Italics vs. Quotation Marks in Titles
July 22, 2025
Posted by STLCC in Writing Resources
Generally and grammatically speaking, put titles of shorter works in quotation marks but italicize titles of longer works. For example, put a “song title” in quotation marks but italicize the title of the album it appears on.
When to Use Italics or Quotation Marks
Knowing how to format titles correctly helps your writing look polished and professional. Different types of sources follow different rules for italics, quotation marks or capitalization only. Use the guide below to quickly check how to format common works like books, articles, movies and songs so your citations and papers stay consistent and clear.
Titles/Names to be Italicized
| Source type | Example |
|---|---|
| Books | On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous |
| Magazines or journals | Newsweek or Cave Canem |
| Newspapers | St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
| Pamphlets | How to Take Your Own Blood Pressure |
| Movies, plays, musicals | The Producers or Two Trains Running or Hamilton |
| Long poems | The Odyssey or The Rime of the Ancient Mariner |
| Radio or TV programs | This American Life or Game of Thrones |
| Ballet or dance | Les Sylphides or Rodeo |
| Operas or musical pieces | La Traviata or Rhapsody in Blue |
| Paintings or sculptures | Mona Lisa or The Burghers of Calais |
| Ships, planes, trains | Titanic or Air Force One or the Mistral |
| Musical albums | A Hard Day’s Night |
| Computer or video games | Minecraft, Fortnite |
| Websites | Facebook, Wikipedia |
Titles/Names to be Put in Quotation Marks
| Source type | Example |
|---|---|
| Articles or essays | “Letter from Birmingham Jail” |
| Book chapters | “Legal Issues and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome” |
| Short stories | “Fly Already” |
| Short poems | “At Black River” |
| Songs | “Can’t Buy Me Love” |
| Radio or TV episodes | “Rookie” from Queen Sono |
Titles Needing Capitals, But Not Italics or Quotation Marks
| Type | Example |
|---|---|
| Music in number or key | Prelude and Fugue in E flat Major |
| Sacred writings | Bible or Koran or Bhagavadgita |
| Editions or societies | Kittredge’s Shakespeare or Anglo-Norman Text Society |
| Diseases | Tay-Sachs disease (but not cancer, polio, leukemia, etc.) |
| Acronyms | FBI, NAACP, GIF |
| Conventional titles | U.S. Constitution or Declaration of Independence |
| Student paper title | Role of the Djinns in Islamic Belief |
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