When to use capital letters

Proper nouns, official titles and course titles use initial capitals when written in full. 

Examples: 
Chancellor Ms Mary Harney 
BA (Honours) History  
Applicants must study history at Leaving Certificate 
She received a Master of Arts 

However, watch out for: 

Programme 

Programme is not capitalised unless it is part of a full programme title. 

Examples: 
Student Leadership Programme.  
This programme is open to students from any year 


Department 

Department names use initial capitals but the word department always uses lowercase d, unless it begins a sentence. 

Examples: 
The Department of Sociology 
Our department has an excellent reputation 


University 

University – when you are referring to the University of Limerick as the University always use a capital U.  When you refer to a university, lowercase u is used. 


Titles  

Don’t use capitals for small words (in, at, and, of, the, on) in titles except when the title starts with a small word, use a capital.  

Examples: 
Derek is the World’s Outstanding Young Person of the Year. 
At Home with the World’s Outstanding Young Person of the Year. 

Follow our guidelines on names and titles.


Headlines 

If you are writing a headline for a news article online, follow these guidelines:

  • Typically, no more than 10 - 15 words
     
  • It should be able to be understood out of the context of the article itself
     
  • Use sentence case: There’s No Need to Capitalise Every Word or SHOUT THE HEADLINE
     
  • Avoid jargon, acronyms and technical terms
     
  • No exclamation points! They can appear patronising
     
  • Include keywords that make it easy for someone to Google the article
     
  • Read over your headline to double-check for misspelling, repetition or redundant words

How to write effective news content


Sentence case 

Sentence case is a style of capitalisation that is commonly used in writing. It involves capitalising the first letter of the first word in a sentence, as well as any proper nouns, but leaving all other words in lowercase.

Sentence case should be used in all writing, especially in headings.

Example:

Instead of saying "Explore Undergraduate Courses Now", use "Explore undergraduate courses now"

Here are some tips on how to write in sentence case: 

Capitalise the first letter of the first word in a sentence.  
Example:  
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. 

Capitalise any proper nouns.  
Example:  
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. 

Leave all other words in lowercase.  
Example:  
The cat in the hat went for a walk. 

Capitalise the first word after a colon only if it is a proper noun or starts a complete sentence.  
Example:  
The strategy has three pillars: transforming education, research excellence and internationalisation. 

Exceptions to the rule include titles of publications. These can be written in title case, where the first letter of every word is capitalised except for articles, conjunctions, and prepositions.  
Example:  
How to Write in Sentence Case: A Beginner's Guide. 

When writing in sentence case, it's important to be consistent throughout your document.

Check that you have applied the style correctly and make any necessary corrections.