Expert: Dan Smith - 8/15/2006

Question
Hello - I am editing a manegement plan and have several capitalization questions. I understand the 'capitalize proper noun' rule, but am getting confused about how extensive the 'names of things' part of that goes. For example, is the capitalization here correct: "... provided it meets the quidelines set forth in the Evaluation Plan." Also, "...when you reach the Approval Phase of the project...".

Thanks!
Linda

Answer
I would not normally think of those as proper nouns. Sometimes it is appropriate to use capitals in such situations to call readers' attention to important terms even though they might not usually be considered to be proper nouns. If you use capitalization for that purpose, be sure to be consistent throughout the document.

Hope this helps.