessary to make the term paper readable.

What does the abstract heading mean on a term paper?

The abstract is a brief overview or summary of the term paper. After reading an abstract, a reader should be able to tell what your paper is about in general terms. Abstracts follow formatting style requirements and are usually no longer than one page (up to 250-300 words) and include a list of keywords.