HEADINGS WHY USE HEADINGS? Headings serve your reader in a number of ways.

They make the overall organization of a document visually clear to the reader. They also help the reader to navigat through a document and to focus on those parts of a document that are of greatest concern to her. LEVELS OF HEADINGS The typography of headings sends signals to the reader about the relative importance of the information presented under the headings. In general, capitalized, bold headings indicate large topics, while lowercase headings indicate more narrowly-defined topics that contribute to the topic defined by a larger heading. While there is no one fixed system, we might consider the following hierarchy as a useful guide: First Order Headings: Centered, capitalized, boldface. You may have only one first-order heading in a document; it is akin to the title of a paper. Second Order Headings: Left-justified, capitalized, boldface. These demarcate the large sections of the document. They are akin to roman numerals in an outline. Third Order Headings: Left-justified, lower-case, underliuned. These divide the major sections into topical chunks. They are akin to capital letters in an outline. Fourth Order Headings: Indented, lower-case, underliuned. These will be more rare, and serve to highlight important specific points in the paper's subsections. They are akin to arabic numerals in an outline.

GUIDELINES FOR HEADINGS Technical writing experts offer a range of advice on headings. These are some of the most often-cited guidelines, culled from various sources, including Purdue University's Teachign and Lerarning Technology Pages and David McMurrey. Heading Language Make headings descriptive of the sections they introduce. Headings like "Technical Background" don't tell anybody anything. Make headings indicate the range of topic coverage in the section. For example, if the section covers the design and operation of a pressurized water reactor, the heading "Pressurized Water Reactor Design" would be incomplete and misleading. Make the phrasing of headings parallel.

When possible, omit articles from the beginning of headings. For example, "The Pressurized Water Reactor" can easily be changed to "Pressurized Water Reactor" or, better yet, "Pressurized Water Reactors." Avoid pronoun reference to headings. For example, if you have a third-level heading "Torque," don't begin the sentence following it with something like this: "This is a physics principle....."

Heading Mechanics Don't use headings as lead-ins to lists or as figure titles. Make sure that some text intervenes between the heading and the list or figure. Avoid "widowed" headings: that's where a heading occurs at the bottom of a page and the text it introduces start at the top of the next page. Keep at least two lines of body text with the heading, or force it to start the new page. For short documents, begin with the second-level heading; skip the first-level. Avoid "lone headings" -- it's the same concept as having an "A" without a "B" or a "1" without a "2" in outlines. Avoid "stacked headings" -- that's two or more consecutive headings without intervening text.