What are headings and why would I need them in a report?
Jenny Morse, PhD
Author and CEO
Headings are the titles and subtitles that name a document or name sections and subsections of a document. So, for example, the title of this blog post is a heading.
Headings vs headers
Because English is a cruel mutt of a language, the word “header” also exists and refers to an element of formatting a document, but it identifies a completely different component. The “header” is the top margin, typically the top 1 inch, where white space or information appears on multiple pages. That information might be a page number, the title of the book or report, or the author’s name.
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Header ≈ top 1in of a page, usually containing information repeated across multiple pages
Heading = Title of a document, section, or subsection
Now that we know what headings are, why do we need them?
Why do we need headings?
Reports are traditionally multipage documents that present objective information like data, research, or results. The outcome of a report is that the audience may use it to make a decision. The writer of the report may or may not know how the report is going to be used. If the writer doesn’t know how it will be used, they usually avoid giving an opinion on any judgment or decision that may result from the report. If the writer *does* know how the report will be used, they might make a recommendation or give an opinion based on the contents they have presented in the report.
Find information
Because the report presents information that is usually long, reports use headings to help the reader find particular parts of the information. For example, a report on a lab experiment might have sections for materials used in the experiment; methodology, or how the experiment was conducted; followed by observations during the experiment; and any results, findings, or outcomes of the experiment. Alternatively, a credit report in the banking industry might have sections to describe the customer, the business, the customer and/or business’s credit history, and the likely ability of the customer and/or business to repay the requested loan.
While there are many ways to organize a report, the components usually go from basic definitions to observations to results. These areas of information can be easily grouped into sections: 1) where necessary terms, materials, people, or entities are defined and described, 2) where observations are recorded, 3) where results, outcomes, next steps, or future implications may be discussed. The purpose of using headings is to help the reader locate relevant information in the document.
Navigate the document
How headings are formatted can also help the reader navigate the document. The title of the report is usually considered the first heading. The format for the title (all caps, bold, underline, large font size) is typically not repeated in the remainder of the document. However, other headings throughout the document may be formatted in the same way to show that they are at the same “level”. In this blog post, the title is bold and centered; headings are bold and left-justified; and subheadings are bold, italicized, and indented.
Example
For something you might write for your job: let’s say that you were writing a credit report. The report may look something like this:
***
Customer Credit Analysis 2022
This report will assess the customer and her business to show that an additional $25,000 loan can reasonably be extended to the customer without significant risk.
Customer: Details about the customer for 1-2 paragraphs.
Business: Details about the business for 1-2 paragraphs.
Risk Assessment: Analysis of the loan and risk, which may take multiple paragraphs to discuss, resulting in subheadings for this section.
Credit History: paragraph
Loan Repayment Schedule: paragraph
Potential Risks: 1-2 paragraphs
Opportunities: 1-2 paragraphs
Loan Recommendation: One paragraph summarizing the outcome and decision resulting from the analysis.
***
As you can see in the above example, the bold headings all connect together into the main topics of the report. The section “Risk Assessment” also has four subheadings, which are shown to be related by the italics.
Headings exist in levels, and each level has to use the same formatting so that the reader understands which sections are main ideas and which topics are subsections of larger ideas.
Conclusion
Think of headings as a guide helping the reader navigate the content of the report. The headings are trail markers, guide posts, signs along the way that identify where the reader is in the report and help them anticipate what information can be found where.
If you are writing reports regularly, keep thinking about how the words and formatting of the headings are helping the reader navigate through the document so that they can easily find the information they are looking for.
