Capitalization in Titles and Headings
When formatting the headings and titles within a dissertation, there are three primary capitalization styles to choose from:
- Capitalize all of the principal or significant words
- Only capitalize the first word of each heading
- Combining aspects of the previous two approaches
Whatever formatting decision is made, it’s crucial to apply that capitalization style consistently throughout headings at each respective level.
The three heading capitalization styles
Adhering to consistent capitalization rules is crucial for headings and titles in academic writing. There are three main capitalization styles used:
Option 1: All significant words capitalized
This style, commonly called Title Case, capitalizes all principal words in a heading or title, while lowercase articles (a, an, the), conjunctions (and, but, or), and prepositions are minimized unless they begin the heading.
This style fully capitalizes only the first word and proper nouns/names. It creates a distinctive title-like appearance and is commonly used for main document titles.
| Level 1 Heading | Level 2 Heading | Level 3 Subheading | Level 4 Sub-Subheading |
| Chapter 1: Introduction | Section 1.1: Background and Motivation | ||
| Section 1.2: Research Questions and Hypotheses | |||
| Section 1.3: Significance of the Study | |||
| Chapter 3: Literature Review | Section 3.1: History of Coffee Drinking | ||
| Section 3.2: Emerging Coffee Markets in North America | Subsection 3.2.1: High School and College Students | ||
| Subsection 3.2.2: Commuting Workers | |||
| Section 3.3: Competitors in the Hot Beverage Sector | |||
| Chapter 4: Methodology | Section 4.1: Participant Selection and Recruitment | ||
| Section 4.2: Study Design and Procedures | Subsection 4.2.1: Experimental Protocol | ||
| Subsection 4.2.2: Ethical Considerations | |||
| Section 4.3: Data Collection and Instrumentation | Subsection 4.3.1: Survey Measures | ||
| Subsection 4.3.2: Physiological Recordings | |||
| Chapter 5: Results | Section 5.1: Quantitative Findings | Subsection 5.1.1: Demographic Variables | |
| Subsection 5.1.2: Primary Outcome Analysis | |||
| Section 5.2: Qualitative Themes Emerging | Subsection 5.2.1: Participant Narratives | ||
| Subsection 5.2.2: Observational Notes | |||
| Appendix B: Interview Protocol | Section B.1: Opening Script and Consent Process | ||
| Section B.2: Preliminary Questions | |||
| Section B.3: Core Interview Questions | Subsection B.3.1: Childhood Experiences | ||
| Subsection B.3.2: Environmental Factors |
The table illustrates how Option 1 (Title Case) capitalizes all principal words like nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc., across each heading level while only lowercasing minor words unless beginning the heading.
Option 2: Only the first words capitalized
Known as Sentence case, this style capitalizes only the first word of the heading and any proper nouns, while all other words are lowercase.
This style is often used for sub-headings below the main heading levels, as the minimized capitalization enhances the readability of embedded section titles within the body text. However, some publications use it for all heading levels.
| Level 1 Heading | Level 2 Heading | Level 3 Subheading | Level 4 Sub-Subheading |
| Chapter 1: Introduction | Section 1.1: Background and motivation | ||
| Section 1.2: Research questions and hypotheses | |||
| Section 1.3: Significance of the study | |||
| Chapter 3: Literature Review | Section 3.1: A history of coffee drinking | ||
| Section 3.2: Emerging Coffee Markets in North America | Subsection 3.2.1: High school and college students | ||
| Subsection 3.2.2: Commuting workers | |||
| Section 3.3: Competitors in the hot beverage sector | |||
| Chapter 4: Methodology | Section 4.1: Participant selection and recruitment | ||
| Section 4.2: Study design and procedures | Subsection 4.2.1: Experimental protocol | ||
| Subsection 4.2.2: Ethical considerations | |||
| Section 4.3: Data collection and instrumentation | Subsection 4.3.1: Survey measures | ||
| Subsection 4.3.2: Physiological recordings | |||
| Chapter 5: Results | Section 5.1: Quantitative findings | Subsection 5.1.1: Demographic variables | |
| Subsection 5.1.2: Primary outcome analysis | |||
| Section 5.2: Qualitative themes emerging | Subsection 5.2.1: Participant narratives | ||
| Subsection 5.2.2: Observational notes | |||
| Appendix B: Interview protocol | Section B.1: Opening script and consent process | ||
| Section B.2: Preliminary questions | |||
| Section B.3: Core interview questions | Subsection B.3.1: Childhood experiences | ||
| Subsection B.3.2: Environmental factors |
In this Sentence case style for headings, only the first word and any proper nouns are capitalized. All other words remain lowercase, regardless of heading level. This creates a distinction from the Title Case while maintaining a parallel structure.
Option 3: Capitalization varies by level
Some style guides recommend systematically varying the capitalization style based on the specific heading level in the hierarchy. Common approaches are:
- LEVEL 1 HEADINGS IN ALL CAPITALS
- Level 2 Headings in Title Case
- Level 3 subheadings in sentence case
This scheme creates a distinct visual difference between heading levels based on capitalization alone. The top-level headings stand out in full capitals, the next level uses Title Case, and deeper subheadings minimize capitalization for embedded readability.
| Level 1 Heading | Level 2 Heading | Level 3 Subheading | Level 4 Sub-Subheading |
| CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION | Section 1.1: Background and Motivation | Subsection 1.1.1: Historical context | Sub-subsection 1.1.1.1: Early theoretical models |
| Section 1.2: Research Questions and Hypotheses | Subsection 1.2.1: Primary research questions | Sub-subsection 1.2.1.1: Hypothesis derivations | |
| Section 1.3: Significance of the Study | Subsection 1.3.1: Theoretical implications | ||
| CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW | Section 3.1: A History of Coffee Drinking | Subsection 3.1.1: Ancient origins | Sub-subsection 3.1.1.1: Arabic coffee traditions |
| Section 3.2: Emerging Coffee Markets in North America | Subsection 3.2.1: High school and college students | Sub-subsection 3.2.1.1: Marketing influences | |
| Subsection 3.2.2: Commuting workers | Sub-subsection 3.2.2.1: Convenience factors | ||
| Section 3.3: Competitors in the Hot Beverage Sector | Subsection 3.3.1: Tea market analysis | Sub-subsection 3.3.1.1: Millennial Consumption Trends | |
| CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY | Section 4.1: Participant Selection and Recruitment | Subsection 4.1.1: Sampling procedures | Sub-subsection 4.1.1.1: Inclusion/exclusion criteria |
| Section 4.2: Study Design and Procedures | Subsection 4.2.1: Experimental protocol | Sub-subsection 4.2.1.1: Randomization approach | |
| Subsection 4.2.2: Ethical considerations | Sub-subsection 4.2.2.1: Informed consent process | ||
| Section 4.3: Data Collection and Instrumentation | Subsection 4.3.1: Survey measures | Sub-subsection 4.3.1.1: Psychometric properties | |
| Subsection 4.3.2: Physiological recordings | Sub-subsection 4.3.2.1: Equipment specifications |
This systematic variation in capitalization formatting clearly distinguishes the heading levels and their hierarchy within the document’s structure.
Regardless of which capitalization option is chosen, there are two universal rules:
- Proper nouns referring to specific names, publications, ethnic groups, etc., must always be capitalized.
- Heading capitalization must be applied consistently and systematically within each level for the sake of structural clarity.
Many style manuals prescribe guidelines for capitalization styles to use at each heading level based on the specific style conventions of that discipline. For example, APA recommends Option 3, with Level 1 headings in capitals, Level 2 in Title Case, etc.
However, if no defined styles exist, the author can propose their own logical heading capitalization scheme as long as the chosen styles for each level are systematically implemented throughout the document.
Capitalize proper nouns (names) no matter what
Regardless of which capitalization style is used for headings and titles, there is one universal rule that must always be followed:
- Proper nouns referring to specific names of people, places, organizations, publications, ethnic groups, etc. MUST be capitalized.
This applies consistently across all heading levels, styles, and formatting conventions in academic writing. Capitalizing proper nouns maintains this convention of bestowing significance and specificity on those terms, differentiating them from common nouns.
| Heading | Incorrect | Correct |
| Level 1 Heading | CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS METHODS | CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS METHODS |
| Level 2 Heading | Section 3.1: the statistical package for social sciences | Section 3.1: The Statistical Package for Social Sciences |
| Level 3 Subheading | Subsection 3.1.1: using spss for regression models | Subsection 3.1.1: Using SPSS for Regression Models |
| Level 4 Sub-Subheading | Sub-subsection 3.1.1.1: The American Psychological Association guidelines | Sub-subsection 3.1.1.1: The American Psychological Association Guidelines |
| Level 1 Heading | CHAPTER 5: LITERATURE REVIEW | CHAPTER 5: LITERATURE REVIEW |
| Level 2 Heading | Section 5.1: analysis of the Stanford prison experiment | Section 5.1: Analysis of the Stanford Prison Experiment |
| Level 3 Subheading | Subsection 5.1.1: examining the ethics of the Milgram obedience studies | Subsection 5.1.1: Examining the Ethics of the Milgram Obedience Studies |
| Level 1 Heading | APPENDIX A: METHODOLOGY | APPENDIX A: METHODOLOGY |
| Level 2 Heading | Section A.1: The Hopkins Verbal Learning Test | Section A.1: The Hopkins Verbal Learning Test |
| Level 3 Subheading | Subsection A.1.1: administration procedures from the Wechsler manual | Subsection A.1.1: Administration Procedures from the Wechsler Manual |
The table shows examples where proper noun names referring to specific people, places, organizations, publications, tests, etc., are correctly capitalized per the universal rule. This applies consistently at all heading levels, regardless of the overall capitalization style.
Consistency, consistency, consistency
No matter which capitalization style you choose for your headings, the most important thing is consistency throughout your document. If you sometimes capitalize certain words in headings, but other times you don’t, it will look sloppy and disorganized. The heading styles need to follow the same rules every single time.
This consistency needs to happen not just in the main chapters but also in other sections like the table of contents, appendices, reference list, and anywhere else headings appear. Carefully reviewing the table of contents can help you spot any headings that look different from the others by mistake. This is especially important if you use a program like Microsoft Word to automatically create and format the headings.
Beyond capitalization, you also need to keep the numbering, indenting, fonts, and spacing consistent for all headings of the same level. One heading that looks different from the rest really stands out. The key is setting your heading style rules from the start and then making sure to follow those exact same rules all the way through your document, with no exceptions
