Editing Title case

{{Short description|Capitalization style}}
{{For|the Wikipedia style guidelines|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Titles#Capital letters}}

'''Title case''' or '''headline case''' is a style of [[capitalization]] used for rendering the [[title (publishing)|titles]] of published works or works of art in [[English language|English]]. When using title case, all words are capitalized, except for minor words (typically [[Article (grammar)|articles]], short [[preposition]]s, and some [[Conjunction (grammar)|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".

==Rules==
The rules of title case are not universally standardized. The standardization is only at the level of house styles and individual [[style guide]]s. Most English style guides agree that the first and last words should always be capitalized, whereas articles, short [[preposition]]s, and some [[Conjunction (grammar)|conjunctions]] should not be. Other rules about the capitalization vary.<ref>{{cite web |title=Title Capitalization Rules |url=https://titlecaseconverter.com/rules/ |website=Title Case Converter |access-date=16 September 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

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 [[Letter_case#Stylistic_or_specialised_usage|''start case'']] or ''initial caps''.

=== ''AP Stylebook'' ===
According to the ''[[AP Stylebook|Associated Press Stylebook]]'' (2020 edition, 55th edition), the following rules should be applied:<ref name="ap">{{cite book |title=The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law |date=2011 |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |isbn=9780465021871 |pages=65–66 |edition=46th}}</ref>

* Capitalize the principal words.
* Capitalize prepositions and conjunctions of four letters or more.
* Lowercase the articles ''the'', ''a'', and ''an''.
* Capitalize the first and last words (overrides the rules above).
* Capitalize the "to" in infinitives (e.g., I Want To Play Guitar).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Title |first=Capitalize My |date=2021-04-25 |title=Title Capitalization Rules |url=https://capitalizemytitle.com/capitalization-rules/ |access-date=2022-06-13 |website=Capitalize My Title |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== ''Chicago Manual of Style'' ===
According to ''[[The Chicago Manual of Style]]'' (15th edition), the following rules should be applied:<ref name="chicago">{{cite book |last1=Grossman |first1=John |title=The Chicago Manual of Style |date=2003 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |isbn=0226104036 |pages=366–368 |edition=Fifteenth |url=https://archive.org/stream/chicagomanualofs00univ_0?ref=ol#page/366/mode/2up}}</ref>

* Always capitalize "major" words (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and some conjunctions).
* Lowercase the conjunctions ''and'', ''but'', ''for'', ''or'', and ''nor''.
* Lowercase the articles ''the'', ''a'', and ''an''.
* Lowercase [[List of English prepositions|prepositions]], regardless of length, except when they are stressed, are used adverbially or adjectivally, or are used as conjunctions.
* Lowercase the words ''to'' and ''as''.
* Lowercase the second part of [[Binomial nomenclature|Latin species names]].
* Lowercase the second word after a hyphenated prefix (e.g., Mid-, Anti-, Super-, etc.) in compound modifiers (e.g., Mid-year, Anti-hero, etc.).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Title Capitalization Tool - Capitalize My Title - Title Case Tool |url=https://capitalizemytitle.com/ |access-date=2022-06-13 |website=Capitalize My Title |language=en-US}}</ref>
* Always capitalize the first and last words of titles and subtitles (overrides the rules above).

Since the 18th edition (2024), prepositions of more than four letters are capitalized.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://cmosshoptalk.com/2024/04/16/announcing-the-chicago-manual-of-style-18th-edition/|title=Announcing ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', 18th Edition|work=CMOS Shop Talk|publisher=University of Chicago|date=2024-04-16|access-date=2024-10-12}}</ref>

=== ''Modern Language Association (MLA) Handbook'' ===
According to the 9th edition of the [[MLA Handbook|Modern Language Association Handbook]], the following title capitalization rules should be applied:<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Title Capitalization Tool - Capitalize My Title - Title Case Tool |url=https://capitalizemytitle.com/#APAStyle |access-date=2022-06-13 |website=Capitalize My Title |language=en-US}}</ref>

* Capitalize the first word of the title/heading and of any subtitle/subheading.
* Capitalize all major words (nouns, verbs including phrasal verbs such as "play with", adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns) in the title/heading, including the second part of hyphenated major words (e.g., Self-Report not Self-report).
* Lowercase the second word after a hyphenated prefix (e.g., Mid-, Anti-, Super-, etc.) in compound modifiers (e.g., Mid-year, Anti-hero, etc.).
* Do not capitalize articles, prepositions (regardless of length), and coordinating conjunctions.
* Do not capitalize "to" in infinitives (e.g., I Want to Play Guitar).

=== ''APA Style'' ===
According to the 7th edition of the [[APA style|Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association]], the following title capitalization rules should be applied:<ref name=":0" />

* Capitalize the first word of the title/heading and of any subtitle/subheading
* Capitalize all major words (nouns, verbs including phrasal verbs such as "play with", adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns) in the title/heading, including the second part of hyphenated major words (e.g., Self-Report not Self-report)
* Capitalize all words of four letters or more.
* Lowercase the second word after a hyphenated prefix (e.g., Mid-, Anti-, Super-, etc.) in compound modifiers (e.g., Mid-year, Anti-hero, etc.).

=== ''American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style Capitalization Rules'' ===
According to the 11th edition of the [[AMA Manual of Style|American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style]], the following title capitalization rules should be applied:<ref name=":0" />

* Capitalize the first and the last word of titles and subtitles.
* Capitalize nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs (including phrasal verbs such as "play with"), adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions (major words).
* Lowercase articles (a, an, the), [[Conjunction (grammar)#Coordinating conjunctions|coordinating conjunctions]], and [[List of English prepositions|prepositions]] of three letters or fewer.
* Lowercase "to" in infinitives.
* Lowercase the second word in a hyphenated compound when it is a prefix or suffix (e.g., "Anti-itch", "World-wide") or part of a single word.
* Capitalize the second word in a hyphenated compound if both words are equal and not suffixes or prefixes (e.g., "Cost-Benefit")
* Capitalize the first non-Greek letter after a lowercase Greek letter (e.g., "ω-Bromohexanoic")
* Lowercase the first non-Greek letter after a capital Greek letter (e.g., "Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol")
* Capitalize the [[genus]] but not the [[Specific name (zoology)|species epithet]].

=== ''The Bluebook'' ===
According to the 21st edition of ''[[Bluebook|The Bluebook]]'', used for legal citations, the following title capitalization rules should be applied:<ref name=":0" />

* Capitalize the first and the last word.
* Capitalize nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs (including phrasal verbs such as "play with"), adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions.
* Lowercase articles (a, an, the), [[Conjunction (grammar)#Coordinating conjunctions|coordinating conjunctions]], and [[List of English prepositions|prepositions]] of four letters or fewer.
* Lowercase "to" in [[infinitive]]s (though not defined in the stylebook).

== 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|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 [[Periodical literature|periodicals]] even in the references.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Chelsea |date=2012-03-09 |title=APA Style 6th Edition Blog: Title Case and Sentence Case Capitalization in APA Style |url=https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2012/03/title-case-and-sentence-case-capitalization-in-apa-style.html |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2021-01-13 |website=blog.apastyle.org}}</ref> Other citation styles like ''Chicago Manual of Style'' are using title case also for the title of cited works in the list of references.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Why don't titles show up in sentence case in bibliographies? |url=https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/sentence_casing |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2021-01-13 |website=Zotero Documentation}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Wikifunctions|Z10251|title case}}
* [[Sentence case]]
* [[Truecasing]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Capitalization]]
[[Category:Typography]]