Should all subsections of a paper start on a new page?

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Depending on the length and complexity of the work, you choose the top level sectioning.

  • For short works -- scientific paper, lecture notes < 80 pages, etc., you in general use only sections and lower.

  • For longer works -- thesis, long lecture notes, books, etc., you in general use chapters, sections and lower.

  • If your long work has multiple sort-of separated parts, you can add parts -- notice, however, that usually, part numbering is independent. Therefore for instance Part I contains chapters 1, 2, 3 with some sections, and Part II contains chapers starting from 4, ...

Now, the standard way to go is to start parts and chapters on a new page, and leave sections running through the pages.

Needed to say, most standard publications (articles, conference abstracts, theses, books by standard publishers, ...) have to comply with some guidelines provided by the publisher, and these guidelines are usually very restrictive.

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Bram Vanroy
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Bram Vanroy

Updated on May 11, 2021

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  • Bram Vanroy
    Bram Vanroy over 2 years

    I am finalising a paper that is around 85 pages long. It consists of six main sections with a bunch of subsections. Should every subsection start on a new page? What is the convention concerning this? And should a subject also start on a new page after an introductory paragraph of its parent section? For instance:


    3. Balloons are funny

    In this section I will first present reasons why balloons should not be used on occasions that are depressing. For instance, bringing balloons to a funeral will not cheer people up. Secondly I will discuss different colours that can lead to different reactions. As an example one should not bring red balloons to a bull pen. Lastly I will make clear why clowns should always have balloons with them as to not come across evil.

    <-- PAGE BREAK? -->

    3.1 Balloons are not a go-to cheer up tool

    When confronted with a sad or depression situation, a first reaction might be to try and cheer everybody up. One should be careful with the methods he uses though. Do not tell a joke about cancer patients if someone just deceased after months of chemo. Do not bring balloons to a funeral.


    Hopefully this ad lib writing makes my question clear. (If it is any help, my institution uses APA as a style guide.)