Capitalization
Our style is to use lower case as much as possible (heaven, hell, for instance) but we do allow poetic license on a case-by-case basis. Capitalize “Earth” (the planet) only when it is NOT preceded by “the” or used in an idiomatic expression such as earth-shattering. Use lowercase “l” for left; that is, the left, not the Left. Generally, if a word is capped, its adjectival form is not, unless it is a proper noun (for example: The voters sent her to Congress. The congressional recess was upon them. She was French, with a pronounced French accent.).
For titles of articles and section headings:
Capitalize the first and the last word.
Capitalize nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions (see list below).
Lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet), and prepositions four letters or shorter (see list below).
Lowercase the “to” in an infinitive (I want to play guitar).
Subordinate Conjunctions (capitalize):
after
since
when
although
so that
whenever
as
supposing
where
because
than
whereas
before
that
wherever
but that
though
whether
if
though
which
in order that
till
while
lest
unless
who
no matter
until
why
how
what
even though
Prepositions (capitalize if five letters or more):
aboard
about
above
across
after
against
along
amid
among
anti or anti-
around
as
at
before
behind
below
beneath
beside
besides
between
beyond
but
by
concerning
considering
despite
down
during
except
excepting
excluding
following
for
from
in
inside
into
like
minus
near
of
off
on
onto
opposite
outside
over
past
per
plus
regarding
round
save
since
than
through
to
toward
towards
under
underneath
unlike
until
up
upon
versus
via
with
within
without
Variant spellings: use the first one listed in M-W (for example, toward, not towards).
Party: Capitalize when used with the proper name (Democratic Party, Communist Party), but lowercase when used alone (Even though he was a member of the Democratic Party, he did not support most of the party's positions). See Chicago for a discussion of capitalization of Communist, Socialist, Democratic, and so on.
Web addresses: Put in parentheses, without the www (magazine.scienceforthepeople.org). If you can, avoid printing web addresses in the text. They break up lines and cause formatting problems. Key words should be enough to direct the reader. If you need a deep link, provide it as a reference at the end. Note the date last checked, since a link could be dead when a reader tries to find it a few years from now. We lowercase web, website, webpage, and internet.
Ellipses: Chicago has removed the guesswork: To indicate an omission, or ellipsis, in quoted text, use three spaced periods preceded or followed by any other necessary mark of punctuation (including any period, which always precedes the three spaced periods).
Trademarked names as verbs: You tweet, but use Twitter. You Google using Google and Skype using Skype, just as you Xerox using a Xerox machine and copy using a copying machine. If you’re using a different search engine or transmission system, adjust accordingly.
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