In APA style we use two types of capitalizations title case and sentence case.
Title Case: Most of the words are capitalized
- The first word, even a minor word such as “The”
- The first word of a subtitle, even if it is a minor word
- First word after a colon, em dash, or end punctuation in a heading
- The Second part of hyphenated major words (e.g., “Self-Esteem,” not “Self-esteem”)
- Words with four letter or more (e.g., “With,” “Between,” “From”)
Lowercase only minor words three letters or fewer (e.g., but, as, a, by…)
When to Use Title Case:
-
- Titles of books, reports, and other works appearing in text
- Titles of tests or measures
- All headings withing a work
- The tile of your paper and all its sections
- Table titles (also italicized)
- Figure titles
Sentence Case: Most of the words are written in lower case, only capitalize the following:
- The first word of the tile or heading
- The first word of a subtitle
- The first word after a colon, em dash, or end punctuation
- Nouns flowed by numerals or letters
- Proper nouns
When to Use Title Case:
-
- Titles of books, articles, and webpages in the reference list
- Table column heading, entries, and notes
- Figure notes
(Adapted from APA, 2020, pp.167-168)
The American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 7th edition
