capitalization: parts of a book or document

Capitalize references to specific parts of a document. These include certain common nouns in the singular (e.g. act, chapter, figure) when they are used in text references with numbers or letters indicating place, position or major division in a sequence. Also capitalize a letter following such a term (e.g. Appendix D):

• Act II
• Appendix B
• Chapter 3
• Chart 2
• Corollary 1
• Exhibit A
• Figure 7
• Plate 4
• Scene iii
• Table 3
• Theorem 3
• Volume 13

In addition, capitalize cross-references within a book when they refer to a particular section:

• Further readings are listed in the Bibliography.
• See the Appendix for urban statistics.

Informal references to chapter and topic titles may be capitalized and written without italics or quotation marks:

His topics included Northern Travel, Survival on the Road, and Basic Maintenance.

When not to capitalize

Do not capitalize minor subdivisions such as page, note, line, paragraph and verse:

• See page 6, line 48.

Do not capitalize section when it is used for part of a law or set of regulations, but do capitalize it if it refers to a large subdivision of a report, book or other document:

• under section 23 of the Act
• Volume 10, Section 5

Do not capitalize words referring to parts of a book when they are used in a general sense, are preceded by modifiers, or are in plural forms:

• The theory will be discussed in the next chapter.
• The appendixes outline other migration patterns.
• Even Miller’s extensive bibliography is not complete.

See also ABBREVIATIONS: PARTS OF A BOOK OR DOCUMENT.

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