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8 Capitalization

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It is not usually necessary to capitalize common nouns. For example, rather than <incorrect-text>the Committees and the Working Groups<incorrect-text>, write <correct-text>the committees and the working groups<correct-text>. Terminology must be consistent with the FAO Term Portal. Prioritize uncapitalized terms over versions with initial capitalization.

Do not capitalize the phrases <correct-text>arabic numerals<correct-text>, <correct-text>roman type<correct-text> or <correct-text>roman numerals<correct-text>. 

The first word after a colon should be capitalized only if it is a proper noun or introduces a sentence. 

If a quotation fragment is used in a sentence, an upper case or lower case letter in the original quotation may be altered to suit its position in the new sentence. 

Names of the seasons are not capitalized. Note that seasons should not generally be used as a frame of reference, as they vary according to the hemisphere. Exceptions may be made for training materials aimed at a specific country or region. As a season, use <correct-text>autumn<correct-text>, not <incorrect-text>fall<incorrect-text>. 

Capitalization of brand and trade names should reflect the registered version of the name, such as <correct-text>YouTube<correct-text> and <correct-text>InDesign<correct-text>. 

Capitals are used to distinguish the specific from the generic or non-specific:

  • Use capital letters when naming a specific body, e.g. <correct-text>The Government of France ruled that …<correct-text> but not when referring to a body more generally, e.g. <correct-text>All participating governments were asked to comment on the ruling<correct-text>.
  • Organizations, committees, universities, laws, treaties, governments and so on take initial capitals when the full title is given, but not when referred to subsequently without the full title, e.g. <correct-text>The Government of Malawi has stated that the policy is being drafted. The goal of the policy is to give the government more control, according to the minister.<correct-text> See 6.1 FAO-related terminology for the exceptions to this rule.
  • For geographical and political designations, use upper case only if part of the official name. For example, the word <correct-text>state<correct-text> takes a lower case <correct-text>s<correct-text> when referring generally to the institution or to nations or divisions of a nation, e.g. <correct-text>state-owned enterprise<correct-text>; it takes a capital <correct-text>S<correct-text> when a specific state is named, e.g. <correct-text>State of Andhra Pradesh<correct-text>.
  • For formal or job titles, use upper case only if it comes before a person’s name or directly following the name, e.g. <correct-text>Prime Minister Anderson<correct-text> or <correct-text>Jennifer Smith, Director of Communications, spoke to the press<correct-text>. Use lower case when a title is separated from the person’s name, e.g. <correct-text>Qu Dongyu, the ninth director-general of FAO, was elected in 2019<correct-text>.
  • Use initial capitals for historical eras and events (<correct-text>the First World War<correct-text>), declarations and conventions when the full title is given.
  • Names of stars and planets (e.g. <correct-text>the Sun<correct-text>, <correct-text>the Earth<correct-text>) should be capitalized where treated as proper nouns. Where <correct-text>earth<correct-text> is used to refer to ground or soil, the word is not capitalized. Where <correct-text>sun<correct-text> is used generically, it should be lower case, e.g. <correct-text>The cacao beans are dried in the sun<correct-text>.
  • When referring to a specific figure or table in the text, use a capital letter, e.g. <correct-text>see Table 1.3<correct-text>. When referring to more than one figure or table, refer to each separately, e.g. <correct-text>As shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3<correct-text> (not <incorrect-text>As shown in Figures 2 and 3<incorrect-text>). Note that capitals are not used when the term is used in a general sense, e.g. <correct-text>The tables show a trend of ...<correct-text>.

8.1 Titles and headings

In headings, subheadings and book titles, use sentence case, i.e. capitals only for the initial letter of the phrase and any proper names. If the title is based on a conference, workshop, government programme, project name or journal whose title was capitalized, retain the capitalization. Note that designers may choose to use all upper case for titles or headings, but the capitalization rules should be followed in the citation. 

Capitalize the initial letter of the first word, the final word and major words of series titles, e.g. <correct-text>Microbiological Risk Assessment Series<correct-text>.

8.2 Regions and groups of people

For regions, capitalize when part of a proper name or political grouping, e.g. <correct-text>the representatives of Southeast Asia, the Near East and Eastern Europe<correct-text>, but not for a generic geographical grouping, e.g. <correct-text>a species common across eastern Europe<correct-text>. The naming of regions across the world can also carry cultural, historical or traditional connotations and for this reason upper case may often be appropriate depending on context; be consistent throughout the document.

Adjectives derived from these names (e.g. <correct-text>Near Eastern<correct-text>, <correct-text>North African<correct-text>) are also capitalized. Do not capitalize, however, where a hyphen is part of a prefixed word, e.g. <correct-text>sub-Saharan Africa<correct-text>.

Names of Indigenous Peoples and ethnic and national groups take an initial capital and are not italicized, e.g. <correct-text>the San people<correct-text>.
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