Sections simply divide a paper into different parts. Each section addresses a particular aspect of the paper's main topic. This system helps organize the paper's information in a logical, useful manner, making the paper easier to read and follow. Sections also allow the author to refer clearly to another part of the paper that provides related information.
APA style uses different levels of sections: main sections, secondary sections or subsections and so on. Each primary section can contain multiple subsections, which organize the information in that main section. Even subsections can divide into smaller subsections.
A typical APA research study includes five main sections: Introduction, Literature Review, Methods, Results and Discussion.
Each section must have a specific title, called a heading. APA style doesn't use numbers to label the sections; instead, it uses a system of formatting to clarify whether a heading begins a major section, a subsection or an even smaller section within a subsection. The APA section formatting system has five levels of headings, but most college papers don't need to use all five levels.
A major section heading begins on a fresh line, centered and written in bold. A secondary heading also uses bold letters, but it begins flush left.
You can identify or distinguish most sections by their headings, but one section takes exception to this rule. The introduction, although an essential section that every paper should include, doesn't get its own heading, in APA style. Instead, readers should assume that the first section is the introduction.