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.
ReviewedEvidence2 sourcesSectionWriting & Style
Quick answer
In APA 7 title case, capitalize the first word of the title or heading, the first word of a subtitle, major words such as nouns and verbs, and words of four letters or more. Short conjunctions and prepositions of three letters or fewer and articles are normally lowercase unless another APA rule requires capitalization.
Key details
Edition7th edition
Four Letter RuleWords of four letters or more are capitalized in title case
Minor WordsArticles plus short conjunctions and short prepositions are normally lowercase in mid-title positions
Profile Idapa
Rule SectionPublication Manual §6.17
Further guidance
Core Rules
Capitalize the first word of a title or heading and the first word of a subtitle. APA also capitalizes major words, including nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns, and treats words of four letters or more as major for title-case purposes.
Short conjunctions, short prepositions, and articles are minor words in ordinary mid-title positions. This is why “and” is usually lowercase while a four-letter word such as “with” is capitalized in APA title case.
Examples
APA title case: “Effects of Sleep on Memory and Learning.” The short conjunction “and” stays lowercase, while the four-letter preposition “with” would be capitalized in a title such as “Learning With Visual Cues.”
Title Case Vs Sentence Case
APA distinguishes title case from sentence case. Title case capitalizes major words; sentence case lowercases most words except the first word, the first word of a subtitle, proper nouns, and other words that normally require capitals.
When Apa Uses Title Case
APA Style uses title case for titles and headings in contexts where the manual calls for title capitalization, including the title of a paper and headings within a paper. Reference-list titles often use sentence case instead, so the correct case depends on where the title appears.
This guide is about the capitalization pattern itself. It does not mean every title in an APA-formatted document should be converted to title case.
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.
Hyphenated compounds cannot be capitalized safely with one universal “capitalize everything after a hyphen” rule. APA explicitly capitalizes the second part of hyphenated major words, while Chicago 18 changed its prefix-compound treatment and still applies grammatical title-case rules to individual elements.
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.
The first word of a subtitle is treated as a new capitalization boundary in major title-case systems. APA explicitly capitalizes the first word of a subtitle, Chicago capitalizes the word after a title/subtitle colon, and MLA has published the same treatment in its Style Center guidance.
The word “and” is normally lowercase in the middle of a title because it is a coordinating conjunction, but first-word, last-word, and style-specific rules can change the answer.
“Of” is normally lowercase in the middle of a title in APA 7, Chicago 18, and MLA-style title capitalization because it is a short preposition. First- or last-word position can override the ordinary middle-of-title treatment.
“To” is normally lowercase in the middle of titles under APA, Chicago, and MLA-style capitalization when it functions as a short preposition; Chicago also explicitly keeps “to” lowercase as an infinitive marker in ordinary mid-title position. Edge position can change the result.
Coordinating conjunctions are a major source of title-case differences: APA lowercases short conjunctions, while current Chicago names a narrower lowercase set and capitalizes “so” and “yet.”
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.
