APA Style uses sentence case rather than title case, capitalizing only the first word and proper nouns. This produces a dramatically different visual result from title case.
Title case capitalizes every significant word in a title, including nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Short function words are lowercased unless they open or close the title.
Title case is the default format for book titles, film titles, and album names in American English. It signals that a phrase is a formal title rather than ordinary prose.
Open Title Case 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 converterTitle case is the default format for book titles, film titles, and album names in American English. It signals that a phrase is a formal title rather than ordinary prose.
Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are always capitalized. Articles, coordinating conjunctions, and short prepositions are lowercased in the middle of a title.
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 title case for headings in most American publishing contexts, including journalism, books, and general web content.
Choose APA Style for papers, theses, and journal submissions in psychology, education, and the social sciences.
The contrast between the two is immediately visible. A title in APA Style looks like a sentence, while the same title in title case has most words capitalized.