Question

the general notation for your subtopic in an outline is....

Answer 1

That depends on what your topic is.

Answer 2

@harrypotter2 this doesn't depend on your topic. this is a general question for organizing and outlining

Answer 3

Hmm.. well then I'm not sure what the answer to this would be.
I thought that it would depend on your topic.
An example: The topic of the paper is bullying thus the subtopic would be cyber bullying and verbal abuse.