Is about capitalized in a title? The short answer is yes if you are following AMA, AP, NY Style, APA, Bluebook, CMOS, and Wikipedia. For MLA, you should only capitalize about if it functions as an adverb or an adjective, not a preposition.
If you’re curious about the specific rules for different style guides, read on to discover when and how to capitalize about in your titles.
Related:
- Is “That” Capitalized in a Title?
- Is “Our” Capitalized in a Title?
- Is “Their” Capitalized in a Title?
Title Capitalization Rules per Style Guide
Before we look at specific style guides, it’s essential to understand that “about” can function as a preposition, an adverb, and an adjective. Its capitalization can vary depending on its position in the title, the grammatical function, and the specific style guide you’re following.
Chicago Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) capitalizes major words in titles, including nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs (except as). How about prepositions? Well, in the 18th CMOS version, prepositions that are less than five letters should be in lowercase. But since the word “about” is five letters long, you should capitalize it in your title.
American Medical Association (AMA)
If you’re a medical student or health researcher writing a paper, you might wonder, “Is about capitalized in a title?” The AMA Manual of Style suggests capitalizing the first and last words of titles, subtitles, and major words.
So, how about the word about? Well, in AMA prepositions, four or more letters should be capitalized, so you should capitalize “about.” About as an adverb also gets capitalized in AMA.
A correct example is “What We Know About COVID-19 Long-Haulers”. Here, “about” is correctly capitalized along with the rest of the words in the title.
Associated Press Style (AP Style)
The Associated Press Stylebook shares the same capitalization rule as AMA Style. About (whether it functions as a preposition or adverb) is capitalized when you are following the AP Style.
Modern Language Association (MLA)
In the MLA Handbook, capitalization is only reserved for adverbs, adjectives, verbs, nouns, and pronouns. So, if about doesn’t function as an adverb or adjective in your title, you should keep it in lowercase.
American Psychological Association (APA)
APA Style takes a similar approach to AMA Style; you should capitalize “about” whether it is a preposition or not.
For example, your title is “theories about cognitive development.” The correct way to write this headline is to capitalize every word; “Theories About Cognitive Development.”
Tip: Shorter prepositions (three letters or fewer) should be lowercase unless they are the first word of a title or subtitle.
The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage
The New York Times style capitalizes words of four or more letters in headlines. This means “about” would be capitalized in titles following their style. For example, you’ll see “about” capitalized in the headline, “Should the Lakers Be Worried About Bronny James’s Struggles?“
Bluebook
The Bluebook, used primarily in legal writing, also capitalizes prepositions and adverbs. So, the title “Precedents About Constitutional Law” correctly follows Bluebook’s capitalization rules.
Wikipedia Manual of Style
Wikipedia style always capitalizes adverbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, subordinating conjunctions, and prepositions with five or more letters. Given these rules, “about” is also capitalized in Wikipedia titles.
When Should You Capitalize About
There are three instances you should capitalize about in your title:
- If you are following AMA, AP, NY Style, APA, CMOS, Bluebook, and Wikipedia, you should capitalize about (regardless of its position in the title).
- You should capitalize about when it’s the first or last word in a title or subtitle.
- About is capitalized in MLA Style only if the word functions as an adverb or an adjective.
Tip: The first letter of the first word in the title is always capitalized, regardless of the style guide you are following.
When Shouldn’t You Capitalize About
You shouldn’t capitalize about when it functions as a preposition in MLA Style.
Final Thoughts
So, is about capitalized in a title? As we’ve seen, the answer is not as straightforward because major style guides have their own rules. About is always capitalized in AMA, AP, NY Style, APA, CMOS, Bluebook, and Wikipedia. In MLA Style, it is only capitalized if it functions as an adverb or an adjective.
Need more capitalization help? You can utilize this convenient capitalization tool to ensure you achieve accurate capitalization every time.
