“according to” is a multiword expression whose title-case result depends on both style and how that style treats the words inside a phrase. Treat the expression as a phrase span while still applying the chosen style’s rule to each component rather than treating the phrase as one indivisible token.
ReviewedEvidence5 sourcesSectionWriting & Style
Quick answer
APA: capitalize “According” and lowercase “to” internally. Chicago 18: “According to,” as in “The Gospel According to Matthew.” MLA: the public two-word-preposition guidance lowercases internal components, but current MLA automation requires manual review.
Key details
Phraseaccording to
Rule Familymultiword-preposition-title-case
Termsaccording, to
Important caveats
Automation boundary
If the style requires unresolved grammatical or embedded-title analysis, leave the case unresolved rather than forcing an answer.
Phrase Boundary
Recognizing the phrase is useful, but phrase recognition alone does not override per-word style rules. Treat the expression as a phrase span, then apply the chosen style’s rule to each component.
Further guidance
Style Comparison
Chicago 18 explicitly gives “The Gospel According to Matthew,” treating “According” as capitalized and “to” as lowercase.
APA capitalizes the four-or-more-letter major word “According” while the short preposition “to” remains lowercase internally.
MLA’s public multiword-preposition guidance says internal components of a preposition such as “according to” are lowercase; the page itself notes that the cited post is edition-scoped, so the automated MLA mode is not treated as fully deterministic.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
APA title case capitalizes the first word, the first word of a subtitle, major words, and words of four letters or more while keeping short minor words lowercase in ordinary mid-title positions.
Chicago 18 uses title case for titles of works and changed a long-standing rule: prepositions of five letters or more are now capitalized. Shorter prepositions generally remain lowercase internally, while first and last words are capitalized and “to” remains lowercase as an infinitive marker in ordinary mid-title use.
MLA 9 describes title style as capitalizing the first word, last word, and all principal words. MLA’s public Style Center also documents the traditional lowercase treatment of internal prepositions, but its detailed preposition article is edition-labeled for MLA 8, so this engine does not yet treat the full MLA 9 converter profile as complete.
Prepositions are one of the clearest places where title styles diverge. APA uses a four-letter major-word threshold, Chicago 18 capitalizes prepositions of five letters or more, and MLA editorial guidance generally lowercases internal prepositions regardless of length.
“due to” is a multiword expression whose title-case result depends on both style and how that style treats the words inside a phrase. Treat the expression as a phrase span while still applying the chosen style’s rule to each component rather than treating the phrase as one indivisible token.
“up to” is a multiword expression whose title-case result depends on both style and how that style treats the words inside a phrase. Treat the expression as a phrase span while still applying the chosen style’s rule to each component rather than treating the phrase as one indivisible token.
“because of” is a multiword expression whose title-case result depends on both style and how that style treats the words inside a phrase. Treat the expression as a phrase span while still applying the chosen style’s rule to each component rather than treating the phrase as one indivisible token.
“instead of” is a multiword expression whose title-case result depends on both style and how that style treats the words inside a phrase. Treat the expression as a phrase span while still applying the chosen style’s rule to each component rather than treating the phrase as one indivisible token.
