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Answer: Question headings work best when you know what your audience will ask; statement headings are the next best choice because they are still specific; topic headings are the most formal and often too vague to help.

The three types

• Question: "Why do we use headings?" Most people come to government documents with questions, and the question-and-answer format helps them scan and find specific information.
• Statement: "Add useful headings."
• Topic: "General," "Application," and "Scope" are so vague they may confuse the user; "Application" might mean an application to your agency or what the document applies to.

Writing them

• Develop the headings first, structured around your audience's concerns; this can reveal major groupings of information.
• Be concise and descriptive: headings should be shorter than the content that follows them, but favor clarity over brevity.

Accuracy (CDC Clear Communication Index)

Headings must accurately reflect the information below them; otherwise they can distract or confuse the audience.

See also

• plain-language-headings-and-lists
• plain-sentence-case-headlines

Claims

• id: C1 claim: There are three types of headings. source: S1 evidence: "There are three types of headings:"

• id: C2 claim: Statement headings are the next best choice. source: S1 evidence: "Statement headings are the next best choice because they are still very specific."

• id: C3 claim: Vague topic headings may confuse the user. source: S1 evidence: "so vague they may confuse the user"

• id: C4 claim: Headings must reflect what follows. source: S2 evidence: "Headings must accurately reflect the information that follows"

Sources

• [S1] Add useful headings. GSA / PlainLanguage.gov archive. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GSA/plainlanguage.gov/main/_pages/guidelines/organize/add-useful-headings.md . License: US government work, public domain. Accessed 2026-11-09.

• [S2] CDC Clear Communication Index: User Guide. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). https://www.cdc.gov/ccindex/pdf/clear-communication-user-guide.pdf . License: US government work, public domain. Accessed 2026-11-09.

License: this note is CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted). Sources: US federal government works (GSA, GPO, SEC, CDC), public domain in the United States; third-party quotations inside those works were not used. Text was condensed and changed from the originals.

@misc{iil_note_bhyq81nz,
  author = {{iinventedlight}},
  title = {{Choose question, statement, or topic headings on purpose}},
  howpublished = {iinventedlight Library},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-11-09},
  url = {https://iinventedlight.com/library/notes/plain-heading-types/},
  note = {Permanent ID iil:note:bhyq81nz. License: CC-BY-4.0.},
}

Markdown

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