Italics are used for long works, car names, and movie and television program titles. Quotation marks are used to denote portions of a text, such as chapter titles, magazine articles, poetry, and short tales. Using both italics and quotation marks together is confusing.
Italicized book, play, film, magazines, databases, and online titles are italicized. If the source is part of a larger work, put the title in quotation marks. Articles, articles, chapters, poems, websites, songs, and speeches are all surrounded by quote marks. Titles should be included even if they contain only one word or are very short.
In fiction, titles often help identify characters and explain their relationships to each other and to the story. They may also provide information about the setting of the story or evoke emotions in the reader. As such, they are an important aspect of writing quality books.
Chapter titles are usually set in italics because they are parts of a book or article that are separated from the main text. However, some writers choose to use regular type for their chapter titles because they feel it improves the overall appearance of the page. Many publishers require that chapter titles be in italics because they are considered essential to identifying sections of the book or article.
Film and television titles are usually set in italics to distinguish them from the main text which is printed in a more readable style. This is especially important when multiple films by the same author are being referenced together.
Magazines and newspapers tend to use more abbreviated titles than books do. These are called "subtitles" and they are not italicized.
If the source is self-contained and independent, italicize the title.
24 Hours In New York City.
Articles, articles, chapters, poetry, websites, songs, and speeches are all surrounded by quote marks...
Italicize the titles of longer publications, such as books, magazines, databases, and websites. Titles published in longer works, such as articles, essays, chapters, poetry, Web pages, songs, and speeches, should be surrounded by quote marks. In contrast, underline the titles of shorter works, such as book covers, pamphlets, newspapers, and journals.
It is acceptable to use both methods for the same title. For example, a magazine's cover story can be titled "How I Lost Weight" in small print below the title line or in a separate box on the cover. Either method is used widely today.
The decision about how to type the title of your work will depend on several factors, including the length of the publication and your preference. Using this guide will help you decide which method is best suited to your needs.
As you can see, there are advantages and disadvantages to using either underlining or italics to indicate the title of your work. Underlining is a quick and easy way to make sure that everyone knows what the title of your work is. However, since only the first word of the title is in boldface, some people may not notice the main idea behind the piece. Also, because most computers display text in italics by default, you do not need to worry about changing font styles when writing your paper.
Use lowercase for the individual words.
Books: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; A Tale of Two Cities
Films: Tarzan; Sherlock Holmes stories
Magazines: Science; Entertainment Weekly
Databases: Wikipedia
Websites: Google.com; Amazon.com
Play titles are not usually italicized, but they can be if you want to draw attention to them or include all the characters in a series at once. For example: Mary Poppins, Mary Poppins Returns, Mary Queen of Scots.
The choice to italicize or not should depend on your writing style. If you write mostly academic papers, it's appropriate to use italics for books, plays, films, and other forms of media. When writing for a general audience, however, you can choose not to use italics for titles because they aren't considered essential information for readers to understand the context of the source.
Long titles, such as novels, movies, or record albums, should be italicized in general. For the names of shorter pieces of work, such as poems, essays, book chapters, songs, TV programs, and so on, use quote marks. Put the title in small capital letters.
In English-language publications, the title of a song is usually set in small capitals (or title case), with the first letter of each word capitalized. This is done to distinguish the title from other text that may be written in lowercase. Some music publishers require that the title of a song be set in small capitals.
Titles in music are also often used to indicate certain parts within the song. These include: title track for the main body of the song; album title for the entire album; single for a separate release such as an EP or a non-album single; and outtake or hidden track indicating one end of a recording session not included on an album.
Many musicians will write their own titles in all caps because they want to draw attention to them, but this isn't necessary. If you want, you can write your title in lowercase letters and still attract attention from readers - it just won't look as nice.
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