This section provides a quick resource for citing references in papers using the 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2009).
- Orientation to APA
- Parenthetical Citations
- Where to place citations
- One or two authors
- Three or more authors
- No authors
- Multiple sources in one reference
- Electronic sources
- Reference List
- Book
- Dissertation
- Government report
- Journal article
- Magazine or newspaper article
- Publication, private organization
- Conference paper or poster session
- Electronic source
- Format the references list
- Format and Headings
- Usage and Style
APA Headings
All APA formatted documents use headings that show your readers how your paper is organized by labeling the parts and by indicating which parts are equally important and which are subordinate to others.
For a complete treatment of the politics of headings, take a look at the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, sixth edition (2010), pages 62-63.
Level 1 Headings
Most undergraduate papers often use only Level 1 headings, which are:
- centered
- boldface
- uppercase and lowercase
Level One Heading
text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text
Level 1 and 2 Headings
Slightly more complex undergraduate papers often use Level 1 and Level 2 headings.
Level 2 headings are:
- flush left
- boldface
- uppercase and lowercase
Level One Heading
Level Two Heading
text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text
Level 1, 2, and 3 Headings
Papers that are long or that have many subsections often use Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 headings.
Level 3 headings are:
- indented
- boldface
- sentence case (only 1st letter capitalized)
- followed by a period, and then immediately by text
Level One Heading
Level Two Heading
Level three heading. text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text
Level 1, 2, 3, and 4 Headings
Multiexperiment studies, monographs, and lengthy literature reviews often require Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4 headings.
Level 4 headings are:
- indented
- boldface
- sentence case (only 1st letter capitalized)
- followed by a period, and then immediately by text
Level One Heading
Level Two Heading
Level three heading. text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text
Level four heading. text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text
Level 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 Headings
Books often use Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4, and Level 5 headings.
Level 5 headings are:
- indented
- italicized
- sentence case (only 1st letter capitalized)
- followed by a period, and then immediately by text
Level One Heading
Level Two Heading
Level three heading. text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text
Level four heading. text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text
Level five heading. text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text
Last updated: Monday, 2 July 2012
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