When it comes to the style or grammar of titles used in academic articles and dissertations, there is a lot of variation. As a result, this article sets out the various styles used when creating titles, as proposed by the major style guides: the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Psychological Association (APA), and the Modern Languages Association (MLA). Generally speaking, the AMA style is used by students in Medicine and the Sciences; the APA style is geared towards the Social Sciences and Psychology; whilst the MLA style is used in the Liberal Arts and Humanities.
To see the basics of each style when creating a title, such as when to use capitalisation in a title, the grammar of title, and other rules, choose from the styles below. To know more about the styles, we have provided links at the end of the article to Amazon where they can be purchased.
To our knowledge, the AMA style does not distinguish between titles for articles as a whole and dissertations. As such, we have based this style guide on the requirements for titles set out by the AMA style guide, 10th edition. The main considerations when writing your dissertation title from a style perspective are: (a) capitalisation in titles and subtitles; (b) quotation marks; (c) city, county, state, province, country names; (d) numbers; (e) abbreviation; (f) drugs; and (g) genus and species. Each of these considerations is present below with associated examples:
Capitalisation in titles and subtitles
The first letter of a title and subtitle should be capitalised [bold below]. A subtitle should be separated using a colon and then a single space (i.e., Title: Subtitle)
Physician Compensation, Cost, and Quality
Change in Prevalence of Hearing Loss in US Adolescents
Minimizing Bias in Randomized Trials: The Importance of Blinding
The US Global Health Initiative: Informing Policy With Evidence
Do not capitalise articles (i.e., a, an, the) unless they are the first letter of a title or subtitle [bold below]:
Smoking as a Factor in Causing Lung Cancer
Tamsulosin and the Intraoperative Floppy Iris Syndrome
Do not capitalise prepositions that have three or fewer letters (e.g., as, at, by, in, of, off, on, to, up) [bold below]:
Characteristics and Career Intentions of the Emerging MD/PhD Workforce
The Uncertain Art: Thoughts on a Life in Medicine
Do not capitalise coordinating conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or, for, nor) [bold below]:
Traumatic Brain Injury and Major Depressive Disorder
Diagnostic Testing for Celiac Disease
Treadmill Exercise or Resistance Training in Patients With Peripheral Arterial Disease
Do not capitalise the word to in infinitives [bold below]:
How to Interpret a Genome-wide Association Study
Mental Health Courts as a Way to Provide Treatment to Violent Persons With Severe Mental Illness
Quotation marks
If quotations marks are used in a title, they should be double (i.e., "..."), not single (i.e., '...'):
Medical Care for the Final Years of Life: "When You're 83, It's Not Going to Be 20 Years"
Spinal Cord Compression in Patients With Advanced Metastatic Cancer: "All I Care About Is Walking and Living My Life"
City, county, state, province and country names
Only include the names of cities, counties, provinces and countries when essential, especially if there is no intention to make generalisations from the research findings to other locations [bold below]:
Outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes Infections Associated With Pasteurized Milk From a Local Dairy, Massachusetts, 2007
Probable Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Disability in Cambodia: Associations With Perceived Justice, Desire for Revenge, and Attitudes Toward the Khmer Rouge Trials
Numbers
If the beginning of a title or subtitle includes numbers, spell these out. Otherwise, there are a number of rules including the rounding of large numbers, the use digit spans and hyphens, where appropriate, for years, amongst others. Refer to Chapter 19 of the AMA style guide, 10th edition.
Asthma Following the 2001 World Trade Center Attack
Injuries and Deaths From Landmines and Unexploded Ordnance in Afghanistan, 2002-2006
Three-Year Outcomes for Medicare Beneficiaries Who Survive Intensive Care
Becoming a Doctor: Reflections of First-Year Medical Students
Abbreviations
Abbreviations should be avoided in titles and subtitles unless titles are particularly long (see first example) or a group is better known by its acronym (see second example, where PEPFAR is short for The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief).
Treatment Failure and Mortality Factors in Patients Receiving Second-Line HIV Therapy in Resource-Limited Countries
Use of Generic Antiretroviral Agents and Cost Savings in PEPFAR Treatment Programs
Drugs
Where possible, use the approved generic or non-proprietary names for drugs (see first example). However, proprietary names for drugs can be used where focus is on a particular proprietary drug (see second example). For additional rules, refer to Chapter 2 of the AMA style guide, 10th edition.
Penicillin Treatment of Syphilis: Clearing Away the Shadow on the Land
Postmarketing Monitoring of Intussusception After RotaTeqTM Vaccination, United States, February 1, 2006-February 15, 2007
Genus and Species
Write genus and species in italics, capitalising the first letter of the genus, but not the species. Refer to Chapter 15 of the AMA style guide, 10th edition, for more detail.
Emergence of Antimicrobial-Resistant Serotype 19A Streptococcus pneumoniae, Massachusetts, 2001-2006
Universal Screening for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus at Hospital Admission and Nosocomial Infection in Surgical Patient
If the AMA Manual of Style, 10th edition, is not in your university library, it can be purchased on Amazon for around £34/US$73/CDN$67. It is a very comprehensive guide to the AMA style.
Abrahm, J.L., Banffy, M.B. and Harris, M.B. (2008) Spinal Cord Compression in Patients With Advanced Metastatic Cancer: "All I Care About Is Walking and Living My Life", JAMA, 299(8): 937-946.
Andriole, D.A., Whelan, A.J. and Jeffe, D.B. (2008) Characteristics and Career Intentions of the Emerging MD/PhD Workforce, JAMA, 300(10): 1165-1173.
Bach, P.B. (2009) Smoking as a Factor in Causing Lung Cancer, JAMA, 301(5): 539-541.
Bendavid, E. and Miller, G. (2010) The US Global Health Initiative: Informing Policy With Evidence, JAMA, 304(7): 791-792.
Bilukha, O.O., Brennan, M. and Anderson, M. (2007) Injuries and Deaths From Landmines and Unexploded Ordnance in Afghanistan, 2002-2006, JAMA, 298: 516-518.
Brook, R.H. (2010) Physician Compensation, Cost, and Quality, JAMA, 304(7): 795-796.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2006) Postmarketing Monitoring of Intussusception After RotaTeqTM Vaccination, United States, February 1, 2006-February 15, 2007, JAMA, 297(18): 1972-1976.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2007) Emergence of Antimicrobial-Resistant Serotype 19A Streptococcus pneumoniae, Massachusetts, 2001-2006, JAMA, 298(22): 2612-2614.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2009) Outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes Infections Associated With Pasteurized Milk From a Local Dairy, Massachusetts, 2007, JAMA, 301(8): 820-822.
Douglas, J.M., Jr. (2009) Penicillin Treatment of Syphilis: Clearing Away the Shadow on the Land, JAMA, 301(7): 769-771.
Eagen, K. (2007) Becoming a Doctor: Reflections of First-Year Medical Students, JAMA, 298(9): 1067-1068.
Friedman, A.H. (2009) Tamsulosin and the Intraoperative Floppy Iris Syndrome, JAMA, 301(19): 2044-2045.
Harbarth, S., Fankhauser, C., Schrenzel, J., Christenson, J., Gervaz, P., Bandiera-Clerc, C., Renzi, G., Vernaz, N., Sax, H. and Pittet, D. (2008) Universal Screening for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus at Hospital Admission and Nosocomial Infection in Surgical Patients, JAMA, 299(10): 1149-1157.
Harvey, J.C. (2008) The Uncertain Art: Thoughts on a Life in Medicine, JAMA, 300(10): 1213-1214.
Holmes, C.B., Coggin, W., Jamieson, D., Mihm, H., Granich, R., Savio, R., Hope, M., Ryan, C., Moloney-Kitts, M., Goosby, E.P. and Dybul, M. (2010) Use of Generic Antiretroviral Agents and Cost Savings in PEPFAR Treatment Programs, JAMA, 304(3): 313-320.
Khattri, S. (2009) Treadmill Exercise or Resistance Training in Patients With Peripheral Arterial Disease, JAMA, 301(19): 1986.
Lamb, H.R. and Weinberger, L.E. (2008) Mental Health Courts as a Way to Provide Treatment to Violent Persons With Severe Mental Illness, JAMA, 300(6): 722-724.
Miller, A. (2009) Asthma Following the 2001 World Trade Center Attack, JAMA, 302(21): 2319.
Pearson, T.A. and Manolio, T.A. (2008) How to Interpret a Genome-wide Association Study, JAMA, 299(11): 1335-1344.
Plebani, M. and Basso, D. (2010) Diagnostic Testing for Celiac Disease, JAMA, 304(6): 639.
Psaty, B.M. and Prentice, R.L. (2010) Minimizing Bias in Randomized Trials: The Importance of Blinding, JAMA, 304(7): 793-794.
Pujades-Rodríguez, M., Balkan, S., Arnould, L., Brinkhof, M.A.W. and Calmy, A. (2010) Treatment Failure and Mortality Factors in Patients Receiving Second-Line HIV Therapy in Resource-Limited Countries, JAMA, 304(3): 303-312.
Reuben, D.B. (2010) Medical Care for the Final Years of Life: "When You're 83, It's Not Going to Be 20 Years", JAMA, 302(24): 2686-2694.
Shargorodsky, J. Curhan, S.G., Curhan, G.C. and Eavey, R. (2010) Change in Prevalence of Hearing Loss in US Adolescents, JAMA, 304(7): 772-778.
Sonis, J., Gibson, J.L.., de Jong, J.T.V.M., Field, N.P., Hean, S. and Komproe, I. (2009) Probable Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Disability in Cambodia: Associations With Perceived Justice, Desire for Revenge, and Attitudes Toward the Khmer Rouge Trials, JAMA, 302(5): 527-536.
Thombs, B.D. (2010) Traumatic Brain Injury and Major Depressive Disorder, JAMA, 304(8): 857.
Wunsch, H., Guerra, C., Barnato, A.E., Angus, D.C., Li, G. and Linde-Zwirble, W.T. (2010) Three-Year Outcomes for Medicare Beneficiaries Who Survive Intensive Care, JAMA, 303(9): 849-856.