Chapter 6 Titles

1. General Rules

For simplicity and clarity, put quotation marks around official titles of books, chapters of books, movies, plays, poems, songs, television shows, episodes of television shows, magazine articles, speeches, research papers and projects.

Underlining was used with typewriters to denote italics. If you’re producing computer documents, you may wish to use italic fonts instead of underlines. However, excessive underlines or italics can make text more difficult to read.

2. Academic Papers

Titles of academic papers or journal articles should be put inside quotation marks. If journals are named, use italics or underlining for the journal names.

Right

His paper, “The Rhetoric of Neo-Classic Poets,” was published in Classical Literature Quarterly.

3. Books

Use quotations for book titles (including textbooks), unless they’re reference books such as almanacs and dictionaries. Use italics (or underlining) for titles of books that are collections of works or proceedings (including journals). Use quotations for book chapters or individual selections.

Right	An excellent source for writers is “The Elements of Style” by Strunk and White.
Right	You’ll find a copy of Encyclopedia Britannica in my library at home.
Right	In the text, Collection of Great American Short Stories, my favorite is “The Hills Are Like White Elephants.”

4. Courses

Capitalize main words in course titles; quotation marks or italics are unnecessary.

5. Magazines/Newspapers

Capitalize names but do not place in quotations or italics. Do not capitalize “magazine” unless it’s part of the publication’s title or masthead.

Right

Time magazine, Newsweek magazine, The Alcalde magazine

Capitalize the word “the” only if it’s part of the periodical’s title.

Right

The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Alcalde magazine, The Eyes of Texas, The Daily Texan, The Washington Post

When listing several publications or periodicals, lower case the initial “the” and eliminate additional references of “the." (also see "Articles")

Right

We read the New York Times, Austin American-Statesman and Wall Street Journal every morning.

6. Movies/Theater/TV/Radio

Put quotation marks around movie titles, plays, television shows and episodes, and radio shows.

Right

University of Texas at Austin alumni Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt created “The Fantastiks,” the longest-running musical in theater history.

7. Music

Capitalize but do not use quotation marks around descriptive titles for orchestral works. If a work has a special title, use quotation marks around it.

Right	Bach’s Suite No. 1 for Orchestra
Right	Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”

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