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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/4622
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/4622
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

If you are referring to "title case," where some words are capitalized and some aren't, [there is no one standard rule](http://grammar.about.com/od/grammarfaq/f/capitalstitle.htm).

The [AP stylebook](http://www.apstylebook.com) says:

> - Capitalize the principal words, including prepositions and conjunctions of four or more letters.
> - Capitalize an article – the, a, an – or words of fewer than four letters if it is the first or last word in a title.

But the [Chicago Manual of Style](http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org) says:

> Use lowercase for articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, for, nor), and prepositions, regardless of length, _unless_ they are the first or last word of the title.

Wikipedia has a [list of different ways title case can be applied](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_case#Headings_and_publication_titles). I tend to follow the second version in that list.

![title case variations](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ra9A2.png)

Note that some people prefer using "sentence case" in titles, where you only capitalize words as you would in a normal sentence. This is also known as "Down style." Apparently this is more typical in the UK than the USA, but [opinions vary](http://typophile.com/node/66002) (as you might expect) on which is the correct form, or if there is even one.

Original score: 28