Title case

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Title case or headline case is a style of capitalization used for rendering the titles of published works or works of art in English. When using title case, all words are capitalized, except for minor words (typically articles, short prepositions, and some conjunctions) that are not the first or last word of the title. There are different rules for which words are major, hence capitalized. As an example, a headline might be written like this: "The Quick Brown Fox Jumps over the Lazy Dog".

Contents

Rules

The rules of title case are not universally standardized. The standardization is only at the level of house styles and individual style guides. Most English style guides agree that the first and last words should always be capitalized, whereas articles, short prepositions, and some conjunctions should not be. Other rules about the capitalization vary. [1]

In text processing, title case usually involves the capitalization of all words irrespective of their part of speech. This simplified variant of title case is also known as start case or initial caps.

AP Stylebook

According to the Associated Press Stylebook (2020 edition, 55th edition), the following rules should be applied: [2]

Chicago Manual of Style

According to The Chicago Manual of Style (15th edition), the following rules should be applied: [4]

Since the 18th edition (2024), prepositions of more than four letters are capitalized. [6]

Modern Language Association (MLA) Handbook

According to the 9th edition of the Modern Language Association Handbook, the following title capitalization rules should be applied: [7]

APA Style

According to the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, the following title capitalization rules should be applied: [7]

American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style Capitalization Rules

According to the 11th edition of the American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style, the following title capitalization rules should be applied: [7]

The Bluebook

According to the 21st edition of The Bluebook , used for legal citations, the following title capitalization rules should be applied: [7]

Title case in references

The use of title case or sentence case in the references of scholarly publications is determined by the used citation style and can differ from the usage in title or headings. For example, APA Style uses sentence case for the title of the cited work in the list of references, but it uses title case for the title of the current publication (or for the title of a publication if it is mentioned in the text instead). Moreover, it uses title case for the title of periodicals even in the references. [8] Other citation styles like Chicago Manual of Style are using title case also for the title of cited works in the list of references. [9]

See also

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References

  1. "Title Capitalization Rules". Title Case Converter. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  2. The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law (46th ed.). New York: Basic Books. 2011. pp. 65–66. ISBN   9780465021871.
  3. Title, Capitalize My (2021-04-25). "Title Capitalization Rules". Capitalize My Title. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  4. Grossman, John (2003). The Chicago Manual of Style (Fifteenth ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 366–368. ISBN   0226104036.
  5. "Title Capitalization Tool - Capitalize My Title - Title Case Tool". Capitalize My Title. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  6. "Announcing The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th Edition". CMOS Shop Talk. University of Chicago. 2024-04-16. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Title Capitalization Tool - Capitalize My Title - Title Case Tool". Capitalize My Title. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  8. Lee, Chelsea (2012-03-09). "APA Style 6th Edition Blog: Title Case and Sentence Case Capitalization in APA Style". blog.apastyle.org. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  9. "Why don't titles show up in sentence case in bibliographies?". Zotero Documentation. Retrieved 2021-01-13.