When writing a paper, do I use italics for all titles? (2024)

Simply put: no.

APA's Publication Manual (2020) indicates that, in the body of your paper, you should use italics for the titles of:

  • "books, reports, webpages, and other stand-alone works" (p. 170)
  • periodicals (journals, magazines, newspapers)

Beyond APA's specific examples, know that certain types of titles are almost always written in italics.

A general rule of thumb is that within the text of a paper,italicize the title of complete works but put quotation marks around titlesof parts within a complete work.

The table below isn't comprehensive, but it's a good starting point

Titles in ItalicsTitles Placed in "Quotation Marks"
Title of a periodical (magazine, journal, newspaper)Title of article in a periodical
Title of a bookTitle of a chapter in a book
Title of a movie or playName of an act or scene in a movie or a play
Title of a television or radio seriesTitle of an episode within a tv or radio series
Title of a musical album or CDTitle of a song
Title of a long poemTitle of a short poem
Names of operas or long musical composition
Names of paintings and sculptures

Title of a short story

On an APA-stylereference page, the rules for titles are a little different. In short,a title you would italicize within the body of a paper will also be italicized on a reference page. However, a title you'd place in quotation marks within the body of the paper (such as the title of an article within a journal) will be written without italicsand quotation marks on the references page.

Here are some examples:

Smith's (2001) research is fully described in the Journal of Higher Education.

Smith's (2001) article "College Admissions See Increase" was published in the Journal of Higher Education after his pivotal study on the admissions process.

Visit the APA Style's "Use of Italics" pageto learn more!

When writing a paper, do I use italics for all titles? (2024)

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