APA Style uses sentence case while AP Style uses title case. They serve entirely different disciplines and produce completely different visual results.
AP Style title case capitalizes all major words while lowercasing articles, coordinating conjunctions, and all prepositions regardless of length. It is the standard of the Associated Press Stylebook.
AP Style is required by most American newspapers, digital news outlets, and press releases. Public relations professionals follow it because journalists expect it.
Open AP Style converterAPA Style uses sentence case for titles in reference lists and most body contexts, capitalizing only the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns. It is published by the American Psychological Association.
APA Style is required for papers in psychology, education, sociology, and public health. It is the standard for dissertations in most social science departments.
Open APA Style converterAP Style is required by most American newspapers, digital news outlets, and press releases. Public relations professionals follow it because journalists expect it.
All prepositions are lowercased, whether short or long. This is the key rule that distinguishes AP Style from Chicago Style.
APA Style is required for papers in psychology, education, sociology, and public health. It is the standard for dissertations in most social science departments.
All words after the first are lowercase unless they are proper nouns or follow a colon. This makes APA titles look significantly different from title-case styles.
Choose AP Style for journalism, communications, and public relations content.
Choose APA Style for research papers and journal submissions in psychology, education, and the social sciences.
The two styles are unlikely to come into conflict because they serve different professions. Journalists follow AP Style, and social scientists follow APA Style.