TL;DR

• A running head is a shortened title printed at the top of every page.

• APA 7th edition removed the running head requirement for student papers.

• Professional manuscripts still require a running head in APA format.

• Running heads must be 50 characters or fewer, including spaces.

• Formatting rules differ between APA, MLA, and Chicago style guides.

You have finished your research paper. You are ready to submit. Then the journal guidelines mention a "running head" and you are not sure what that means or whether you even need one. This is one of those small formatting details that trips up first-time submitters more than almost anything else.

The confusion is understandable. Different style guides handle running heads differently. Some journals require them. Others do not. And the rules changed in 2020 when the American Psychological Association (APA) released its 7th edition, which quietly removed the running head requirement for student papers entirely.

Getting this right matters. A paper that arrives with incorrect header formatting signals to an editor that the author did not read the submission guidelines carefully. That impression is hard to recover from before anyone has read a single word of your research.

What Is a Running Head

A running head is a short version of your paper's title that appears in the header of every page. Its purpose is practical: in the days of print publishing, it helped readers navigate a journal by identifying which article they were reading without needing to flip back to the first page. In APA format specifically, the running head appears in all capital letters, flush to the left margin, with the page number flush to the right on the same line.

The term itself comes from traditional typesetting. A "running" element is one that repeats across multiple pages, as opposed to a static element that appears only once. So a running head simply means a repeating header. In academic publishing, this header contains an abbreviated form of your paper's title, not your name, not your institution, and not the full title.

If your full title is "The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Working Memory in Adolescents Aged 14 to 17," your running head might read: SLEEP DEPRIVATION AND WORKING MEMORY IN ADOLESCENTS. That version is under 50 characters, all caps, and captures the core subject clearly.

If you are preparing your first submission and want to understand the broader formatting landscape before diving into header specifics, the guide on what makes a research paper publishable covers the structural expectations journals hold across the board.

Do You Actually Need a Running Head

Whether you need a running head depends entirely on which style guide the journal or assignment requires. APA 7th edition no longer requires running heads for student papers submitted for coursework. Professional manuscripts submitted for publication still require them. MLA style does not use running heads in the same way. Chicago style uses them in published books but not typically in manuscript submissions.

Here is how to decide:

1. Check whether the journal specifies APA, MLA, Chicago, or its own house style.

2. If APA is required, confirm whether you are submitting a student paper or a professional manuscript. The APA Publication Manual (7th edition, Section 2.8) defines the difference clearly.

3. If you are submitting to a journal directly, read the author submission guidelines on the journal's own website. Those guidelines override any general style guide defaults.

4. If the guidelines are silent on running heads, email the editorial office and ask. A short, polite query is always better than guessing wrong.

Journals like the Journal of Research in Science Teaching and Frontiers for Young Minds publish their submission guidelines publicly. Both specify formatting requirements in detail. Reading those pages before you format your manuscript saves significant revision time later. If you want to understand how journals evaluate papers at a structural level, the overview of what peer review is and what happens to your paper explains what editors and reviewers are actually looking at during that process.

If you are working through journal selection and formatting at the same time, Publication Compass can help you identify journals that match your research area and flag the specific formatting requirements for each one, so you are not cross-referencing multiple guidelines manually. You can join the waitlist to get early access when it launches.

How to Format a Running Head in APA Style

For a professional APA manuscript, the running head goes in the page header, left-aligned, in all capital letters, with no more than 50 characters including spaces. The page number sits on the same line, right-aligned. On the title page only, the words "Running head:" preceded the abbreviated title in APA 6th edition. APA 7th edition removed that label entirely, even for professional papers.

Follow these steps to set up a running head correctly in a word processor:

1. Open the header section of your document (in Microsoft Word, double-click the top margin area).

2. Set the header to be different on the first page if your style guide requires a different first-page header, which APA 6th edition did but APA 7th edition no longer requires for the "Running head:" label.

3. Type your abbreviated title in all capital letters, left-aligned.

4. Insert an automatic page number, right-aligned, on the same line. Use a tab stop set to the right margin to align it correctly.

5. Count your characters. Include every letter and every space. If you exceed 50 characters, shorten the title further. Cut articles and prepositions first.

One common mistake is abbreviating the title so aggressively that it no longer reflects the paper's subject. STUDY ON THINGS is not a useful running head. Keep enough of the core terms that a reader could identify the paper's field and topic from the header alone.

What Is a Running Head in MLA and Chicago Format

MLA format does not use a running head in the APA sense. Instead, MLA style places the author's last name and the page number in the upper right corner of every page, which serves a similar navigational function but is formatted differently. There is no abbreviated title in the MLA header. The Modern Language Association Handbook (9th edition) describes this in Section 1.4.

Chicago style, as described in the Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition), uses running heads in published books and journal articles, but the conventions vary by publication. For manuscript submissions, Chicago typically does not require a running head unless the journal's own guidelines specify one. When Chicago running heads are used in published work, they often alternate between the book or journal title on left-hand pages and the chapter or article title on right-hand pages.

For student researchers submitting to journals that accept high school research, the practical takeaway is this: always go to the journal's author guidelines first. Style guide defaults are starting points, not final answers. Understanding how journals categorise and assess submissions is easier once you know what an impact factor means for student researchers and how journals position themselves within their fields.

Common Running Head Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Most running head errors fall into a small number of categories. Knowing them in advance means you will not submit a manuscript with a preventable formatting problem.

The first mistake is using the full title instead of an abbreviated version. The 50-character limit exists for a reason. A running head that wraps onto a second line is not a running head, it is a formatting error.

The second mistake is using title case instead of all capitals in APA format. APA running heads are fully capitalised. SLEEP DEPRIVATION AND MEMORY is correct. Sleep Deprivation and Memory is not, in APA context.

The third mistake is including the running head when the journal does not require one. Some journals, particularly those with their own house style, explicitly ask authors not to include headers beyond the page number. Adding one anyway suggests you did not read the guidelines.

The fourth mistake is forgetting to suppress the running head on pages where it should not appear, or failing to include it on pages where it should. In most APA manuscripts, the running head appears on every page including the title page. Check your word processor's header settings to confirm it is appearing consistently.

Before you submit, it is worth understanding what happens after your paper clears the initial formatting check. The post on what happens after your paper is accepted walks through the production and publication stages in plain terms.

Why Running Heads Still Matter for Student Researchers

You might reasonably ask whether running heads matter at all now that APA 7th edition has dropped them for student papers. They do, for two reasons. First, if you are submitting to a peer-reviewed journal rather than turning in coursework, you are producing a professional manuscript, and professional APA manuscripts still require them. Second, learning to format a running head correctly is part of learning how published academic work is structured. Journals have formatting standards because consistency makes large volumes of submissions easier to process. Demonstrating that you can meet those standards is part of demonstrating that your work is ready for publication.

High school researchers who are serious about submitting to journals are already operating in professional territory. The formatting conventions are not obstacles. They are signals that you understand how the system works.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a running head in APA format

A running head in APA format is a shortened version of your paper's title, written in all capital letters, that appears in the header of every page of a professional manuscript. It must be 50 characters or fewer including spaces. APA 7th edition removed this requirement for student papers but retained it for manuscripts submitted for publication.

Do student papers need a running head

Under APA 7th edition, student papers submitted for coursework do not require a running head. However, if you are submitting your paper to a journal for peer review, you are writing a professional manuscript, not a student paper, and the running head requirement applies. Always check the journal's own submission guidelines to confirm.

How long can a running head be

A running head in APA format cannot exceed 50 characters, including spaces. If your abbreviated title is longer than 50 characters, shorten it further by removing articles, prepositions, and less essential words while keeping the core subject terms. Count every character and space carefully before finalising your header.

Is a running head the same as a page header

A running head is a type of page header, but not all page headers are running heads. In APA format, the running head is the specific abbreviated title that appears in the header. MLA format uses a different kind of header containing the author's last name and page number, which serves a similar function but follows different rules.

What happens if I format my running head incorrectly

An incorrectly formatted running head will not automatically cause a journal to reject your paper, but it signals to editors that you may not have read the submission guidelines carefully. Many journals return manuscripts for formatting corrections before peer review begins. Getting it right the first time keeps your submission moving forward without delays.

Getting the Details Right Before You Submit

Running heads are a small part of the submission process, but they represent something larger: attention to the specific requirements of the journal you are targeting. Every journal has its own standards. Meeting them precisely is part of the work. Read the author guidelines. Check the style edition. Count your characters. These steps take minutes and they matter.

If you want to explore more of what goes into preparing a paper for submission, the Publication Compass blog covers the full process, from identifying a research gap to understanding what happens after acceptance.