Do You Italicize Article Titles?

Share to Google Classroom
3
(23)

No, typically you don’t italicize article titles. Instead, you may enclose article titles in double quotation marks (MLA 9: “Article Title”) or simply use regular font without quotation marks (APA 7: Article title). The exact format for article titles depends on the style guide you’re using. Different academic disciplines use different style manuals that follow differing rules. However, generally, you do italicize the larger work of which the article is a part (Journal/Magazine/Newspaper Title). 

Let’s look at how MLA 9, APA 7, and Chicago styles handle title formatting for articles.

MLA 9 Style for Article Titles

Since journal, magazine, and newspaper articles are part of a larger standalone work, you use regular font (not italics) for article titles and double quotation marks in MLA 9 style.

Here is a template for a magazine article in MLA 9-style:

Author Last Name, First Name. “Title of the Article.” Magazine Title, Publication Month. Year, pp. #-# or URL.

Here is an MLA 9-style reference list entry example for a magazine article:

Parker, James. “An Ode to My Thesaurus.” The Atlantic, July-Aug. 2022, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/07/an-ode-to-my-thesaurus/638453/

Notice the regular font for the magazine article and the italics for the magazine title:

  • Article title: “An Ode to My Thesaurus”
  • Magazine title: The Atlantic

MLA 9’s style manual uses the term containers for larger standalone works. For example, a book is a container for a chapter. Here are more container examples:

  • Container –> Item in container
  • Album –> Song
  • Book –> Chapter
  • Journal –> Article
  • Television show/series –> Episode
  • Newspaper or Magazine Publication –> Interview

Standalone works or containers are italicized. That includes the titles of the following:

  • Albums
  • Books
  • Films
  • Journal Titles
  • Magazine Titles
  • Newspaper Titles
  • Photo/Image/Painting
  • Television series
  • Videos
  • Webpages/Websites
  • etc.

Works contained within a standalone work should be enclosed in double quotation marks. In the works-cited entry, these titles are placed before the container’s, or standalone work’s, title. Titles of works that are part of larger standalone works include the following:

  • Book chapters
  • Interviews in a magazine
  • Journal articles
  • Magazine article
  • Newspaper article
  • Short stories
  • Song on an album
  • Webpage/Website articles
  • etc.

APA 7 Style for Article Titles

Since journal, magazine, and newspaper articles are part of a larger standalone work, you use regular font (not italics) for article titles in APA style.

Here is a template for a journal article in APA 7-style:

Author Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Publication Year). Title of the journal article: Subtitle of article. Title of the Journal, VolumeNumber(IssueNumber), Page#-#. URL.

Here is an APA 7-style reference list entry example for a journal article:

Jacoby, W. G. (1994). Public attitudes toward government spending. American Journal of Political Science, 38(2), 336-361. https://doi.org/10.2307/2111407

Notice the regular font for the journal article and the italics for the journal title:

  • Article title: Public attitudes toward government spending.
  • Journal title: American Journal of Political Science

In APA 7, you italicize titles of sources that stand alone. Standalone sources are not part of another work. Standalone works that you italicize in APA include:

  • Books
  • Films
  • Journal Titles (not journal articles)
  • Magazine Title
  • Music Album (not a song on the album)
  • Newspaper Title
  • Podcast (not a podcast episode)
  • Photo/Image/Painting
  • Reports
  • Television Series
  • Video
  • Webinar
  • Webpages/Websites
  • YouTube Video
  • etc.

Works that are just a part of another work, like a chapter in a book, are not italicized. Sources that are part of another work and in regular font in APA include:

  • Edited Book Chapters
  • Journal Articles
  • Magazine Articles
  • Newspaper Articles
  • Podcast episodes
  • Short stories
  • Songs on an album
  • Television episodes
  • etc.

Chicago Style (17th ed. notes-bibliography format)

Since journal, magazine, and newspaper articles are part of a larger standalone work, you use regular font (not italics) and quotation marks for article titles in Chicago style.

Here is a template for a newspaper article in Chicago-style:

Note:

  1. Author First Name Last Name, “Newspaper Article Title,” Newspaper Title, Publication Month Day, Year, URL.

Bibliography:

Author Last Name, First Name. “Newspaper Article Title.” Newspaper Title, Publication Month Day, Year. URL.

Here are Chicago-style note and bibliography entry examples for a newspaper article:

Note:

  1. Emmett Lindner, “Keeping Up With Crypto,” New York Times, June 3, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/03/insider/keeping-up-with-crypto.html.

Bibliography:

Lindner. Emmett. “Keeping Up With Crypto.” New York Times, June 3, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/03/insider/keeping-up-with-crypto.html.

Notice the regular font for the newspaper article and the italics for the newspaper title:

  • Article title: “Keeping Up With Crypto”
  • Newspaper title: New York Times

In Chicago style, you italicize titles of sources that stand alone. Standalone sources are not part of another work. Standalone works that you italicize in Chicago include:

  • Books
  • Films
  • Journal Titles (not journal articles)
  • Magazine Title
  • Music Album (not a song on the album)
  • Newspaper Title
  • Podcast (not a podcast episode)
  • Photo/Image/Painting
  • Reports
  • Television Series
  • Video
  • Webpages/Websites
  • etc.

Works that are just a part of another work, like a chapter in a book, are not italicized. Sources that are part of another work and in regular font in Chicago style include:

  • Edited Book Chapters
  • Journal Articles
  • Magazine Articles
  • Newspaper Articles
  • Podcast episodes
  • Short stories
  • Songs on an album
  • Television episodes
  • etc.

 

Citation Guides

APA Format

MLA Format

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!

Let us improve this post!

Tell us how we can improve this post?

How do I write the title of an article in MLA?

The article title does not appear in in-text citations. It appears only in the corresponding works-cited-list entry. To cite the article title in MLA style in your works cited list, you need to follow the format given in the below template. An example of an article written by a single author is given for your understanding.

Works cited list template and example

The title of the article is in plain text and title case; it is placed inside quotation marks. Follow the punctuation and formatting as given in the example.

Template:

Surname, First Name. “Title of the Article.” Journal Title, volume #, issue #, publication date, page range.

Example:

Etchells, Tim. “On the Skids: Some Years of Acting Animals.” Performance Research, vol. 5, no. 2, 2000, pp. 55–60.

Should an article title be italicized?

The article title of a journal, newspaper, or magazine is never italicized in either APA or MLA style. In APA style, the article title is given in plain text and sentence case. In MLA style, the article title is written in title case and given in quotation marks.