APA Style Title Case Converter
APA style title case is the capitalization the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition, uses for paper titles and headings. Major words and every word of four or more letters are capitalized, and only minor words of three letters or fewer stay lowercase. This converter applies those rules to each line.
APA Style Title Case Converter examples
| Case | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Four-letter word | the man with the golden gun | The Man With the Golden Gun |
| Hyphenated words and colon | the self-report study: a meta-analysis | The Self-Report Study: A Meta-Analysis |
| Em dash | memory—a review of the evidence | Memory—A Review of the Evidence |
| Question mark | does it work? a test of the method | Does It Work? A Test of the Method |
| Short last word stays lowercase | what are you looking at | What Are You Looking at |
| Acronym, brand, and apostrophe | NASA's plan for the iPhone era | NASA's Plan for the iPhone Era |
| Initialisms | the u.s. and the u.k. | The U.S. and the U.K. |
APA Style Title Case Converter rules
The rules, sources, known limits, and test cases behind this converter are on Title Case Rules by Style Guide.
- Capitalize the first word of the title, the first word of a subtitle, and the first word after a colon, em dash, or end punctuation (Publication Manual, 7th edition, section 6.17).
- Capitalize major words: nouns, verbs (including linking verbs such as Is), adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and all words of four or more letters (With, From, Between).
- Capitalize the second part of hyphenated major words (Self-Report, Meta-Analysis).
- Lowercase only minor words of three letters or fewer: articles (a, an, the), short conjunctions (and, as, but, for, if, nor, or, so, yet), and short prepositions (as, at, by, for, in, of, off, on, per, to, up, via).
- APA lists no exception for the last word, so a short minor word at the end stays lowercase (What Are You Looking at).
- Acronyms and initialisms keep their capitals (NASA, U.S.). The period after an abbreviation such as Dr. or e.g. does not count as end punctuation.
- The converter does not detect parts of speech, so a short word in the minor list, such as "up", is lowercased even when it is an adverb.
Words kept lowercase (22)
aantheandasbutforifnororsoyetatbyinofoffonpertoupvia
How APA style differs from MLA style
APA capitalizes every word of four or more letters, prepositions included ("Life Between the Lines"); MLA lowercases prepositions of any length ("Life between the Lines"). APA leaves a short last word lowercase ("What Are You Looking at"), while MLA always capitalizes the last word. Both capitalize the first word of a subtitle after a colon, question mark, or exclamation point; APA also does so after an em dash, which this converter treats as ordinary punctuation in MLA. Try the same text in the MLA Style Title Case Converter.
Full comparison with examples: APA vs MLA Title Case: How the Rules Differ
Spotted a wrong capitalization?
How to use
Type or paste your paper title or headings, one per line.
Press APA Style Title Case to convert the text in place; pasted text converts at once. Open Compare styles to see it in AP, Chicago, APA, and MLA, or Explain each word for the rule behind each capital.
Copy the result into your paper. For reference list titles, use sentence case instead.
When to use APA Style Title Case Converter
Students
The title of an APA paper and its section headings.
Researchers and journal authors
Manuscript titles and headings for journals in psychology, education, and other fields that follow APA.
Writers citing works in the text
Titles of books, articles, and reports mentioned in the body of an APA paper.
FAQ
Only minor words of three letters or fewer: the articles a, an, and the; short conjunctions such as and, but, or, and if; and short prepositions such as at, by, in, of, on, and to. They are capitalized as the first word of a title, subtitle, or phrase.
Yes. APA capitalizes all words of four or more letters, so With, From, Into, and Between are capitalized.
No. APA lists no last-word exception, so a short minor word at the end stays lowercase ("What Are You Looking at"). Chicago, MLA, and AP capitalize it.
No. In APA 7, titles of articles and books in the reference list use sentence case, while your paper title, headings, and titles mentioned in the text use title case.
Yes. APA capitalizes the first word after a colon, an em dash, or end punctuation such as a question mark.
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