As our blog states, most newspapers follow The Associated Press Stylebook , which has its own rules because italics cannot be sent through AP computers. In addition to catalogs, this category includes almanacs, directories, dictionaries, encyclopedias, gazetteers, handbooks and similar publications.

Do not use quotation marks around such software titles as WordPerfect or Windows. Those packets that kids get in school and all. Rules for titles of packets of information are not specifically mentioned by the style guides. Here are two examples:. They needed something outside of them to hold them in place. Since the blocks for quotation marks were full height, they could do the job. Oh, now I see someone has already provided a variation of my typesetting origin for end punctuation of quotations.

Sorry for the redundancy. Frankly, I think size makes more sense than fragility though. When referring to parts of a work, you do not need to use any special punctuation unless the part has a title. If it has a title, use quotation marks.

Please refer to Chapter 6 for more information. You first have to determine what kind of title it is. Italicize titles of books, movies, plays, TV shows, newspapers, magazines, websites, music albums, operas, musical theater, paintings, sculptures, and other works of art. Italics are also widely used with names of ships, trains, and planes. Use quotation marks for titles of articles, chapters, poems, song titles, and other shorter works. How would you write a name of an event that is not a familiar event to the reader?

If the event sounds straightforward and generic, capitals would seem sufficient: National Speakers Forum. Is it within the rules of AP Style to italicize the name of a band? Or is the name simply capitalized? For example, one quote reads:. The above quote is actually being paraphrased and is from a book. Is there some way to imply the author relationship to the remark using quotation marks and still indicate it is paraphrased? Is the book title italicized or underlined?

Quotation marks are not used for paraphrased quotes. A book title is italicized. Which of the following is correct? Robert Frost — poet. In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks see Rule 3a of Quotation Marks. Semicolons should not be used in your final example, since the titles in your series do not contain commas see Rule 3 of Semicolons.

Titles appearing within an italicized passage may be enclosed in quotation marks or written in roman type. Here goes. Does a theme for a church program go in quotation marks? Our new theme, The Anatomy of Discipleship, looks naked without quotation marks. Therefore, you could use quotation marks or maybe italics in a written announcement. Unless the affirmation is a direct quote, direct internal dialogue, or a title, there is no rule prescribing the use of quotation marks.

The affirmation would go in quotes if it is being attributed to a specific speaker. Can I make a phrase stated by someone a title? And how do I capitalize it? We think you forgot the word star at the end of your quote. Could you tell me why does The New Yorker sets in roman and encloses in quotation marks the title of a book called Handbook of Economic Inequality here?

It seems that the editors of The New Yorker favor placing book titles in quotation marks rather than italics as recommended in our blog. Otherwise, they appear to be consistent with our recommendations to place the names of journals in italics and articles and reports in quotation marks. We are not expert in the subject matter of the article, but the Luxembourg Income Study appears to have been ongoing since Since they were not quoting any one specific book or report from the study, it was not placed in either quotation marks or italics.

Thank you so much for your kind and detailed reply! The New Yorker does have a particular house style, it is known for it, in fact, but I believe that the reason they put book titles in quotation is The Associated Press Stylebook , and not some preference invented by themselves. A bit strange. The New Yorker marches to the beat of its own drummer.

It is fruitless to second-guess its long-standing policies. When using AP Style Citations for books and you cannot italicize, does one use an underscore on the front and back ends of a title or is there another way of idetifying italics? I presume that it gets typeset like this, inside quotation marks? How are translations properly typeset? Quotation marks need not be repeated for the parenthetical translation or parenthetical original, as the case may be ; any internal quotation marks, however, should be included as in the second example.

I have a thorny question related to listing titles and names in a series. Which would be more desirable, when considering punctuation: 1. I prefer 2 as it treats each title and associated name as a unit, followed by a colon indicating another list to follow. What do you think? We recommend the following, which is close to your second option. Note our use of semicolons and our lowercasing of job descriptions.

What happens with the names of programs and offers, such as for example of particular programs of a philharmonic orchestra, e. The Modern Beethoven, or tourist-agency offers such as Cities of Europe?

Quotation marks, italics, or none of those? Kern Holoman, Writing about Music. I live in South Africa and prefer the comma after the quotation mark because it is not part of the quotation.

Our blog Quotations Within Quotations provides more information on the topic of quotations within quotations. Your sentence does not seem to be an example of a quotation within a quotation. The title of the book is A Tale of Two Cities. We recommend writing your quote as follows:. For articles that contain punctuation marks e. How would that be quoted within a sentence. How do I put a reference to the Mayflower Compact in my essay? I am trying to say It began in with the Mayflower Compact and ended in ….

The formal name of a document should be capitalized, however it is not italicized or set in quotation marks. You have written it correctly. As we state in the post, titles of books are italicized. Underlining generally substitutes for italics in a handwritten work.

If the work is not handwritten, we do not recommend underlining. Which is correct or better to use in these examples? I, myself came from a much different set of rules including proper grammar and speech, so it irritates me when they respond in such a manner. In the process; unless someone has a rather important job; many have all but forgotten the benefits of speaking or writing well.

We need to bring that back; even if it means we cross-reference the answer to our questions using more than just one source.

Where does the comma go? The last one should go inside the quotation marks. The title of a book at the end of a sentence. We recommend that book titles be italicized. If you must use quotation marks, the exclamation point goes outside the quotation marks unless the exclamation point is actually part of the title.

What about references to both a chapter number and its title in text, what would correct punctuation and use of quotation marks be? What about thesis titles in italics placed after colons?

Can you tell me what is the correct solution? The above is an article heading. Do I need to italicize or use quotations around the name of the play in the article heading?

As the post states, titles of plays are usually italicized. The exception is if you are required to follow AP Style. The Associated Press Stylebook does not use italics. As the post states, titles of books are italicized. We do not recommend underlining or using boldface.

According to a kidshealth. That looks fine to us. However, if you were required to follow a specific format, you should refer to that specific style guide. For example, MLA format is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities, Associated Press style provides guidelines for news writing, and APA style is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences.

Each format has different rules. I recently composed an email for a client. Should it be since it is a title and might even be proprietary? Names of websites are not generally italicized or enclosed in quotation marks, because they are usually made into Internet links that result in the names standing out. The style manuals do not address online events specifically; however, a substantive title given to a single meeting, conference, speech, or discussion is usually enclosed in quotation marks in formal prose.

If I am writing am including a previously published article in my newsletter, how do I correctly say this. As of now I have an italicized sentence at the top of the article that mentions it was published in the such and such journal. If that sentence is already italicized, how would I correctly site the title of the publication? We would prefer to see specifically what you are working with to provide you with clear direction. Pick a policy and be consistent. However, some newspaper editors capitalize their headlines and article titles and some capitalize only the first letter.

This is a very interesting thread, and as has already been pointed out, the rules in the UK and in the US are different. I know that those who disagree with my statement here will likely disagree, but as I hold a PhD in English with a focus in American literature, and am currently the content editor of a fairly good sized company about employees located on the West Coast of the US, I can assure everyone that in the USA the rule — as has been pointed out repeatedly — is that the comma goes INSIDE the quotation marks, not outside.

Does the period at the end of a sentence also always In the U. Our Rule 13c. And should it be Sally said or said Sally and the same with Said Billy? When a new speaker speaks, you should start a new paragraph. The word said can come either before or after the name. In your second sentence there should be a comma after the word later and a period after the word Billy. The word said should not be capitalized.

What is the AP style preference for mentioning an article in text? I understand that publications are in initial caps but what about individual articles? Are quotation marks necessary around the title of an Oracle? If so, are quotes necessary whenever the Oracle of Blah Blah Blah is mentioned in the document? Or, are first letter caps okay? Quotation marks are not necessary, nor does the word oracle generally need to be capitalized.

For example: the oracle at Delphi. Wich of the following is correct and why? You have not specified what sort of title this is. If it is a subheading within a document, it may not require underlining, italics, or quotation marks.

Depending on the formatting used in the document, you might use bold or larger font. I need some help on my essay. And does it make sense? Yes, you may refer to the title of the article in mid-sentence.

Your essay contains a number of grammatical errors that should be corrected. I came to this page looking for guidance on the use of single versus double quotation marks.

In British English in the examples you have given, it would be common to use single quotation marks. Is the single quotation mark never used in American English, except to enclose quotes within a quotation?

Is there a different pattern for content that will be published on the Internet, as I believe that single quotation marks are easier to read on a screen? In formal writing, single quotation marks are only valid within a quotation Quotation Marks, Rules 7 and 8b.

Single quotation marks are sometimes used in newspaper headlines to save space. Our position is that content on the Internet should be treated the same as content in print.

If chapter titles are set in roman, would a name e. Example of chapter title: Sinking of the Titanic. Since appositives are not the focus of this blog post, we have not indicated the context in which these sentences existed. Either method is acceptable.

I want to know what to do in a phone text where one can neither underline nor italicize a written work. I have been using apostrophes or single quotation marks to identify a work. Recently, I have noticed that online articles will use single quotation marks instead of italics.

People are forgetting how grammar works. Our rules and guidelines apply to formal writing. In practice, we understand that texting is highly informal. How do you punctuate a title that has a question mark in it and the title comes at the end of a question?

Which one is correct? Or, would the sentence still end in only one question mark? If the title at the end of the sentence ends in a question mark, there is no need to follow it with another question mark.

How can I find out if there is already a book of that name? I am wondering if I should use quotation marks or italics when a character is thinking about — in their head — a conversation they had with another such as in the past. For instance, I have a character who is thinking internally about a time when she was a child. She asked her mother a question.

I have the exact words to this past dialogue written using italics. It is an internal thought. An internal dialogue from the past.

You may use italics or quotation marks for conversations conducted in internal dialogue. Differentiate the speakers just as you might for standard dialogue by placing them on separate lines or by attribution.

I remember asking my mother, What will I be when I grow up? Whatever you want to be , she said. For more information, see our post Internal Dialogue: Italics or Quotes? Italics or underscoring are not necessary, nor do the words the prophecy generally need to be capitalized. How do you deal with titles that end in a question mark? For example, how would you punctuate the following:.

Since a dissertation could qualify as a book-like work, one solution could be to use italics: In my dissertation, titled How should I punctuate this? If you had more than one dissertation, the title could be considered essential information: In my dissertation How should I punctuate this? I investigate the elusive title-question-combo punctuation issue. So there are a lot of questions about punctuation belonging inside the quotes and I do agree.

I call it air quotes. Placement of quotation marks with other punctuation marks does follow logic. Use the capitalization rules outlined in the post Capitalizing Composition Titles: The Lowdown , and italicize the title. How am I supposed to write the author?

Do I need to put the specific character who said it? The page number? If you are writing this for your own use and not for anyone else, you have a lot of freedom. You can determine what details matter to you. If you write it using a computer, italicize the book title. If handwritten, underline the title the old-fashioned way. Do you underline every first letter in an essay, make all letters capital or you put it in quote? We assume you are asking about the title of an essay.

Titles of essays are set in standard type and enclosed in quotation marks. Capitalization rules for titles can be found in our post Capitalizing Composition Titles: The Lowdown.

Is there a consistent rule for formatting the title of a book, film, play, etc. In your case, we recommend following the rules of The Associated Press Stylebook as italics cannot be sent through AP computers. They would place the titles of almost all books, films, and plays in quotation marks. If an actor in his bio lists all shows in capital letters, do those shows still need to be italicized? Yes; however, we are not sure why the titles would be listed in all capital letters.

The style manuals do not encourage this style. Leave a Comment or Question: Cancel reply. Please ensure that your question or comment relates to the topic of the blog post. Unrelated comments may be deleted.

If necessary, use the "Search" box on the right side of the page to find a post closely related to your question or comment. Your email address will not be published. Share Tweet Email. Jane says:. August 15, , at pm. Dean Calin says:. April 22, , at am. January 31, , at pm. PD says:. August 28, , at am.

Jen says:. August 30, , at am. September 6, , at pm. Jodi says:. June 15, , at pm. June 24, , at am. There are certain titles of things that all style guides agree should not be in italics or quotation marks. These titles should always be set in regular type:. Italicizing is easy to do on the computer, but not practical when you are hand writing something. In such cases, underlining is still used and is considered the same as writing a title in italics.

When formatting titles for the web, be aware that it is acceptable to go with whatever style is most visually appealing. Online formats tend to be less formal in style compared to print materials. Styling for the web is about attracting visitors to the site, so make a title stand out without looking clunky in order to get more attention.

By practicing the above rules for using italics and quotation marks in titles, you'll find it becomes easier with practice. If you're uncertain about what to use, ask yourself if the title of the work appears inside a larger body of work or if it can stand alone. If the title belongs inside a larger body of work, use quotation marks.

Really, it's anything that is smaller than a larger work. But an article that you wrote for it would be in quotes. I think that about does it for quotation marks, Paige.

Putting it in there. Paige laughs That's quotation marks. You can learn anything. David out. Paige laughs. Italics, underlines, and quotation marks. Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. Do not place in quotation marks names of events tailgate party, retirement reception , even if it is a unique event with a proper name Bronco Bash.

The title of a lecture is placed in quotes, the name of a lecture series is not Sichel Lecture Series. Running quotations : If a full paragraph of quoted material is followed by a paragraph that continues the quotation, do not use closing quotation marks at the end of the first paragraph, but do use opening quotation marks at the start the second paragraph.