AMA Manual of Style
title-case rules
For medical and scientific publication.
The AMA rules
The AMA Manual of Style is the standard for medical publications including JAMA.
- Capitalize the first and last words.
- Capitalize all major words.
- Lowercase articles, coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions of three letters or fewer.
- Capitalize prepositions of four or more letters.
- Capitalize after a colon.
Worked examples
The same set of titles, converted under AMA Manual of Style rules. Try them yourself by switching the style pill on the homepage.
| Input | AMA |
|---|---|
a randomized trial of new therapies |
A Randomized Trial of New Therapies |
the effect of vitamin d on bone density |
The Effect of Vitamin D on Bone Density |
clinical guidelines for diabetes management |
Clinical Guidelines for Diabetes Management |
systematic review of cancer screening |
Systematic Review of Cancer Screening |
Edge cases we handle
- Proper nouns — iPhone, JavaScript, NASA stay capitalized correctly mid-title.
- Hyphenated compounds — handled per AMA's specific rule.
- After a colon — the first word after a colon is capitalized.
- Acronyms and ALLCAPS runs — preserved as-is.
Try AMA title case now.
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