Running Head

running head [′rən·iŋ ′hed]

(graphic arts)

A title (as of a chapter, of a section, or of the book itself) which appears at the top of almost every page of a book.

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Running Head 

heading information, such as the title of a work, part, chapter, or paragraph, found at the top of each page of a book, newspaper, or magazine. In encyclopedias and dictionaries running heads—titles of the first and last articles on a page or their initial letters—replace the table of contents, thus facilitating location of material. Running heads are used for the same purpose in scientific and scholarly literature with a complicated textual organization. In magazines the author’s last name and the title of the work are usually included in the running head, and in newspapers the running head consists of the name, date, and consecutive number of the newspaper.