When reviewing and editing reference lists, problems with capitalisation rank as the most frequent mistakes. Whilst you may already be aware that details such as spaces and comma placement can make a difference, the capitalisation style used may be an aspect you have overlooked so far.

   

While it may seem a minor concern compared to the research and analysis process, capitalisation plays a pivotal role in how your work is perceived. Most style guides have strict guidelines on what capitalisation styles to use in specific contexts. To help you refine your academic writing, we’re sharing some tips for better capitalisation choices.

   

Let’s begin by identifying the two main capitalisation styles.

 

Title case: Also known as headline case. It involves capitalising the first and last word of a title and all key words in between.

 

💡 Tip: Not every style guide agrees on what “key” words to capitalise, but as a rule of thumb, these include verbs, adjectives, nouns (including proper nouns), and pronouns. Remember to confirm this with your style guide.

 

Sentence case: Only the first word of a title and proper nouns should be capitalised. Some style guides also require the first word following a colon to be capitalised.

   

Confirm your referencing style guide and check its preferences.

 

Not every style guide holds the same capitalisation rules. Chicago and MLA, for instance, require titles to be capitalised using title case. The same format should be used both in the reference list and when mentioning the title in the text:

 

Book

In the text: In A Rhetoric of Style,...

In the reference list (Chicago): Brummett, Barry. 2008. A Rhetoric of Style. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.

 

Article

In the text: The article “‘Capital’ City: London, Contemporary British Fiction and the Credit Crunch”...

In the reference list (MLA): Shaw, Katy. “‘Capital’ City: London, Contemporary British Fiction and the Credit Crunch.” The Literary London Journal, vol. 11, no. 1, 2014, pp. 44-53. Literary London, http://www.literarylondon.org/london-journal/spring2014/shaw.pdf.

 

Meanwhile, according to APA, title case should be used when mentioning titles of books, articles, and other works in the text. Contrarily, all titles in the reference list need to be written in sentence case. That said, the titles of journals and periodicals are to remain in title case:

 

Book

In the text: In A Rhetoric of Style,...

In the reference list: Brummett, B. (2008). A rhetoric of style. Southern Illinois University Press.

 

Article

In the text: The article “‘Capital’ City: London, Contemporary British Fiction and the Credit Crunch”...

In the reference list: Shaw, K. (2014). ‘Capital’ city: London, contemporary British fiction and the credit crunch. The Literary London Journal, 11(1), 44–53. http://www.literarylondon.org/london-journal/spring2014/shaw.pdf

 

On the other hand, Harvard gives no explicit guidelines on which capitalisation style to use. When faced with unclear guidelines, check with your tutor whether your faculty or institute has any capitalisation preferences. If you are free to use any capitalisation style, be sure to maintain the selected style throughout your document.

 

Capitalisation-related choices generally depend on your style guide; however, consistency is key regardless of your stylistic decisions.