Medical Sciences Library
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
Paragraph will begin on the next line, indented.
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:
