Chicago Style lowercases short prepositions of four letters or fewer while capitalizing longer ones. Standard title case does not have this specific threshold rule.
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 converterChicago Style capitalizes all major words and long prepositions while lowercasing short prepositions of four letters or fewer, articles, and coordinating conjunctions. It is the dominant style for American book publishing.
Chicago Style is required for most manuscripts submitted to book publishers, literary journals, and academic presses. Scholars in the humanities default to it.
Open Chicago 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.
Chicago Style is required for most manuscripts submitted to book publishers, literary journals, and academic presses. Scholars in the humanities default to it.
Prepositions of five or more letters are capitalized. Short prepositions like in, on, at, by, and of remain lowercase.
Choose title case as a simple default that capitalizes all major words without the preposition-length rule.
Choose Chicago Style when submitting to book publishers, academic journals, or any publication that specifies the Chicago Manual of Style.
Chicago Style is more prescriptive than generic title case, with detailed rules about hyphenated compounds, subtitles, and the preposition threshold that make it the preferred standard for professional publishing.