
If the subtitle is preceded by an em dash, the phrase is not generally considered a subtitle and, therefore, the first word does not necessarily need to be capitalized (for example: “ Manhattan-the city that never sleeps”). When the main text of a headline is followed by a subtitle, the first word of the subtitle is capitalized (for example: “ Struggle and Sacrifice: Toward a Psychology of Grief”). In addition, you should capitalize the second element in a hyphenated number (for example: Twenty-Three). Capitalize the element that follows unless it is an article ( a or an), a preposition, or a coordinating conjunction ( and, but, for, or, nor). How should you handle a hyphenated compound such as black-and-white, third-floor, or tight-lipped, especially if it appears at the beginning of the headline? First, capitalize the first element of the compound ( third and tight in the examples above). The following cases can call for special attention. Take note of the words that are often overlooked when applying headline case: Is, Are, That, and Than. These same principles apply when a quote is used in a headline (for example: “ They Did Not Know the Difference”: Investigations of Silver Mines Continue). This includes the prepositions and, but, for, or, nor, and with.

Ap style headline capitalization manual#
The Chicago Manual of Style offers several principles to help writers in applying the headline case and notes that the application is “governed mainly by emphasis and grammar.” The uppercased wording alerts the reader to the premise of the piece, which can be especially important when readers skim.Capitalization of select words visually separates the headline from the other content, which helps the reader know where an article (or a section of it) begins.When applying the sentence case, the headline would read as “ Affordable housing developers stymied by regulations.” As you can see, only the first letter of the first word is capitalized. The alternative to headline case is “sentence case” (also called “sentence style” or, in some UK publications, “essential caps” or “minimum caps”). “ Affordable Housing Development Stymied by Regulations.” The terms “headline style” and “title case” means the same thing, and some UK publications also use the term “maximum caps.”įor example: Headline case is applied in this headline. What Is Headline Case?Īccording to The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), the headline case is a practice of capitalizing words in a headline based on their speech part. Academic writers often struggle with the rules of headline case, and this article will guide you through the process. Headlines are the signposts that readers rely on when navigating a piece of writing they tell the reader, at a quick glance, where to start and which sections are more important or interesting.


When people read in a hurry (especially when reading online material), they mostly skim through the details and pay attention only to the headlines.
