Formatting Tip: Italics

Posted April 6, 2015 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Formatting Tips, Self-Editing, Writing

This post on italics is far from complete and will probably be a never-ending project. If you have questions on whether to italicize something that is not covered here or with which you disagree, I’d appreciate your contacting me or making a comment. A comment is probably best if only to keep it in a public forum, so everyone benefits. Besides me, that is *grin*

Return to top

Formatting Tips started . . .

. . . as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with words that should have been capitalized or italicized, in quotes or not, what should be spelled out and what can be abbreviated, proper styling for the Latin names of plants, the proper formatting and usage of titles and more in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us any questions you’ve had on this subject that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

If you found this post on “Italics” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.

Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Italics
Formatting The same rules apply to any abbreviations and to website titles.
Post Contents: Academic Journals Almanac Articles Artwork Blogs Books Cartoon and Webcomic Titles Catalog titles Computers Conferences Court Case Names Definitions used in a sentence Dialogue – Internal Thoughts Dissertations Documents Editing Emphasis Essays Events Exhibitions Fairs Films	Foreign Language (non-English words) Games Gazetteers Genera and Species Guidebooks Handbooks Journals Labels Lectures Letters used as Letters Magazines Manuscripts Meetings Mottos Movies Music Newspapers Pamphlets Photographs Phrase as Linguistic Example Plants	Plays Podcasts Poems Products Punctuation After Italicized Words Radio Reports Restaurants, Stores, Buildings Reverse Italics Short Stories Signs, Notices, T-shirts Sounds Speeches Television Technical Words Terms Thoughts Vehicle Names Website Names Words as Words
Academic Journals
See Journals for more detail. Return to top or post contents
Almanacs
Always italicize. Return to top or post contents	AP Style
Artwork, drawings, paintings, photographs, statues
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Chicago Return to top or post contents	Chicago: If the artwork’s name is part of a building, prize, organization, etc.	AP Style
Blogs
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Chicago: Blog names (8.187) Video blogs (8.187) Return to top or post contents		Chicago: Blog posts (8.187) Video blog episodes (8.187)
Books
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use quotes
Published only Novellas or long stories IF they have been published in individual bindings APA: Microfilm publications Periodicals Chicago (8.166): Published book titles, theses, dissertations MLA: the name of a Bible Return to top or post contents	the Bible the Koran the Book of Ruth Book series Dictionaries Directories Editions Encyclopedias Titles of sacred documents are capitalized Titles of legal or public documents are capitalized: the Magna Carta the Bill of Rights	Short stories AP Style Chicago: Chapter titles, but not chapter numbers (8.175) Unpublished works (8.184)
Cartoon and webcomic titles
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Chicago Return to top or post contents
Catalog titles
Always italicize. Return to top or post contents	AP Style
Computers
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Computer and video games (See Games for more detail.) Chicago: Apps such as Facebook, Foursquare (8.193) Computer games and game apps Return to top or post contents	Software that is not a game AP Style: Apps such as Facebook, Foursquare (p. 62) Software programs, e.g., WordPerfect, Word, Photoshop	AP Style: Computer games and game apps
Conferences
Always italicize. Return to top or post contents	Chicago	Chicago: Use quotes if the conference has “status” (8.69).
Court case names
Always italicize. Return to top or post contents
Definitions explained in a sentence
Always italicize. Return to top or post contents
Dialogue – Internal thoughts
Always italicize. Return to top or post contents
Dissertations
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Accepted only. Return to top or post contents	Unaccepted
Documents
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Within the text of a paper, italicize the title of complete works. Return to top or post contents		Put quotation marks around titles of parts within a complete work.
Editing
[sic]
Rule: Sic follows the misspelling/grammatical error and is placed within brackets (academic and formal writing) or parentheses (news copy) to indicate an error. [sic] is generally used in scholarly works AND if you are quoting someone and you don’t want readers to think you’re the one who made the “typo”. Sic is NOT an abbreviation and does not use periods or full stops.
CAUTION: “Making a correction in square brackets (cost[s]) is somewhat less aggressive than deploying a sic. A rule of thumb is to silently correct typos like the one you quote unless your judgment tells you either to be transparent or not to meddle” (CMOS).
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Italicization is common in the US, but not required. AP Style: As of 2019, AP Style prefers that you paraphrase around the issue. This, however, means it’s no longer a direct quote. There are many who disagree with the disuse of [sic] (AP). APA: [sic] Chicago: Suggests styling it as a parenthetical sentence only when used after a complete sentence. MLA: [sic]	Style manuals of New Zealand, Australian, and British media outlets generally do not require italicization.
Return to top or post contents	On his forearm was a tattoo that read, “Lifes [sic] beautiful.” They are looking for a proofreader who’s “good at spotting typoes [sic].” In her diary, the eight-year-old Maya wrote, “This morning I had a sudden epiphamy [sic].” [Sic]
Emphasis
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
APA, AP Style, Chicago, MLA: Use italics if changing the syntax won’t work and the reader could misread the information. Return to top or post contents	APA, AP Style, Chicago, MLA: Ideally, provide emphasis using the syntax.
Essays
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Return to top or post contents		Chicago: Titles of essays
Events
Always italicize. Return to top or post contents
Exhibitions
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Chicago: Exhibitions – Small Return to top or post contents	Chicago: Exhibitions – Large
Fairs
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Always italicize. Chicago: Fairs – Small Return to top or post contents	Chicago: Fairs – Large
Films
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Chicago (8.185) Return to top or post contents		AP Style (p. 62)
Foreign language, a.k.a., non-English words
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
oui enchanté fait accompli Return to top or post contents	APA, AP Style, Chicago: UNLESS they have been absorbed into the English language – patio, sombrero, foyer, etc. Check the dictionary. If the word is in an English dictionary, it is considered absorbed. Check the word’s function: if listed as a noun, verb, or whatever, then it’s in roman. If the function is a foreign term, then it gets italicized Proper name of a foreigner Name of a foreign city A street name
			Return to top
Games (Also see rules on capitalization)
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Board, Video, & eGames * such as: Scrabble World of Warcraft * “The justification … is that such games have a narrative and are therefore equivalent to films” (Nichol ). Return to top or post contents	Traditional games such as hopscotch, jump rope, tic-tac-toe, etc. Marco Polo Names of kinds of software (Nichol ).	AP: Video games eGames (* “The justification … is that such games have a narrative and are therefore equivalent to films” (Nichol ).
Gazetteers
Always italicize. Return to top or post contents	AP Style
Genera and species
For example, Lavandula Genus angustifolia specific epithet ‘Munstead’ cultivar Genus specificEpithet var. variety ‘cultivar’ See abbreviations for proper shortening usage and capitalization for developed and trademarked varieties. You may also want to explore the post on “Taxonomy“. Credit to: CMOS, 8.127-8.134 & 8.138 Return to top or post contents
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
APA AP Style Chicago: Genus specificEpithet ssp. subspeciesEpithet ¹ Trogon collaris puella ¹ Always capitalize the genus; NEVER capitalize the specificEpithet. With variety: Genus specificEpithet var. variety Combine variety with cultivar: Genus specificEpithet var. variety ‘cultivar’ National Geographic: Pharamachus Genus mocinno species mocinno subspecies Bambusa Genus vulgaris species var. striata variety Pharamachus Genus mocinno species mocinno subspecies NameOfScientist in roman, add name of scientist Phylum, subphylum, class, subclass, order, suborder, family, subfamily are capped and roman: The Pharamachus belong to the family Trogonidae. Return to top or post contents	With cultivar: Genus specificEpithet ‘cultivar’ Author names (person who proposed specific epithet) Higher divisions than genus (see Plant Abbreviations for more information): class (Chondrichthyes) family (Hominidae) form orders (Monotremata) phyla (Chordata) variety	With cultivar: The convention in botany is to enclose the name of the cultivar in single quotation marks with any following punctuation outside the quotation marks. Genus specificEpithet ‘cultivar’
Guidebooks
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Always italicize. Return to top or post contents
Handbooks
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Always italicize. Return to top or post contents	AP Style
Journals
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Chicago Return to top or post contents	Chicago: Not if part of a name of an award, an organization, etc.
Lectures
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Lecture series Return to top or post contents	Chicago: Lecture series (8.86)	AP Style, Chicago: Individual lectures
Letters Used as Letters
Rule: Letters referred to as letters are italicized.
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
The i in my name is silent. On the faded treasure map, an X actually did mark the spot. APA (p. 50-51): Statistical symbols or algebraic variables F(1, 53) = 10.03 Some test scores and scales t test trial n Rorschach scores: F + %, Z Periodical volume numbers in reference lists 43, 78-89 Books are rated from 1 (low) to 5 (high) Response options ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Return to top or post contents	Letters for school grades are capitalized, but not italicized. APA: Letters used as abbreviations
Pluralizing Single Letters
Rule: Only the letter itself is italicized for plurals. The apostrophe and concluding s are not italicized. NOTE: Use ‘s to pluralize lowercase letters. Leave out the apostrophe and only add s for capital letters.
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
So we have s’s, capital L‘s, and a dozen m’s. So we have ss, capital Ls, and a dozen ms. All the men in his hometown have at least three s’s in their names.
Magazines
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Chicago Return to top or post contents	AP Style Chicago: NOT if part of a name of an award, an organization, etc.	Titles of magazine articles
Meetings
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Return to top or post contents		Chicago: ONLY if the meeting has status.
Manuscripts
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Return to top or post contents	Chicago: Only a published manuscript.	Chicago: If the manuscript has not been published.
Mottos
Always italicize. Return to top or post contents
Music
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Chicago: Albums Abbey Road The Velvet Underground & Nico Like a Virgin		AP Style: Albums
Long musical compositions
Musicals
Operas Carmen Marriage of Figaro The Magic Flute Operettas The Pirates of Penzance Le petit Faust Oratorios (8.189) Daniele S Tomaso		AP Style (p. 62)
Orchestral works with a specific name Symphonie erotique Pastoral Symphony, formally known as Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68	Individual instrumental works that are identified by their generic names — symphony, quartet, nocturne, etc.: Nocturne in E-flat Major, op. 9, no. 2 Symphony in D Minor
	Movements: Intermezzo The Funeral March (Piano Sonata No. 2) Marche au supplice (Symphonie Fantastique)
	Instrumental works Name of the artist, ensemble, or group Opus Chicago: Instrumental works
Music scores (published only)	Music scores (unpublished)
Return to top or post contents		Song titles (individual): AP Style, Chicago: “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” “Call Me” “U + Ur Hand”
Dynamic Markings (in Music)
Definition: The means by which composers indicate how loud or soft they want the music to be played. A.k.a. expression symbol
Always Italicize	Maybe Italicize	Use Quotes
Chicago: ff forte mf piano
Tempo Markings (in Music)
Definition: The means by which composers indicate the speed at which they want the music to be played:
Always Italicize	Maybe Italicize	Use Quotes
Chicago: When tempo is used on sheet music: crescendo legato pizzicato ritardand, etc.	Chicago: When tempo is used in prose, context will indicate if it should be in italics or roman: “the legato passage” “play this passage legato” “a tempo” “a tempo”
Newspapers
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Chicago (8.166) Return to top or post contents	Chicago: Not if part of a name of an award, an organization, etc.	Titles of newspaper articles Chicago: Articles in newspapers, journals, or magazines (8.175).
Pamphlets
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Chicago (8.193) Return to top or post contents
Photographs
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Chicago (8.193) Return to top or post contents
Phrase as Linguistic Example	Definition: Familiar phrases do not require italics.
Return to top or post contents	p’s and q’s dot your i’s and cross your t’s
Plants, see Genera and species
Plays
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Chicago (8.181) Return to top or post contents		AP Style (p. 62)
Podcasts
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Chicago (8.187) Return to top or post contents		Chicago: Podcast episodes (8.187)
Poems
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Long poems Tone poems Chicago (8.179): If book length Return to top or post contents		Short poems Titles of longer works that would normally be italicized IF published separately are encased in quotation marks if part of a longer collection or anthology, e.g., The Complete Works of John Milton includes “Paradise Lost” and “Samson Agonistes”. AP Style (p. 62) Chicago (8.179)
Products, includes but is not limited to
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Return to top or post contents	Names of wines, liquors, beers * * There may be issues of capitalization for cocktails or wines or product names.
Punctuation after italicized words
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Return to top or post contents	Quotation marks The apostrophe s after an italicized word, e.g., New Magazine‘s
Radio
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Chicago: Radio programs and series (8.185). Return to top or post contents		AP Style: Programs and series (p. 62). Chicago: Episodes of a radio show series (8.185).
Reports
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Chicago (8.193) Return to top or post contents
Restaurants, stores, buildings
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Return to top or post contents	Restaurants, stores, buildings
Reverse italics
There will be times when a block of text is italicized and a term/phrase/title/++ that is normally italicized is a part of this block. When this occurs, reverse the italics, i.e., romanize the normally italicized.
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
APA, Chicago: Do we really have to read War and Peace again? We’ll have to cut back the Hedera helix before it takes over the house. Return to top or post contents
Short stories
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Return to top or post contents		Chicago: Titles of short stories (8.175).
Signs, Notices, T-shirts
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Return to top or post contents	Chicago: If used in running text, and if the phrase is short, capitalize words from (common) signs, T-shirts, and mottoes — no quotation marks either. His faded T-shirt featured the familiar phrase Are You Feeling Lucky.	If a T-shirt message is introduced using said or read, use quotation marks. APA: Use quotation marks for the text of a T-shirt and capitalize only the first word. Chicago: Longer notices, messages
Sounds
Rule: Italicize words that stand in for sounds or reproduce sounds that characters and readers hear.
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
*Words Into Type: A combination of letters used to represent sound When the vintage horn blared its signature note, ah-oo-gah, Jim leapt to his feet. He could have sworn the owl was saying who…who, who. The whomp-whomp* of helicopter blades drowned out her frail voice. An annoying bzzz woke him. C-r-rack! Something heavy — someone heavy — fell through the rotted floorboards. Return to top or post contents	He let out a whoosh of air. The steady boom of the thunder.
Speeches
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Return to top or post contents		AP Style Chicago: Only if the speech has status.
Statistical Symbols
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
APA: Most statistical symbols. Return to top or post contents
Television
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Chicago: Television shows, programs, series Return to top or post contents	Formal names of broadcast channels BBC America SyFy NBC The CW	AP Style: Television shows, programs, series. Chicago: Episodes of a TV series.
Terms; labels; technical words; or, letters, words, or phrases cited as a linguistic example that are introduced for the first time
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
HTML and CSS manuals refer to elements The box labeled SPIE-5 Start with the line that begins G-O-F Return to top or post contents	APA: Chemical terms Trigonometric terms Non-statistical subscripts for statistical symbols or mathematical expressions F_max S_A + S_B Greek letters
Thoughts
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Thoughts that are not spoken are italicized with quotation marks removed. Return to top or post contents
Vehicle names
Rule: When abbreviations such as USS (United States ship) or HMS (Her [or His] Majesty’s ship) precede a name, the word ship or other vessel type should not be used. The abbreviations themselves are not italicized. For much useful information, consult Eric Wertheim, The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World.
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
Airplanes: The Spirit of St. Louis The Enola Gay Locomotives – Casey Jones Specific rockets, space shuttles, etc. Phoenix Mars lander the space shuttle Discovery Specific ships and other vessels (ONLY the name, not the prefix or the classification) are capitalized and italicized: HMS Trafalgar USS Enterprise the Enterprise USS SC-530 the US ship SC-530 M/S DD-745 HMS Frolic the British ship Frolic Credit to: Wertheim. Return to top or post contents	Ship class (ship types are NOT italicized) Maryland class ice class C-class destroyers Hamburg class Chicago: Names of makes and classes of aircraft, models of automobiles and other vehicles, names of train runs, and names of space programs are capitalized but not italicized. Acela Express Boeing 747 Concorde Metroliner Project Apollo Toyota Prius Mars global surveyor Mars polar lander
Website Names
Always Italicize	Never Italicize	Use Quotes
MLA: Website names Return to top or post contents	Chicago: Website names	Chicago: Web pages and sections (8.186)
Using Words as Words	Definition: Words used as words are usually italicized to prevent confusion when the words is not used in the usual manner.
	My stylist always says rebound when he means rebond. I counted only half a dozen ums in the chairman’s speech. The word haberdashery has gone out of style. Edith wasn’t sure what lugubrious meant, but it sounded slimy to her. The s making um plural is not italicized.

Return to top

C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Formatting Tips by exploring its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Word Confusions, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Building Your Website.

Return to top

Resources for Italics

Some of these links may be affiliate links, and I will earn a small percentage, if you should buy it. It does not affect the price you pay.

AP Stylebook. Facebook. 3 May 2019. Web. 30 Dec 2022. <https://www.facebook.com/apstylebook/posts/we-no-longer-use-sic-to-show-that-quoted-material-includes-a-misspelling-incorre/2329924440363962/>.

The Chicago Manual of Style. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. Print.

Concise Rules of APA Style

Nichol, Mark. “Capitalization Rules for the Names of Games.” Daily Writing Tips. 2011. Web. n.d. <https://www.dailywritingtips.com/capitalization-rules-for-the-names-of-games/>.

The Purdue Writing Lab. Purdue Owl Engagement. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/index.php?category_id=2&sub_category_id=1&article_id=45>.

“[Sic]: How to Use Correctly.” The Editor’s Manual. Updated 11 Oct 2022. Web. 30 Dec 2022. <https://editorsmanual.com/articles/sic/>.

Wertheim, Eric. The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Systems. 15th ed. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2007. Print.

Yin, Karen. “Titles: Quote Marks, Italics, Underlining, or Naked?” AP vs. Chicago. Apr 2011. Web. n.d. <http://www.apvschicago.com/2011/04/titles-quote-marks-italics-underlining.html>, 8.182.

Return to top