After numerous consultations with professional and academic organizations, the WorldInventTM committee will adopt the American Psychological Association Publication Style (APA Style) as the publication standard on its certificates. APA Style is widely adopted by universities worldwide. We hope these measures will increase the creditability and recognition of the certificates the awardees received.

Title of Invention

APA Style uses two types of capitalization for titles of works and headings within works: title case and sentence case. For the title of the invention, we accept only title cases.

In the title case, major words are uppercase, and most minor words are lowercase.

    • Major words: Nouns, verbs (including linking verbs), adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and all words of four letters or more
    • Minor words: Short (i.e., three letters or fewer) conjunctions, short prepositions, and all articles

Keep the title of your invention short. Do not exceed more than 150 characters.

Non-conforming titles will be modified by the WorldInventTM organizer. Lengthy titles will have their title cut off at the 150th character.

How to implement title case

In title case, capitalize the following words in a title or heading:

    • the first word of the title or heading, even if it is a minor word such as “The” or “A”
    • the first word of a subtitle, even if it is a minor word
    • the first word after a colon, em dash, or end punctuation in a heading, even if it is a minor word
    • major words, including the second part of hyphenated major words (e.g., “Self-Report,” not “Self-report”)
    • words of four letters or more (e.g., “With,” “Between,” “From”)

Lowercase only minor words that are three letters or fewer in a title or heading (except the first word in a title or subtitle or the first word after a colon, em dash, or end punctuation in a heading):

    • short conjunctions (e.g., “and,” “as,” “but,” “for,” “if,” “nor,” “or,” “so,” “yet”)
    • articles (“a,” “an,” “the”)
    • short prepositions (e.g., “as,” “at,” “by,” “for,” “in,” “of,” “off,” “on,” “per,” “to,” “up,” “via”)

Please note that we will not enforce minor words. Trademarks like iPhone and iWatch, are also exempted.

To verify whether the title of your invention meets the requirements, please use the Title Case Converter Tool.

Examples

The following examples are regarded as desirable:

  • The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog
  • An iPhone That Shave and Also as a Spiritual Companion
  • An iPhone That Shave And Also As A Spiritual Companion
  • Holy Phone: An iPhone That Shave And Also As A Spiritual Companion
  • STYLO - An iPhone That Shave And Also As A Spiritual Companion
  • I.D.E.A.

The following examples are regarded as NOT desirable:

  • the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
  • The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
  • THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG
  • tHe qUiCk bRoWn fOx jUmPs oVeR ThE LaZy dOg

Name on Certificate

Typically APA Style name reference, with exceptions for religious officials and nobility, does not include the person’s academic credentials or professional titles.

Here are some common examples of academic credentials and professional titles to omit from names.

  • Academic degrees or licenses to omit
    • PhD, PsyD, EdD, or any doctorate degree
    • MA, MS, or any master’s degree
    • BA, BS, or any bachelor’s degree
    • MSW, LCSW, LPC, any social work or counseling degree or license
  • Professional titles to omit
    • Reverend (Rev.)
    • Honorable (Hon.)
    • President (or any governmental or administrative rank)
    • Dr. or Doctor
    • Military ranks (General, Captain, Lieutenant, etc.)
    • Tan Sri, Tun, Dato, Datuk, or any form of federal title
Additional Requirements
  • All names are to be in the title case.
  • The combined names on the certificate cannot exceed 250 characters in length.
  • To verify whether the names meet the requirements, please use the Title Case Converter Tool.
Open Punctuation

Omit characters and marks such as full stops (periods), colons, or commas in the name.

  • Nancy M D Johnson
  • Lucky Pte Ltd Inc
  • Nancy M. D. Johnson
  • Lucky Pte. Ltd., Inc.
Conjunction

If there is more than one member in the team, use a comma, semi-colon, or “&” to connect them. “And” or “&” between the last person and the 2nd last person is optional.

  • Albert Einstein, Nancy M D Johnson, Wayne Lin, Mohammed Ali
  • Albert Einstein; Nancy M D Johnson; Wayne Lin; Mohammed Ali
  • Albert Einstein & Nancy M D Johnson & Wayne Lin & Mohammed Ali
  • Albert Einstein, Nancy M D Johnson, Wayne Lin and Mohammed Ali
  • Albert Einstein, Nancy M D Johnson, Wayne Lin & Mohammed Ali
Western Names

In Western naming conventions, the given name usually appears before the family name (or surname).

  • Albert Einstein
  • Nancy Maria Donaldson Johnson
  • Nancy M D Johnson
  • Nancy Johnson
Asian Names

APA Style has no guidelines for non-Western names, but the same convention can be used for Asian names. The following examples are acceptable:

  • Wayne Lin Jun Jie (Full name)
  • Wayne Lin (English name "Wayne" used as first initial)
  • Wayne LIN (Capitalized family name)
  • JJ Lin (Given name initial, followed by family name)
  • Lin JJ (Family name, followed by given name initial)
Islamic Names

As Muslims may or may not have a family name. Bin or binti is not necessary. Examples:

  • Mohammed Ali
  • Mohd Ali
  • Dr Mahathir bin Muhammed -> Mahathir Muhammed
  • MAHATHIR MUHAMMED
  • mahathir muhammed
  • MaHaThIr mUhAmMeD
Indian Names

For Indian names, do not include s/o, or d/o.