Capitalizing titles and subtitles of works

In both titles and subtitles, capitalize major words (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs).

The Canadian Green Page

Do not capitalize minor words (articles, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions) unless they are the first or last word of a title or subtitle.

Information Architecture for the World Wide Web

“Fire and Ice”

“I Want to Hold Your Hand”

A River Runs through It

Capitalize the second part of a hyphenated term in a title if it is a major word but not if it is a minor word.

Seizing the Enigma: The Race to Break the German U-Boat Codes

How to Make Left-hand Turns in Boston

Capitalize chapter titles and the titles of other major divisions of a work following the same guidelines used for titles of complete works.

“Work and Play” in Santayana’s The Nature of Beauty

“Size Matters” on the website Discovery Channel Online

APA style differs from these guidelines for titles in the body of a paper and in the reference list.

Exercises:

Capitalization 1

Capitalization 2

Related topics:

Titles that are italicized

Titles that are not italicized

Quotation marks with titles