Bluebook Title Capitalization™

Bluebook Title Capitalization Rules & Guidelines

Bluebook title capitalization follows The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21st edition), the standard for legal writing and citations. Understanding Bluebook title capitalization is essential for law students, attorneys, and legal professionals.

Bluebook Title Capitalization Rules (21st Edition)

• Capitalize all words
  Except articles, conjunctions, and prepositions of four or fewer letters.
• Always capitalize first and last words
  Regardless of their length or part of speech
• Capitalize nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs
  All major parts of speech are capitalized
• Lowercase short articles
  "a," "an," "the" (unless first or last word)
• Lowercase short conjunctions
  "and," "but," "or," "nor," "for," "so," "yet" (unless first or last word)
• Lowercase short prepositions
  Prepositions of four or fewer letters: "in," "on," "at," "by," "for," "with," "from"
• Capitalize long prepositions
  Prepositions of five or more letters: "Above," "Under," "Between," "Through"

Bluebook Title Capitalization Examples

• ✓ "The Supreme Court's Decision in Brown v. Board of Education"
• ✓ "Constitutional Law and Civil Rights Under the Fourteenth Amendment"
• ✓ "Contract Formation and Performance in Commercial Transactions"
• ✓ "Criminal Procedure and the Rights of the Accused"
• ✓ "Property Rights Between Private Parties and Government Entities"

Bluebook Legal Citation Formatting

Special considerations for legal documents:

• Case names: Follow specific Bluebook rules for case citations
• Statute titles: Use proper capitalization for legislative titles
• Law review articles: Apply title capitalization to article titles
• Book titles: Use Bluebook capitalization for legal texts

Common Bluebook Title Capitalization Mistakes

• ❌ Not capitalizing long prepositions: "property rights between private parties"
• ✓ Correct: "Property Rights Between Private Parties"
• ❌ Capitalizing short prepositions: "The Decision In Brown V. Board Of Education"
• ✓ Correct: "The Decision in Brown v. Board of Education"
• ❌ Not capitalizing last word: "constitutional law and civil rights under the fourteenth amendment"
• ✓ Correct: "Constitutional Law and Civil Rights Under the Fourteenth Amendment"

When to Use Bluebook Title Capitalization

Bluebook title capitalization is required for:

• Law school papers and assignments
• Legal briefs and memoranda
• Court documents and filings
• Law review articles and notes
• Legal research papers
• Bar exam essays and practice tests

Bluebook vs Other Citation Styles

• Bluebook vs AP: Bluebook capitalizes 5+ letter prepositions; AP uses 4+ letter rule
• Bluebook vs APA: Bluebook uses title case; APA uses sentence case
• Bluebook vs Chicago: Bluebook capitalizes long prepositions; Chicago lowercases all
• Bluebook vs MLA: Similar rules but Bluebook has specific legal conventions

Bluebook Legal Writing Guidelines

• Case citations: Use proper format for court cases
• Statute citations: Follow Bluebook rules for legislative materials
• Secondary sources: Apply consistent capitalization to law reviews and books
• Parallel citations: Maintain formatting across multiple sources

Bluebook 21st Edition Updates

• Enhanced rules for digital and online sources
• Updated formatting for social media and blog citations
• Clarified rules for international and foreign legal materials
• Streamlined citation formats for modern legal writing

Quick Bluebook Title Capitalization Tips

• Remember: 4 letters or fewer = lowercase (except first/last words)
• 5+ letter prepositions are always capitalized
• All major parts of speech are capitalized
• Be consistent with legal citation formatting
• Use our free Bluebook title capitalization tool above for instant legal formatting

Need perfect Bluebook title capitalization?
Use our free Bluebook title capitalization tool to instantly format your legal titles according to Bluebook 21st edition guidelines.

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