APA Style Manual (p. 167): 6.17 Capitalization (Title case & Sentence case)

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There are Two Types of Capitalization in APA Style: Title Case Capitalization vs. Sentence Case Capitalization.

1. Title Case Capitalization

  • Title case capitalization: Major words are capitalized, and most minor words are lowercase. For example:

Projecting Planned Trajectory of an Automated Vehicle via Augmented Reality: Effects on Takeover Performance When a Takeover Request Was Not Presented in Time

1-1. When to Use the Title Case Capitalization?

  1. For the title of your own paper (in the title page)
    1. It is also bold, centered, and positioned in the upper half of the title page (e.g., three or four lines down from the top margin of the page).
  2. When you refer to titles of articles, books, and other works in your text.
    1. EX: In the book Train Your Mind for Peak Performance: A Science-Based Approach for Achieving Your Goals…
    2. EX: In the article “Turning Frowns (and Smiles) Upside Down: A Multilevel Examination of Surface Acting Positive and Negative Emotions on Well-Being”…
  3. Titles of tests or measures, including subscales.
    1. Beck Depression Inventory–II
  4. All headings (Levels 1–5; these are also bold or bold italic)
  5. When you refer to the named sections and subsections of your own paper.
    1. In the Results section of this paper…
  6. In reference list entries, titles of periodicals (these are also italicized)
    1. EX: Journal of Latinx Psychology
    2. EX: Chicago Tribune
  7. Table and Figure titles (these are also italicized)
  8. Axis labels
  9. Legends

1-2. How to Do the Title Case?

  1. Capitalize the following words in a title or heading:
    1. The first word of the title or heading, even if it is a minor word such as “The” or “A.”
    1. The first word of a subtitle, even if it is a minor word.
    2. The first word after a colon, em dash, or end punctuation in a heading, even if it is a minor word.
    3. Major words, including the second part of hyphenated major words (e.g., “Self-Report,” not “Self-report”).
    4. Words of four letters or more (e.g., “With,” “Between,” “From”).
  2. Lowercase only minor words that are three letters or fewer:
    1. Short conjunctions (“and,” “as,” “but,” “for,” “if,” “nor,” “or,” “so,” “yet”)
    2. Articles (“a,” “an,” “the”)
    3. Short prepositions (“as,” “at,” “by,” “for,” “in,” “of,” “off,” “on,” “per,” “to,” “up,” “via”)
    4. Except for:
      • The first word in a title or subtitle.
      • The first word after a colon, em dash, or end punctuation.

2. Sentence Case Capitalization

  • Most major and minor words are lowercase (proper nouns are an exception as they are always capitalized). For example:

Projecting planned trajectory of an automated vehicle via augmented reality: Effects on takeover performance when a takeover request was not presented in time

2.1. When to Use Sentence Case?

  1. In reference list entries, titles of articles, books, reports, webpages, and other works, even if title case was used in the original work. (Note, in text, they should be written in title case.)
    1. EX: Knapp, S. J. (2019). Suicide prevention: An ethically and scientifically informed approach. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000145-000
    2. EX: Scott, T. N., Gil-Rivas, V., & Cachelin, F. M. (2019). The need for cultural adaptations to health interventions for African American women: A qualitative analysis. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 25(3), 331–341. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000228
  2. Table column headings, entries, and notes.
  3. Figure notes.

2-2. How to Do Sentence?

  1. Lowercase most words in a title or heading.
  2. Capitalize only the following words:
    1. The first word of the title or heading
    2. The first word of a subtitle
    3. The first word after a colon, em dash, or end punctuation
    4. Nouns followed by numerals or letters
    5. Proper nouns (including names of racial or ethnic groups such as Black)

3. What are Major Words and Minor Words?

  1. Major words: Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs (Not, When), pronouns, and long (four or more letters) words.
  2. Minor words: Short (i.e., three letters or fewer) conjunctions, short prepositions, and all articles.
    • Short conjunctions: “and,” “as,” “but,” “for,” “if,” “nor,” “or,” “so,” “yet”
    • short prepositions: “as,” “at,” “by,” “for,” “in,” “of,” “off,” “on,” “per,” “to,” “up,” “via”
    • All articles: “a,” “an,” “the”

3. Exceptions

For both title-case and sentence-case capitalizations, we should capitalize the first word of the title or heading. Also, we should capitalize proper nouns as they are always capitalized. However,

  1. When a person’s name or other proper nouns begins with a lowercase letter (e.g., van de Helen; iPad, eBay) and it begins a sentence, then, it should be written as below:
    1. EX: … at then end of the sentence. van de Helen, however, said…
    2. Or, you can try to avoid beginning with a lower case letter by rewording it “… at then end of the sentence. However, van de Helen said…”
  2. Similarly, when a lowercase statistical term (e.g., t test, p value) begins a sentence, you should not use uppercase letters for the first letter; Or, you can try to avoid beginning with a lower case letter by rewording it.

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