Capitalizing Theories
Phyllis P. asked, “Should theories be in uppercase or identified by italics when adding to a research paper, i.e., in ‘Dr. Goodman’s theory of whole language,’ should ‘whole language’ be uppercase or lowercase?” Here’s the answer.
By
Mignon Fogarty
Mignon Fogarty
February 5, 2015
1 minute read
Theories aren’t capitalized or highlighted with italics, but you do capitalize someone’s name when it’s part of a theory:
- Dr. Goodman’s theory of whole language
- Einstein’s general theory of relativity
- Squiggly’s theory of chocolate melting dynamics
The same rules apply to laws and hypotheses.
(Note that capitalization of theories, laws, an hypotheses is ultimately a style choice and some style guides give other recommendations. Keeping them lowercase is simply a good, common style.)