title case

(noun)

A format in which the first letters of major words are capitalized.

Related Terms

Examples of title case in the following topics:

  • An Instructional Case

  • APA: Headings

    • If a heading is said to be in title case, that means you should format it as though it were the title of a book, with the first letters of most major words capitalized (e.g., A Study of Color-Blindness in Dogs).
    • If a heading is said to be in sentence case, that means you should format it as though it were a normal sentence, with only the first letter of the first word (and of any proper nouns) capitalized (e.g., A study of color-blindness in dogs).
    • Your headings should not begin with section numbers (e.g., your Methods section should be titled simply “Methods”, not “2.
    • The introduction of the paper should not be titled “Introduction”; instead, the paper should simply begin with the title of the entire paper.
    • Note that the “Abstract” title and the overall paper title do not actually count as headings, so they are simply centered and in title case, but not bolded as Level 1 headings would be.

  • MLA: First Page

    • On the next double-spaced line should come the title of your paper.
    • This should be centered and in title case, and it should not be bolded, underlined, or italicized (unless it includes the name of a book, in which case just the book title should be italicized).
    • On the next double-spaced line after the title, you should start the first paragraph of your paper.

  • APA: The References Section

    • (As is the case with the “Abstract” page title, this does not count as an actual heading, so it is not formatted per the heading guidelines.)
    • Next, you should include the title of the source in sentence case.
    • Include the title of the journal in italicized title case (all major words capitalized, as in the title of a book), followed by a comma:
    • —should be written in italicized title case (every major word capitalized).
    • —should be written in sentence case and not italicized.

  • Chicago/Turabian (Author–Date): The References Section

    • Next, you should include the title of the source in title case.
    • For a book, the title is italicized.
    • The date of publication and title are formatted the same.
    • Note that even though APA style says that the article title should not be italicized, the book titles “Heart of Darkness” and “Things Fall Apart” within the article title are still italicized.
    • Include the title of the journal in italicized title case (all major words capitalized, as in the title of a book):

  • Chicago/Turabian (NB): The Bibliography Section

    • After the page title, leave two blank lines before your first citation.
    • Next, you should include the title of the source in title case.
    • The date of publication and title are formatted the same.
    • Note that even though Chicago style says that the article title should not be italicized, the book titles within the article title are still italicized.
    • Include the title of the journal in italicized title case (all major words capitalized, as in the title of a book):

  • MLA: The Works Cited Section

    • After the author's name, you should include the title of the source in title case.
    • The date of publication and title are formatted the same.
    • Note that even though MLA style says that the article title should not be italicized, the book titles within the article title are still italicized.
    • Include the title of the journal in italicized title case (all major words capitalized, as in the title of a book):
    • You should first order those articles alphabetically by source title in the Works Cited section.

  • Civil Rights Act

    • If an agency is found in violation of Title VI, that agency may lose its federal funding.
    • Title VII also prohibited discrimination against an individual because of his or her association with another individual of a particular race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
    • Made it easier to move civil rights cases from state courts with segregationist judges and all-white juries to federal court.
    • Gives the jury rights to put any proceeding for criminal contempt arising under title II, III, IV, V, VI, or VII of the Civil Rights Act, on trial, and if convicted, can be fined no more than $1,000 or imprisoned for more than six months.

  • Title

  • APA: Title Page