APA Style uses sentence case while AMA Style uses title case. Both are scientific publishing standards, but they serve social sciences and medical sciences respectively.
APA 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 converterAMA Style capitalizes major words while lowercasing articles, coordinating conjunctions, and short prepositions. It governs journals published by the American Medical Association, including JAMA.
AMA Style is required for submissions to major medical journals and most clinical research publications. Medical writers and clinical researchers are expected to follow it.
Open AMA Style converterAPA 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.
AMA Style is required for submissions to major medical journals and most clinical research publications. Medical writers and clinical researchers are expected to follow it.
Prepositions of three letters or fewer are lowercased. Proper nouns, brand names, and drug names follow their standard capitalization throughout.
Choose APA Style for psychology, education, sociology, and social science research.
Choose AMA Style for medicine, nursing, public health, and clinical research.
Both styles share a scientific orientation but differ significantly in capitalization. A paper moving between disciplines may need to convert all title case before submission.