A running head in APA style is a short, all-caps version of your paper’s title that appears in the page header alongside the page number.

What a running head is

  • It is an abbreviated version of your paper’s title, or the full title if the title is already short.
  • It appears at the top of every page in the header to help identify the paper, especially in print or when pages get separated.
  • It is typically limited to a maximum of 50 characters, including spaces and punctuation.

Current APA (7th edition) rules

  • For professional papers (e.g., manuscripts for publication), the running head is required and appears on every page, aligned left, with the page number aligned right.
  • For student papers , APA 7th edition says a running head is not required unless an instructor or institution specifically asks for it; in that case, you follow the same formatting rules.
  • The text is written in all-capital letters and should not exceed 50 characters.

Old vs. new (APA 6 vs. APA 7)

  • Under APA 6 , the first page usually included the label “Running head:” before the abbreviated title, and later pages used only the title in caps.
  • Under APA 7 , you no longer include the label “Running head:” on any page; you only show the abbreviated title in caps and the page number.

Quick formatting checklist

  • All caps, concise title (≤ 50 characters).
  • Left-aligned in the header; page number right-aligned on the same line.
  • Appears the same on every page when required, including the title page.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.