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AMA Manual of Style (10th edition ed.) : A Guide for Authors and Editors

AMA Manual of Style Committee

Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Print Publication Date:
Mar 2007
Print ISBN-13:
9780195176339
Published to AMA Manual of Style:
Apr 2009
DOI:
10.1093/jama/9780195176339.001.0001
© American Medical Association
Contents

Number of Headings

Chapter:
Manuscript Preparation
Author(s):

Cheryl Iverson

2.8.2 Number of Headings

There is no requisite number of headings. However, because headings are meant to divide a primary part into secondary parts, and so on, there should be a minimum of 2.

Headings reflect the progression of logic or the flow of thought in an article and thereby guide the reader. Headings also help break up the copy, making the article more attractive and easier to read. Headings may be used even in articles such as editorials and reviews, which usually do not follow the organization described above for research articles. (Other typographic and design elements, such as pullout quotations, bullets [•], enumerations, tabulations, figures, and tables, may also be used for these purposes [see also 22.0, Typography].)