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- How to Write a Great Title
Maximize search-ability and engage your readers from the very beginning
Your title is the first thing anyone who reads your article is going to see, and for many it will be where they stop reading. Learn how to write a title that helps readers find your article, draws your audience in and sets the stage for your research!
How your title impacts the success of your article
Researchers are busy and there will always be more articles to read than time to read them. Good titles help readers find your research, and decide whether to keep reading. Search engines use titles to retrieve relevant articles based on users’ keyword searches. Once readers find your article, they’ll use the title as the first filter to decide whether your research is what they’re looking for. A strong and specific title is the first step toward citations, inclusion in meta-analyses, and influencing your field.
What to include in a title
Include the most important information that will signal to your target audience that they should keep reading.
Key information about the study design
Important keywords
What you discovered
Writing tips
Getting the title right can be more difficult than it seems, and researchers refine their writing skills throughout their career. Some journals even help editors to re-write their titles during the publication process!
- Keep it concise and informative What’s appropriate for titles varies greatly across disciplines. Take a look at some articles published in your field, and check the journal guidelines for character limits. Aim for fewer than 12 words, and check for journal specific word limits.
- Write for your audience Consider who your primary audience is: are they specialists in your specific field, are they cross-disciplinary, are they non-specialists?
- Entice the reader Find a way to pique your readers’ interest, give them enough information to keep them reading.
- Incorporate important keywords Consider what about your article will be most interesting to your audience: Most readers come to an article from a search engine, so take some time and include the important ones in your title!
- Write in sentence case In scientific writing, titles are given in sentence case. Capitalize only the first word of the text, proper nouns, and genus names. See our examples below.
Don’t
- Write your title as a question In most cases, you shouldn’t need to frame your title as a question. You have the answers, you know what you found. Writing your title as a question might draw your readers in, but it’s more likely to put them off.
- Sensationalize your research Be honest with yourself about what you truly discovered. A sensationalized or dramatic title might make a few extra people read a bit further into your article, but you don’t want them disappointed when they get to the results.
Examples…
Format: Prevalence of [disease] in [population] in [location]
Example: Prevalence of tuberculosis in homeless women in San Francisco
Format: Risk factors for [condition] among [population] in [location]
Example: Risk factors for preterm births among low-income women in Mexico City
Format (systematic review/meta-analysis): Effectiveness of [treatment] for [disease] in [population] for [outcome] : A systematic review and meta-analysis
Example: Effectiveness of Hepatitis B treatment in HIV-infected adolescents in the prevention of liver disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Format (clinical trial): [Intervention] improved [symptoms] of [disease] in [population] : A randomized controlled clinical trial
Example: Using a sleep app lessened insomnia in post-menopausal women in southwest United States: A randomized controlled clinical trial
Format (general molecular studies): Characterization/identification/evaluation of [molecule name] in/from [organism/tissue] (b y [specific biological methods] )
Example: Identification of putative Type-I sex pheromone biosynthesis-related genes expressed in the female pheromone gland of Streltzoviella insularis
Format (general molecular studies): [specific methods/analysis] of organism/tissue reveal insights into [function/role] of [molecule name] in [biological process]
Example: Transcriptome landscape of Rafflesia cantleyi floral buds reveals insights into the roles of transcription factors and phytohormones in flower development
Format (software/method papers): [tool/method/software] for [what purpose] in [what research area]
Example: CRISPR-based tools for targeted transcriptional and epigenetic regulation in plants
Tip: How to edit your work
Editing is challenging, especially if you are acting as both a writer and an editor. Read our guidelines for advice on how to refine your work, including useful tips for setting your intentions, re-review, and consultation with colleagues.
- How to Write an Abstract
- How to Write Your Methods
- How to Report Statistics
- How to Write Discussions and Conclusions
- How to Edit Your Work
There’s a lot to consider when deciding where to submit your work. Learn how to choose a journal that will help your study reach its audience, while reflecting your values as a researcher…
The discussion section contains the results and outcomes of a study. An effective discussion informs readers what can be learned from your…
Ensure appropriateness and rigor, avoid flexibility and above all never manipulate results In many fields, a statistical analysis forms the heart of…
When to Use Quotation Marks for Titles
Do you know when to use quotation marks for titles? Knowing whether to use italics or quotation marks for titles is one of the most common problems students have, especially when it comes to academic writing where you discuss your sources. Luckily, there are consistent themes that can help you pick the right format for each title, no matter what style guide you’re following.
Below, we explain exactly when to use quotation marks in titles (and when to use italics instead). We’ll cover the title rules for the three main style guides—APA, MLA, and Chicago—and give you some guidelines for figuring out which kinds of titles use which format.
How to properly quote a title with quotation marks
Quotation marks (“ ”) are mostly for showing speech or copying passages verbatim from other works, but sometimes they’re used for more than just punctuation . For certain types of works, they’re used to set apart titles.
The general rule is to use quotation marks for titles of short works such as articles, poems, songs, essays, or short stories. By contrast, use italics for larger works such as books, movies, and the names of periodicals. We provide a complete list below.
When to use italics or quotation marks for titles
Some types of work italicize titles , and some use quotation marks, but how do you know which is which? Here’s a quick list of what kinds of works use each.
Works that use quotation marks in titles
- journal articles
- newspaper and magazine articles
- blog and online news articles
- essay titles
- poems (except epic poems)
- short stories
- episode titles of TV shows, podcasts, and other serial works
- page titles for websites
- section or part titles within a larger work
- short-form videos, such as those on YouTube
Works that use italics in titles
- anthologies
- epic poems (not regular poems)
- periodical names (magazines, newspapers, and news websites)
- radio shows
- TV shows (not individual episodes)
- podcasts (not individual episodes)
- music albums
- video games
- operas and long musical compositions
- classic art like paintings and sculptures
- dissertations
- legal cases
- large vehicles such as ships, aircrafts, and spacecrafts
When to use quotation marks for titles for each style guide
While the basics are the same—italics for the titles of long works and quotation marks for the titles of short works—some minor details may vary. Here’s a quick rundown of when to use quotation marks in titles for the APA, MLA, and Chicago styles.
Quotations marks in titles for APA
The APA format follows the list above: It uses quotation marks for all types of work mentioned. The only particular rule they have about quotation marks in titles is that they are not used in the reference list for articles and chapters.
In APA, the reference list is the name of the bibliography, like a works cited page . When writing a full citation that mentions an article or book chapter, simply write the title with neither quotation marks nor italics. However, if the same title is written within the text (or in a copyright attribution), use quotation marks.
Quotations marks in titles for Chicago
In general, Chicago style follows the list above. It does, nevertheless, list a few extra types of works that the other style guides do not.
Quotation marks for titles:
- fairy tales and nursery rhymes
Italics for titles:
- serialized cartoons and comic strips
Quotations marks in titles for MLA
The use of quotation marks in titles for MLA format is very straightforward. Simply use the appropriate format for the type of work, as indicated in the large list above.
When to use single or double quotation marks for titles
There are two types of quotation marks: single quotation marks (‘ ’) and double quotation marks (“ ”).
In general, American English uses double quotation marks. The only time we use single quotation marks for titles is to replace quotation marks within another pair of quotation marks.
For example, if you were writing an article about Langston Hughes’s poems—highlighting “Harlem” in particular—the title of your article might be something like this:
“Reflections on ‘Harlem’ and Other Poems”
Notice how, when we talk about the poem “Harlem” on its own, we use the standard double quotation marks. However, when we mention it within another pair of quotation marks, we use single quotation marks instead.
This is done simply for the sake of clarity. It would be confusing to use double quotation marks within double quotation marks, so this makes reading a bit easier. Let’s look at another example:
EPISODE TITLE: “The Winds of Winter” (episode of Game of Thrones )
ESSAY TITLE: “Why ‘The Winds of Winter’ Is the Best Episode of Game of Thrones ”
Keep in mind that if a title in quotation marks is used within an italicized title, double quotation marks are used. For example, look at how we write the title of a full book that collects Roald Dahl’s short stories:
“The Landlady” and Other Short Stories
It’s also worth noting that this is only the convention in American English. In British English, single quotes and double quotes are switched! That means titles and speech quotes use single quotation marks most of the time and double quotation marks are used only within single quotes. Keep that in mind if you’re ever reading a British piece of writing .
Quotation marks for titles FAQs
Why use quotation marks for titles.
Quotation marks set apart the titles of short works like articles, poems, songs, essays, or short stories. Longer works like books or movies use italics instead.
When do you use quotation marks for titles?
Use quotation marks for the titles of articles, essays, poems, short stories, songs, chapters, lectures, pages for websites, episodes of serial works (such as TV shows or podcasts), names of sections or parts in larger works, and short-form videos such as those on YouTube.
When do you use italics?
Use italics for the titles of books, movies, plays, TV shows, podcasts, video games, apps, classic art (like paintings and sculptures), music albums, legal cases, dissertations, anthologies, reports, periodicals (like magazines or newspapers), operas and long musical compositions, and large vehicles (like ships or aircraft).
Are Magazine Titles Italicized? (APA, AP, and Chicago)
You may have seen some magazine titles italicized and others not. This article looks at exactly which formats use italics for magazine titles and which do not and provides examples of how to reference a magazine in each format.
Are Magazine Titles Italicized?
As mentioned, how to write a magazine title in an essay is determined by what you are writing and which style guide you are adhering to for the text.
The times when it wouldn’t be in italics are if you are following AP in your text; however, this style is mainly reserved for news and media outlets such as newspapers and magazines.
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Are Magazine Titles Quoted?
In APA, MLA, and Chicago formats, magazine titles are not put in quotation marks.
However, in the Chicago and MLA styles, it is necessary to put the article’s title in quotation marks. In contrast, in APA, you should not put the article’s title in quotation marks, but you should use a capital letter for the first word.
In AP style, you should not put quotation marks around the magazine title, but it is common for people to put the article title in quotation marks.
Are Magazine Titles Italicized in APA Style?
Are magazine titles italicized in ap style, are magazine titles italicized in chicago style, are magazine titles italicized in mla style, final thoughts.
Regarding referencing magazines in different styles, APA, Chicago, and MLA use italics for the magazine title. However, only MLA and Chicago use quotation marks for the article title. In contrast, in AP style, most of the time, magazine titles are not in italics.
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- Knowledge Base
- MLA titles: Formatting and capitalization rules
MLA Titles | How to Format & Capitalize Source Titles
Published on April 2, 2019 by Courtney Gahan . Revised on October 24, 2022.
In MLA style , source titles appear either in italics or in quotation marks:
- Italicize the title of a self-contained whole (e.g. a book, film, journal, or website).
- Use quotation marks around the title if it is part of a larger work (e.g. a chapter of a book, an article in a journal, or a page on a website).
All major words in a title are capitalized . The same format is used in the Works Cited list and in the text itself.
When you use the Scribbr MLA Citation Generator, the correct formatting and capitalization are automatically applied to titles.
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Table of contents, capitalization in mla titles, punctuation in mla titles, titles within titles, exceptions to mla title formatting, sources with no title, abbreviating titles, titles in foreign languages, frequently asked questions about mla titles.
In all titles and subtitles, capitalize the first and last words, as well as any other principal words.
What to capitalize
What not to capitalize.
Use the same punctuation as appears in the source title. However, if there is a subtitle, separate it from the main title with a colon and a space, even if different (or no) punctuation is used in the source.
Example of a work with a subtitle
The exception is when the title ends in a question mark, exclamation point or dash, in which case you keep the original punctuation:
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Sometimes a title contains another title—for example, the title of an article about a novel might contain that novel’s title.
For titles within titles, in general, maintain the same formatting as you would if the title stood on its own.
Titles and names that fall into the following categories are not italicized or enclosed in quotation marks:
- Scripture (e.g. the Bible, the Koran, the Gospel)
- Laws, acts and related documents (e.g. the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution , the Paris Agreement)
- Musical compositions identified by form, number and key (e.g. Beethoven’s Symphony no. 5 in C minor, op. 67)
- Conferences, seminars, workshops and courses (e.g. MLA Annual Convention)
Sections of a work
Words that indicate a particular section of a work are not italicized or placed within quotation marks. They are also not capitalized when mentioned in the text.
Examples of such sections include:
- introduction
- list of works cited
- bibliography
Introductions, prefaces, forewords and afterwords
Descriptive terms such as “introduction”, “preface”, “foreword” and “afterword” are capitalized if mentioned in an MLA in-text citation or in the Works Cited list, but not when mentioned in the text itself.
Example of descriptive term capitalization
In-text citation: (Brontë, Preface )
In text: In her preface to the work, added in a later edition, Brontë debates the morality of creating characters such as those featured in Wuthering Heights .
If there is a unique title for the introduction, preface, foreword or afterword, include that title in quotation marks instead of the generic section name when referencing the source in the Works Cited list or an in-text citation.
For sources with no title, a brief description of the source acts as the title.
Example of a source reference with no title
Follow these rules for capitalization:
- Capitalize the first word
- Capitalize proper nouns
- Ignore other MLA rules for capitalization
There are some exceptions to this general format: descriptions including titles of other works, such as comments on articles or reviews of movies; untitled short messages, like tweets; email messages; and untitled poems.
Exceptions to general format for sources with no title
If you need to mention the name of a work in the text itself, state the full title, but omit the subtitle.
If you need to refer to the work multiple times, you may shorten the title to something familiar or obvious to the reader. For example, Huckleberry Finn for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . If in doubt, prefer the noun phrase.
If the standalone abbreviation may not be clear, you can introduce it in parentheses, following the standard guidelines for abbreviations. For example, The Merchant of Venice ( MV ) . For Shakespeare and the Bible , there are well-established abbreviations you can use.
When you abbreviate a title, make sure you keep the formatting consistent. Even if the abbreviation consists only of letters, as in the MV example, it must be italicized or placed within quotation marks in the same way as it would be when written in full.
Abbreviating very long titles in the Works Cited list
Titles should normally be given in full in the Works Cited list, but if any of your sources has a particularly long title (often the case with older works), you can use an ellipsis to shorten it here. This is only necessary with extremely long titles such as the example below.
In the Works Cited list, if you are listing a work with a title in a language other than English, you can add the translated title in square brackets.
Example of a reference with a translated title
If you are using the foreign-language title in the text itself, you can also include the translation in parenthesis. For example, O Alquimista ( The Alchemist ) .
You don’t need to include a translation in your reference list or in the text if you expect your readers to be familiar with the original language. For example, you wouldn’t translate the title of a French novel you were writing about in the context of a French degree.
Non-Latin script languages
For works in a language that does not use the Latin alphabet, such as Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, or Russian, be consistent with how you mention the source titles and also quotations from within them.
For example, if you choose to write a Russian title in the Cyrillic form, do that throughout the document. If you choose to use the Romanized form, stick with that. Do not alternate between the two.
Yes. MLA style uses title case, which means that all principal words (nouns, pronouns , verbs, adjectives , adverbs , and some conjunctions ) are capitalized.
This applies to titles of sources as well as the title of, and subheadings in, your paper. Use MLA capitalization style even when the original source title uses different capitalization .
In MLA style , book titles appear in italics, with all major words capitalized. If there is a subtitle, separate it from the main title with a colon and a space (even if no colon appears in the source). For example:
The format is the same in the Works Cited list and in the text itself. However, when you mention the book title in the text, you don’t have to include the subtitle.
The title of a part of a book—such as a chapter, or a short story or poem in a collection—is not italicized, but instead placed in quotation marks.
When a book’s chapters are written by different authors, you should cite the specific chapter you are referring to.
When all the chapters are written by the same author (or group of authors), you should usually cite the entire book, but some styles include exceptions to this.
- In APA Style , single-author books should always be cited as a whole, even if you only quote or paraphrase from one chapter.
- In MLA Style , if a single-author book is a collection of stand-alone works (e.g. short stories ), you should cite the individual work.
- In Chicago Style , you may choose to cite a single chapter of a single-author book if you feel it is more appropriate than citing the whole book.
The title of an article is not italicized in MLA style , but placed in quotation marks. This applies to articles from journals , newspapers , websites , or any other publication. Use italics for the title of the source where the article was published. For example:
Use the same formatting in the Works Cited entry and when referring to the article in the text itself.
The MLA Handbook is currently in its 9th edition , published in 2021.
This quick guide to MLA style explains the latest guidelines for citing sources and formatting papers according to MLA.
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- Newspapers & Magazines
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- How do you write a magazine title?
Work titles should be italicized (books, magazines, newspapers, movies, plays, and CDs). For shorter works, use quote marks (book chapters, articles, poems, and songs). You will occasionally find yourself trapped and unsure of what punctuation to use. In this case, follow the guidance of a good editor.
Table of Contents
What is the correct way to write a book title, how do you style a title, how do you format a magazine title, how do you format an article title, how do you show the title of a book in text, how do you format a chapter title, can you start a sentence with a book title.
Italicized book, play, film, magazines, databases, and online titles are italicized. If the source is part of a larger work, put the title in quotation marks . Articles, articles, chapters, poems, websites, songs, and speeches are all surrounded by quote marks. Titles may contain other titles at times. For example, a chapter title or section heading is called a sub-title.
Here are some examples of how titles are used in books: "The Scarlet Letter", "Ulysses", "Finnegans Wake" "A Tale of Two Cities", "Pride and Prejudice", "Sense and Sensibility".
Titles can be helpful in identifying what kind of book it is. For example, "A History of Books" would be the title of a book about books. "Books v. movies: which is better?" might be the title of a book that compares and contrasts these different kinds of media. Or it could be the title of a book review site where people post their reviews of books.
Titles can also be useful when looking up information about books. For example, if you wanted to find out more about "A History of Books", you could search Google for "A History of Books author biography". The title is helpful here because it provides a clue as to who wrote the book and when.
Full-text titles, such as books or newspapers, should be italicized. Short work titles, such as poems, essays, short tales, or chapters, should be surrounded by quotation marks. If the name of the book series is italicized, titles of books that are part of a larger body of work may be put in quotation marks. For example: "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey".
For novels, set titles should be centered and printed in caps. Screen titles should be left-justified and non-printing characters should be used to center them. See also: How do you style a copyediting title page?
Titles can be styled in many ways, but to highlight their importance they should not be omitted from the text. They may be in boldface, underline, or both. They may be colored like other text or set in a different color. Use whatever method is easiest for your reader to see and understand.
If the source is self-contained and independent, italicize the title.
For example: "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" or "My Life With Andy Warhol".
Magazines that are part of a series have their titles written in lowercase with each issue number following immediately after the period (for example, "American Heritage Dictionary"). Magazines that don't have an issue number but are published monthly have their title written in lowercase without an initial period followed by a sentence fragment indicating what month they should be read in (for example, "Food & Wine").
Books that are part of a series have their titles written in lowercase with each chapter number following immediately after the period (for example, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"). Books that don't have a chapter number but are divided into sections have their title written in lowercase without an initial period followed by a word indicating how many sections there are (for example, "My Life With Andy Warhol").
24 Hours In New York City.
If the name of the book series is italicized, titles of volumes that create a greater body of work may be put in quotation marks. For example: "The Iliad" and "A Tale of Two Cities".
Both practices are common in English-language publications .
Chapter titles, especially in works of fiction, are usually not italicized. However, they may be if this makes the book more accessible to readers who are unfamiliar with academic conventions. In that case, the chapter titles should be placed in boldface type.
A subtitle is used to provide additional information about the topic of the book. They are often included at the beginning of each chapter but can also appear at the end of the book. Subtitles commonly give the main ideas of the book, explain different parts of the text, or list other resources for the reader. Examples of subtitles include: "an overview of history", "the anatomy of a crime", "key facts about animals".
Subtitles can be included in the page headers and footers; however, they are most commonly found at the beginning of each chapter. If you want to use a subtitle in the page header, place it inside curly brackets "" and use the default color for body text. You can find out how to change these colors later in this tutorial.
The requirements for putting quote marks around titles differ depending on the style guide you choose. For the names of shorter pieces of work, such as poems, essays, book chapters, songs, TV programs, and so on, use quote marks. Whether you use single or double quotes depends on which part of speech the title is: if it's a noun, then use double; if it's a verb, then use single.
About Article Author
Jennifer Campanile
Jennifer Campanile is a freelance writer, editor, and teacher. She has been published in The New York Times, The Nation, and on NPR among other places. She teaches writing at the collegiate level and has been known to spend days in libraries searching for the perfect word.
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How to Punctuate Titles
Last Updated: February 19, 2023 References
This article was co-authored by Michelle Golden, PhD . Michelle Golden is an English teacher in Athens, Georgia. She received her MA in Language Arts Teacher Education in 2008 and received her PhD in English from Georgia State University in 2015. This article has been viewed 53,721 times.
Punctuating titles can be tricky, especially because different types of titles require different notations and typography. Depending on the type of title, you may need to capitalize the title, underline the title, or use quotation marks around the title to ensure it is punctuated properly. You may also be creating a title for an original work written by you, citing it in a text, or a published work written by someone else, citing it as a reference in your bibliography. Depending on the expectations of your professor or teacher, you may also be required to use the more common MLA style or the less common APA style.
Punctuating the Title of a Shorter Work
- You also use quotation marks for the titles of short stories. For example, “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver or “Coyotes” by Jo Ann Beard.
- This rule also applies to the title of an essay. For example, “Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell.
- For example, if you are citing a chapter title in Moby Dick , you would cite it as “The Carpet-Bag” chapter in Moby Dick .
- If you are citing an article title in a travel journal, it would appear as “Rivers of China” or “Top Hikes in Oregon”. A newspaper article title would appear as “Woman Missing on Hiking Trail”.
- You should also use quotations for the title of a skit or a monologue. For example, “The Bar Skit”.
- If you have any unpublished works that you are titling, such as manuscripts, speeches, lectures, dissertations, or theses, you should use quotation marks. For example, “My Speech on Human Rights” or “A Lecture on Bees”.
- In your references or bibliography, you would use plain text for the titles of shorter works, with no quotation marks. For example, Breaking the Psyche in Adolescents.
Punctuating the Title of a Longer Work
- Story collections and poetry collections are also notated with italics. For example, The Collected Stories of Grace Paley or The Collected Poetry of Dorothy Parker .
- An anthology of essays is also italicized. For example, The Best American Essays .
- The titles of encyclopedias are also italicized. For example, Encyclopedia Britannica or The Encyclopedia of Botanicals .
- The titles of television series or shows as a whole should be italicized. For example, Friends or The Mindy Project .
- Check with your professor or teacher about her preference for underlying or italics before you format titles in a paper or an assignment so you do not get docked points due to formatting errors. If your professor does want you to use underlining instead of italics, follow the same steps above using underlining instead of italics. [14] X Research source
Capitalizing Titles In Text and As References
- You must capitalize the first and last word in the title as well as every noun, verb, adjective, and adverb. For example, the title “poem about a happy day” would appear as “Poem about a Happy Day.”
- Do not use all capitals to format the title, for example, “MOBY DICK”. Instead, only capitalize the first letter of each word, for example, “Moby Dick”.
- In APA style, you also only capitalize the first word of any subtitles in the title. For example, “The wise man on the mountain: A true story”.
- For example, the title “wise man on the mountain” would appear as: “Wise Man on the Mountain.”
- The exception to this rule is if the title begins with a preposition or article. The preposition or article would be capitalized in this case. For example, the title “the sound and the fury” would appear as: “The Sound and the Fury.” [17] X Research source
- You should also make sure you capitalize any names of persons or key historical events in a title. This could be a well known cultural or political figure, or the name of a historical event.
- For example, the title “The ramifications of Mao Zedong’s cultural revolution” would appear as: “The Ramifications of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution”.
- When in doubt, more capitalization is better than too little capitalization. You can also look up the title if it already exists in print and check to see how the author or publisher capitalizes the title.
Community Q&A
You Might Also Like
- ↑ https://style.mla.org/punctuation-with-titles/
- ↑ https://www.languagehumanities.org/what-are-the-different-ways-to-punctuate-titles.htm
- ↑ http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/titles-of-works.html
- ↑ http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2012/03/how-to-capitalize-and-format-reference-titles-in-apa-style.html
- ↑ https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Punctuating_Titles_chart.pdf
- ↑ http://allaboutwritingconsulting.com/2013/12/how-to-properly-punctuate-titles-when-to-use-italics-underlining-and-quotation-marks-as-well-as-correct-capitalization/
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7 Tips for Writing Titles That Tempt and Tantalize
- June 16, 2020
I’ve written thousands of articles and blog posts since I first started blogging in 2008. Believe it or not, learning how to write good titles that are eye-catching, attention-grabbing and curiosity-invoking was never high on my list of priorities.
My focus has always been on practical “how to” titles. I write for readers who are searching the internet for tips and solutions to problems — sometimes very serious, personal, and painful problems. I can’t afford to be too clever, creative or cute when I title my blog posts (which, to be honest, I prefer to call “articles” because of their length and focus). But now that I’m rewriting all my articles, I’m learning that I can be both creative and clear.
There are no easy tips on how to write your best title ever; anything good and right and beautiful takes time to create. Like you! Think you were born as smart, funny, and skilled as you are right now? No sir. God is taking time to shape you into who He created you to be…and it’s the same with writing the best title ever.
Finding the right title for my articles and blog posts is extra challenging because of SEO (search engine optimization). I want readers to type something like “how do I write a good title?” into the search engine…and I want my blog post to stand out. If you were drawn to my title (currently How to Write Your Best Title Ever – but it may change), then my work paid off!
The best title is short and sweet. Less than 10 little words. The title is the shortest part of your article, but it can take 75% or more of your time. Writing a good title makes is difficult partly because of the competition. There are literally millions of things to do on the internet, a gazillion things to look at and listen to and interact with! How do simple little articles and blog posts – especially when they’re long and wordy like mine – hook readers ? How do you write a good title?
How to Write the Best Title
These quick tips on how to write a title will help change your mindset. And that, fellow scribes, is the most important way to tackle title writing. If you can change how you think about your readers and what you’re writing – if you can put yourself in your reader’s shoes – then you will write a good title.
1. Write down emotion-producing titles of articles, blog posts, YouTube videos
My current best way to write titles for blog posts and articles is to pay attention to popular magazines and websites. Today, for example, I saw the title “How to Get Your Best Sleep Ever.” Bingo! A new title goes in my file of good titles to steal and adapt. But don’t just steal good titles: note why they appeal to you. Do they make you feel relieved, angry, scared, excited, curious? A good title will invoke some sort of emotion in the reader.
2. Know your reader’s problems, questions, fears and anxieties
If you’re trying to write a great title for a blog post, your mindset is different than if you’re writing a title for an essay, print magazine article, scholarly journal or church newsletter. For example, newspaper readers might be skimming the whole paper; they’ll only read headlines that jump out at them. Tabloid readers want something inflammatory and gossip-worthy. General interest websites, blogs, and even small businesses who blog to attract clients try to write headlines that are both informative and catchy.
In 10 Easy Ways to Find Good Ideas for Magazine Articles I described the importance of knowing your audience. I bet you’ve heard that before, so we won’t go here. Instead, look at that title. What do you like about it? Dislike? Would you read it? It depends on your goals and needs as a reader .
3. Get detailed, specific, concrete, focused
Now that I think about it, “How to Write Your Best Title Ever” isn’t that good for SEO or “find my blog!” purposes. I didn’t take my own advice in tip number one. Who is my audience? Am I helping health bloggers, freelance writers, grade 8 students, professional authors, academic researchers, magazine editors, book publishers, navel-gazing memoirists? Who knows. My title might be more effective as “How to Write Your Best Blog Post Title” or “How to Write a Good Title for an Essay” or even “3 Tips for Titling Your Thesis.”
4. Be creative. Not creepy.
Be specific and creative, but not too weird or creepy. For example, the title of this blog post is currently “How to Write Your Best Title Ever.” That’s a pretty good title for an article because it tells readers what to expect, it solves a specific problem, and it’s clear. However, my more creative title (3 Tips for Writing Titles That Titillate Readers) is ineffective. Why? Because of the word “titillate.” Good alliteration, but possibly confusing, unclear, or even offensive.
That said, however, you are allowed to be creative AND creepy if you’re writing a blog post or article for October 31. If you are writing about scary stuff and need a nudge, read 8 Ideas for Halloween Blog Posts and Magazine Articles .
5. Don’t use your first idea as your title
As with all writing tips and rules, this one can be broken. Generally, however, your first 10 (or 100 if you’re like me) titles won’t be your best one ever. It takes time and thought to write a good title that invokes emotion in readers and tells them what problem will be alleviated. They need motivation to click your blog link or read your magazine article or give you the best grade on your essay.
6. Play with ideas to find your best title for your work
When you have a possible title (I started with the boring, vague “How to Write a Good Title” and didn’t get very far), try adding or subtracting words, swapping in synonyms, or completely rephrasing the whole thing. If you have time to poll friends and family, do it! Give them three possibilities; ask them to choose the best title. Remember that if you resist the urge to slap a silly little title on your work, your article or blog post will skyrocket in popularity and effectiveness.
7. Match your title to the tone, mood and content of your work
If you’re writing for New York Times magazine, your title will be different than if you’re writing for Reader’s Digest . If you’re writing a blog post on how to write good articles, your title will be much different than if you’re contributing a chapter to a literary journal on how to write a title for a poem. The best titles aren’t necessarily creative, clever or funny. The best titles represent the tone, mood, and content of the piece.
When I’m struggling to find the best title for my blog posts, I often leave it overnight. I’ll still publish the post…and when I see the title the next day and cringe, a new and better title often pops into my head. Sometimes my brain needs to sleep on it before I can write my best title ever.
What’s your best title ever? Feel free to share below…
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9 thoughts on “7 tips for writing titles that tempt and tantalize”.
There are so many different approaches to titles. Do you write a “how to” tile, or ask a question or try to be controversial, or pack in keywords? Ugh! I like start off writing with a title so I know what I’m writing about, then when I’m done go back and figure out how to make it a good title. I’m always torn between the titles I like and the ones I know I should write to because some expert says it should be that way. It was the “tips” part of the title for this blog post that caught my eye. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the great tips for titles! When writing blog posts, I’ve also found that titles that either start with “How to…” or are a numbered lists (“10 Great Ways…”) tend to be among the most read posts.
Earlier this morning I couldn’t think of a title for my blog post. It was too bland or boring. Thanks for the tips. .-= Omar´s last blog post ..Uncomfortable With Comfortable =-.
I’m very lucky to have some kind of gift in this area. Often, a post title pops into my head and I’ll formulate an article around that. I’ve had some beauty titles in the past and it is a part of blogging that I really enjoy!
George .-= George Angus´s last blog post ..A Roarin’ New Blog of the Week =-.
I think the article or story needs to determine the title. For instance, if you’re writing a title for the cover of a magazine, you can get creative. But if you’re writing a title of a blog post that you want readers to find on Google, I think you need to be direct and specific (and a little boring).
Thanks for your comments, everyone — it’s great to hear different perspectives 🙂
Hey Sarah, Thanks for some great ideas and things to keep in mind. Unfortunately now I have to go write that essay. 😉 .-= Crtystal R. Martin´s last blog post ..College kills – Or that is my belief at the moment =-.
I think that it’s a balance between not being too boring yet not going off topic. Some authors try to hard to be clever and it shows in the title.
Thanks for the reminder about How to write effective titles for magazines and blog posts. Sometimes the “how to” is too boring. Then again, you can try to be controversial and it may backfire on you. It’s trial and error. Then again, my “Travel Writer Struck by Lightening Finds Antidote” title draws people to the article posted on Affsphere. .-= Rebecca´s last blog post ..Freelance Writing from Home Saves Money =-.
Ugh, those bloody titles! Something I always have trouble with, whether it’s articles or blog posts. Clever or to the point? Subtle or controversial? A quote or something original?
Toughest for me are my blog posts. Since I blog about film music, the title of the film is usually in there somewhere. It helps with search engines and Twitter notifications, but I’m don’t know if it grabs people to read any more than something more original would do. I’ve tried both and both seem to work about the same, traffic-wise.
Either way, invariably I suck at it but I keep plugging away. 🙂 .-= Jim Lochner´s last blog post ..CD Review: The Twilight Saga: New Moon =-.
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When to Put Titles in Quotation Marks
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In your writing, sometimes you may need to include the title of a magazine, the headline of a newspaper article, the title of a song or movie, and so on. In English, when punctuating these magazine titles, headlines, and song or movie titles, keep in mind these two options:
Put the title in quotation marks. Quotation marks enclose titles of smaller works or parts of a whole.
Set the title off from the rest of the writing with italic or underlining. By using italic or underlining, you set off titles of larger works or complete works.
These options aren’t interchangeable. Each option has a different use. To put it another way, quotation marks are for jockeys. Italic and underlining are for basketball players. One is for little, the other for big.
Use quotation marks for the titles of
Chapter titles
Magazine or newspaper articles
Individual episodes of a television series
Page of a Web site
Use italic or underlining for the titles of
Collections of poetry, stories, or essays
Titles of books
Titles of CDs or tapes or records (Do they still make records?)
Magazines or newspapers
Television and radio shows
The title of the entire Web site
Here are some examples:
“A Thousand Excuses for Missing the Tax Deadline” (a newspaper article) in The Ticker Tape Journal (a newspaper)
“Ode to Taxes Uncalculated” (a poem) in The Tax Poems (a book of poetry)
“I Got the W2 Blues” (a song title) on Me and My Taxes (a CD containing many songs)
“On the Art of Deductions” (an essay) in Getting Rich and Staying Rich (a magazine)
“Small Business Expenses” (an individual episode) on The IRS Report (a television series)
April 15th (a play)
“Deductions Unlimited” (a page in a Web site) in Beat the IRS (the title of a Web site)
When a title is alone on a line —on a title page or simply at the top of page one of a paper — don’t use italic or quotation marks. Don’t underline the title either. The centering calls attention to the title. Nothing else is needed. One exception: If part of the title is the name of another work, treat that part as you would any other title. For example, suppose you’ve written a brilliant essay about Gloria's poem, “I Hate Homework.” The title page contains this line, centered:
Freudian Imagery in “I Hate Homework”
If your brilliant essay is about the magazine Happy Thoughts , the title page includes this line (also centered):
The Decline of the School Magazine: A Case Study of Happy Though ts
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Titles! Love ‘em or Hate ‘em: A Thread by Electra Rhodes
Electra Rhodes
- 1 March 2023
Titles! Love ‘em or hate ‘em, it’s hard to deny their importance. I used to weep in frustration. But. Slowly. Slowly. I’ve learned a few things from reading around & analysing what the best titles ‘do’.
1a. Why have a title at all? Whatever you go for, remember what a title is for & what it’s meant to do. Smart people describe titles as invitations, statements of intent, the hook, stepping stones, launchpads, springboards, the set up & so on. What does a title mean to you?
1b. A title is not an add on – a good one feels integral to the piece – it might have arisen before the writing started, or during, or after – but it is a part of whatever is written.
This means dedicating time to finding a title. Not just 5 minutes before the deadline.
- There are trends in titles – e.g: the x person of z place titles; 1 word titles; very long titles; alliterative titles; quotations as titles; historical reference titles; the 7 a of b titles etc. A good formula will immediately be imitated. Capitalise on the trend or buck it.
So much for general observations about titles. Here’s another one – almost all the most memorable stories, poems, books, films, even TV episodes I hold in my head, have fantastic titles. People have worked hard to make it so.
How do they do it? Here goes:-
- A central question the story answers – usually with any prefix that fixes the phrase as a query (how, what, why, when, who, where) removed &/or with no question mark at end.
Or, where the writer leans into it – & the title is an actual question.
4a. The setting or context, date, time/duration – some incidents, places, or dates, are so well known, you just need to name them – Dunkirk. 1917. Titanic – bingo, effective title. Something fictional or less well known? Any combination of setting/incident/date/duration will work.
4b. Throws you into the centre of the narrative – gives you context, setting, & clues you into the environment the characters inhabit. Might be the most basic expository information which resonates as the reader engages with the text.
5a. A crucial character – the protagonist, the antagonist, the sidekick, the victim and so on. Place too can be a crucial character & make for a memorable title – Treasure Island, The Beach, Wolf Hall.
5b. The monster – or the hero that routs them. Jaws. Beowulf. Moby Dick. The Great Gatsby. There is plenty of work with a titular monster or their vanquishing hero, or both together e.g. The Old Man and The Sea – this one also flags the ‘conflict’ ahead.
5c. Clues you in on expository information – goes at 5a and 5b in a different way – lets you in on who someone is and what their role is in the piece – which will be confirmed somewhere else in the narrative – My Sister The Serial Killer.
- Unsettles, confuses, shakes up expectations – something startling that surprises or unnerves the reader. May be juxtaposed against the rest of the narrative, which compels the reader to keep going and revise their understanding.
- A beautiful outtake – Whether you fashion the piece as you go along, or revise once your 1st draft is done, some words/phrases will end up on the editing floor. Maybe one of those darlings you’ve just killed deserves resuscitation? Often sets the tone.
- The core phrase or sentiment often about three lines or paragraphs up – just as with the ‘bridge’ in a piece of pop music (roughly two thirds through) from a verse to the chorus, the ‘turn’ of a story, where the piece hits the home straight, can throw up an ideal phrase.
- A Pun, aphorism, oxymoron or malapropism – sums up the main plot in a few words or a short phrase. Helps if the saying or phrase is already well known, for example: Fireworks Night, Poetic Justice, Tall Story, Long Story Short all provide effective set ups.
- The backstory – going short there’s no time to fill the reader in on everything, but choice words/a phrase as a title can indicate the emotional, physical, social or historical circumstances of the characters before, during, or after what’s on the page.
- The strapline – ‘an iceberg screws it up for everyone’, ‘science is wonderful, until it bites you in the ass’, the TV series Friends made a virtue of using a descriptive strapline for each episode as its title – ‘The one with the..’ Write it short & sassy & you can too.
12a. The lead in – enjambment forces the reader to keep going between the title and the rest of the piece. Potentially risky when a title might be all a reader sees in ‘submittable’ etc. Very effective if not overused, say, in a collection, unless it’s the core thing.
12b. Sets up an extended metaphor or central idea – that the rest of the piece illustrates, illuminates or answer.
- The shotgun that will be fired in the piece – it won’t have to be referred to again anywhere in the story, but get your shotgun into the title & as soon as it goes off in the piece, it will fire for the reader & will work multiple times harder.
- Free words – whatever way you come at a title, these are free words (especially useful with a very tight word limit), FREE WORDS. This is partly why it may help to think of it as an integral part of a piece, rather than an afterthought. It’s there to do heavy lifting. Use it!
- For anyone thinking, yeah, but, I don’t really remember titles, shrug. Lol. – Do you remember the titles of films you loved, or TV series you’re addicted to, or even books you recommend? Maybe? Let’s change it up for shorter fiction/poetry & nick those practices too.
Big thanks to @sfreligh who was kind enough to share her ’Titling Poetry 101’ handout with me. She’s way more eloquent about the whole process & knows the proper names for things. She teaches fab courses too.
Read the original Twitter thread along with comments here .
(c) Electra Rhodes
Electra Rhodes is an archaeologist whose short prose has been widely published, most recently in Parthian Press’ anthology An Open Door – Travel Writing for a Precarious Century. Current projects include a hybrid nature/family memoir and an intersectional biography of the British landscape. She also teaches nonfiction for Crow Collective.
About An Open Door: New Travel Writing for a Precarious Century
The history of Wales as a destination and confection of English Romantic writers is well-known, but this book reverses the process, turning a Welsh gaze on the rest of the world.
This shift is timely: the severing of Britain from the European Union asks questions of Wales about its relationship to its own past, to the British state, to Europe and beyond, while the present political, public health and environmental crises mean that travel writing can and should never again be the comfortably escapist genre that it was. Our modern anxieties over identity are registered here in writing that questions in a personal, visceral way the meaning of belonging and homecoming, and reflects a search for stability and solace as much as a desire for adventure. Here are lyrical stories refracted through kaleidoscopes of family and world history, alongside accounts of forced displacement and the tenacious love that exists between people and places. Yet these pieces also show the enduring value and joy of travel itself. As Eluned Gramich expresses it ‘It’s one of the pleasures of travel to submit yourself to other people, let yourself be guided and taught’.
Taken together, the stories of An Open Door extend Jan Morris’ legacy into a turbulent present and even more uncertain future. Whether seen from Llŷn or the Somali desert, we still take turns to look out at the same stars, and it might be this recognition, above all, that encourages us to hold the door open for as long as we can.
Featuring contributions from Eluned Gramich, Grace Quantock, Faisal Ali, Sophie Buchaillard, Giancarlo Gemin, Siân Melangell Dafydd, Mary-Ann Constantine, Kandace Siobhan Walker, Neil Gower, Julie Brominicks and Electra Rhodes.
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How do I actually write the name of the article and journal/magazine in my paper?
To write the name of a journal or magazine in an APA paper:
- The title of the journal should be in italics - Example: Journal of the American Medical Association
- Capitalize all the major words.
To write the the name of an article title in the body of your paper:
- The title of the article should be in quotation marks - E xample: "Tiger Woman on Wall Street"
The article "Tiger Woman on Wall Street" in the Journal of the American Medical Association was very informative.
Visit the APA Help guide for more examples.
Thank you for using ASK US. For further information, please contact your Baker librarians .
- Last Updated Feb 11, 2021
- Views 485400
- Answered By Baker Librarians
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Comments (8)
- Do articles contain address? by Danny on Mar 20, 2017
- On the APA References page add Retrieved from and the website address at the end of the citation. See the APA Help page for examples-https://guides.baker.edu/apahelp by ASK US on Mar 20, 2017
- Is this information the same for scientific research journals and articles (still within APA)? by Haley on Apr 03, 2017
- Yes, it is. See the APA Help guide for examples. guides.baker.edu/apahelp by ASK US on Apr 03, 2017
- Do I have to put the name of the author of the article or website the article was from? by Hailee on May 01, 2017
- The answer given was for the body of your paper. Here's how to cite an article both on the References page and in-text: Author Last Name, First & Middle Initials. (Date). Title of article: Subtitle of article. Title of Source, Volume(Issue), Page numbers. Retrieved from... In-text: Paraphrase: (Author Last Name, Year). Quotation: (Author Last Name, Year, p. Page Number). by ASK US on May 02, 2017
- Do I put the title of essay in single quotation marks if I write in UK English (APA)? by joseph on Mar 25, 2019
- See the APA Style Blog's post on How to Capitalize and Format Reference Titles in APA Style: https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2012/03/how-to-capitalize-and-format-reference-titles-in-apa-style.html by Patrick Mullane on Mar 25, 2019
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Venture into the world of writing with Writer's Digest ! Writers of all skill levels will find Writer's Digest useful. Improve your craft with numerous tips on all aspects of writing. Discover advice for those frustrating writer's block moments, read tips on writing queries, and learn from how-to interviews with established writers! Find the editors to submit your work for publication with guidance on selling your fiction, nonfiction, screenwriting, poetry, and other freelance work! Each issue also features exercises in all genres, including stimulating prompts, instructional workshops, and more, making it one of the best magazines for writers. Get wind of conferences and competitions ahead of time. Work on achieving your dreams with a Writer's Digest subscription!
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
Perfect for fans of mystery, crime, and suspense, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine sets the bar for modern crime and mystery novellas. Keep up with the latest award-winning short stories form the world's greatest crime and mystery writers, including prominent authors like Jeffery Deaver, Ian Rankin, Lawrence Block, and more! There is a story for every mystery lover, from psychological suspense and private eye cases to deductive puzzles and impossible crimes! Discover one-of-a-kind collections of articles, puzzles, reviews, and stories in every issue. Subscribe now to "the best mystery magazine in the world, bar none," as rated by Stephen King himself!
Take sanctuary in an ad-free, nonprofit magazine with The Sun Magazine ! Each issue features intimate, socially conscious short fiction, poetry, and personal essays from established and upcoming writers. The Sun prides itself as a genuine oddity, combining the personal and political, honoring courageous and honest writing, and touching humanity's enigma. Stay up to date on the latest challenges against society and celebrate the junctures when we thrive against them. Explore the complexity of humankind by celebrating life with a new literary magazine subscription!
The New Yorker
Stay enriched in the literary world with The New Yorker Magazine ! Perfect for those interested in the arts, culture, and current events, this influential magazine is renowned in the publishing world. Discover lyrical poetry, fiction, thoughful essays, and humor with a sharp wit, high-quality prose, and exciting articles. Read the latest domestic, international, and New York news with in-depth reporting on politics, sports, culture, and more - all with a commitment to truth and accuracy. Celebrate the best in prose with suprising opinions, sharp wit, and fresh content with every issue. Subscribe to the print magazine today!
Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery
Get your spine tingling with Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine ! As one of the nation's leading publishers of mystery, suspense, and short crime stories, this publication contains every subgenre. Read everything from classic whodunits, private eye mysteries, courtroom dramas, tales of espionage, and more! Submit your work for a chance to become one of the seven new short stories featured in each issue. Exclusive author interviews, amusing news bites, mystery photo contests, book reviews, and puzzles accompany quality stories. Celebrate the world of mystery with a subscription!
Creative Nonfiction
Immerse yourself in the community of creative nonfiction with Creative Nonfiction Magazine ! As the leading voice of the genre and one of the best magazines for writers, this magazine defines the ethics and limits of the field and provides invaluable insights and research. Each issue contains notes on the writing craft, conversations with writers and editors, micro-essays, and more! Be blown away by writing that pushes the boundaries. Readers can submit their nonfiction prose, as this magazine strives to be a platform for emerging nonfiction writers. With many subgenres to choose from, a Creative Nonfiction magazine subscription will be an excellent fit for both established and aspiring writers.
The Writer's Chronicle
Stay informed and entertained with The Writer's Chronicle ! Made for writers, editors, students, and teachers of writing, The Writer's Chronicle is an invaluable literary source created by the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP). Each issue features in-depth essays on the craft, thorough interviews with masterful authors, and enlightening articles on writing. Stay up to date with the latest news of the national literary scene, with updates on AWP's Annual Conference and contests, announcements on publishing trends, and the scoop on literary controversies. Discover listings of available grants, publication opportunities, and awards. Become more acquainted with the community of writers with a great literary magazine: The Writer's Chronicle !
Asimov's Science Fiction
Catapult into the fantastic worlds of tomorrow with Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine ! Featuring the most notable sci-fi writers and up-and-coming wordsmiths, this magazine is unmatched in its field. Read up on the latest innovative, incredible short stories, novellas, and poems. Discover your next favorite sci-fi book, tv show, and film with insightful, honest reviews; challenge your mindset with thought-provoking articles, and submit your work to enlist with the spearhead of science fiction. Purchase a subscription today!
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Inside Flipboard
Make your flipboard magazine stand out with a catchy title and description, christel van der boom / february 21, 2023.
In the same way that first impressions are crucial in social interactions, the cover of your Flipboard Magazine is vital in making an impact on anyone who encounters it.
In a split second, readers try to answer a variety of questions as they see the cover: Is it relevant to me? Is it intriguing? Is it worth my time and attention? As a Magazine curator, you have the power to shape how those questions are answered. Choosing an engaging cover image is essential, but the title and description of your Magazine are also important. Here are some tips on how to name and describe your Magazine effectively.
Magazine Title: Your Magazine’s title serves as its brand, so it should accurately reflect the theme or style of the content you curate. Keep it short and to the point, but don’t be afraid to get creative with metaphors, alliteration, or plays on words to capture the reader’s attention and set the tone of the Magazine.
Magazine Description: We recommend making the description more precise and providing specific information about the type of stories people can find in the Magazine and the perspective you provide.
Let’s look at some examples:
There are plenty of Magazines about travel on Flipboard, so how does a reader decide which ones to follow? The title and description can give users a sense for the kind of topics and information they can expect to find inside. This Magazine makes it clear it’s for people of a certain age who enjoy exploring the world in an RV. In the description, the curator specifies it’s focused on the United States and Canada.
The title “Parenting Primers” is good because it quickly communicates the Magazine’s focus on providing practical information for parents. The description lets readers know what to expect in a little more detail: articles that mostly focus on younger children.
I love the creativity of this title! #Wetroit communicates in a single “word” what this Magazine is about: Detroit and the people who live there. It also indicates that the curator is one of them and is curating about her own city.
How To Do It
Now, let’s go over the process of creating or editing a Flipboard Magazine cover. When creating a new Magazine, you’ll be prompted to add a title and brief description. It’s highly recommended that you complete both for the reasons stated above.
If you would ever like to edit the title and description, , go to the cover and tap on the gear icon, then select the first item on the menu, “Edit title and description.” After you’ve updated the fields, hit “save” and you’re done! (On the web, look for the word “Edit” on the cover and click “View” to see the changes.)
For more inspiration, check out the titles of thousands of Magazines curated by our team . These are some of the best examples of effective curation on Flipboard.
— Christel van der Boom, head of communications, is curating Happiness .
Posted in: FlipTips , Magazines
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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / Citation Basics / Do You Italicize Article Titles?
Do You Italicize Article Titles?
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:
- Journal Titles
- Magazine Titles
- Newspaper Titles
- Photo/Image/Painting
- Television series
- Webpages/Websites
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
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:
- Journal Titles ( not journal articles)
- Magazine Title
- Music Album ( not a song on the album)
- Newspaper Title
- Podcast ( not a podcast episode)
- Television Series
- YouTube Video
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
- Songs on an album
- Television episodes
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:
- 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:
- 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.
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:
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:
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- View MLA Guide
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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.
Surname, First Name. “Title of the Article.” Journal Title , volume #, issue #, publication date, page range.
Etchells, Tim. “On the Skids: Some Years of Acting Animals.” Performance Research , vol. 5, no. 2, 2000, pp. 55–60.
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.
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Purdue Online Writing Lab College of Liberal Arts
Associated Press Style
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These resources provide an overview of journalistic writing with explanations of the most important and most often used elements of journalism and the Associated Press style. This resource, revised according to The Associated Press Stylebook 2012 , offers examples for the general format of AP style. For more information, please consult The Associated Press Stylebook 2012 , 47 th edition.
Introduction
Associated Press style provides guidelines for news writing. Many newspapers, magazines and public relations offices across the United States use AP style. Although some publications such as the New York Times have developed their own style guidelines, a basic knowledge of AP style is considered essential to those who want to work in print journalism.
This Web page is intended to provide an introduction to AP style and a summary of some AP style rules; however, the Associated Press Stylebook includes more than 5,000 entries – far more than can be covered here. For a complete guide to AP style, writers should consult the most recent edition of the Associated Press Stylebook or visit the AP Stylebook website .
The content of newspapers and other mass media is typically the result of many different writers and editors working together. AP style provides consistent guidelines for such publications in terms of grammar, spelling, punctuation and language usage. Some guiding principles behind AP style are:
- Consistency
AP style also aims to avoid stereotypes and unintentionally offensive language.
Common Style Guidelines
The Associated Press Stylebook provides an A-Z guide to issues such as capitalization, abbreviation, punctuation, spelling, numerals and many other questions of language usage. What follows are summaries of some of the most common style rules.
Abbreviations and Acronyms
Some widely known abbreviations are required in certain situations, while others are acceptable but not required in some contexts. For example, Dr., Gov., Lt. Gov., Rep., the Rev. and Sen. are required before a person’s full name when they occur outside a direct quotation. Please note, that medical and political titles only need to be used on first reference when they appear outside of a direct quote. For courtesy titles, use these on second reference or when specifically requested. Other acronyms and abbreviations are acceptable but not required (i.e. FBI, CIA, GOP). The context should govern such decisions.
As a general rule, though, you should avoid what the Associated Press Stylebook calls “alphabet soup.” Consult the Associated Press Stylebook for specific cases.
For numbered addresses, always use figures. Abbreviate Ave., Blvd., and St. and directional cues when used with a numbered address. Always spell out other words such as alley, drive and road . If the street name or directional cue is used without a numbered address, it should be capitalized and spelled out. If a street name is a number, spell out First through Ninth and use figures for 10th and higher. Here are some examples of correctly formatted addresses: 101 N. Grant St., Northwestern Avenue, South Ninth Street, 102 S. 10th St., 605 Woodside Drive.
For ages, always use figures. If the age is used as an adjective or as a substitute for a noun, then it should be hyphenated. Don’t use apostrophes when describing an age range. Examples: A 21-year-old student. The student is 21 years old. The girl, 8, has a brother, 11. The contest is for 18-year-olds. He is in his 20s.
Books, Periodicals, Reference Works, and Other Types of Compositions
Use quotation marks around the titles of books, songs, television shows, computer games, poems, lectures, speeches and works of art. Examples: Author Porter Shreve read from his new book, “When the White House Was Ours.” They sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the game.
Do not use quotations around the names of magazine, newspapers, the Bible or books that are catalogues of reference materials. Examples: The Washington Post first reported the story. He reads the Bible every morning.
Do not underline or italicize any of the above.
Dates, Months, Years, Days of the Week
For dates and years, use figures. Do not use st, nd, rd, or th with dates, and use Arabic figures. Always capitalize months. Spell out the month unless it is used with a date. When used with a date, abbreviate only the following months: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.
Commas are not necessary if only a year and month are given, but commas should be used to set off a year if the date, month and year are given. Use the letter s but not an apostrophe after the figures when expressing decades or centuries. Do, however, use an apostrophe before figures expressing a decade if numerals are left out. Examples: Classes begin Aug. 25. Purdue University was founded May 6, 1869. The semester begins in January. The 1800s. The ’90s.
If you refer to an event that occurred the day prior to when the article will appear, do not use the word yesterday. Instead, use the day of the week. Capitalize days of the week, but do not abbreviate. If an event occurs more than seven days before or after the current date, use the month and a figure.
Newspapers use datelines when the information for a story is obtained outside the paper’s hometown or general area of service. Datelines appear at the beginning of stories and include the name of the city in all capital letters, usually followed the state or territory in which the city is located. The Associated Press Stylebook lists 30 U.S. cities that do not need to be followed by the name of a state. See states and cities below. Examples:
- DENVER – The Democratic National Convention began...
- ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Republican National Convention began...
- YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – President Bush spoke to a group...
When writing about height, weight or other dimensions, use figures and spell out words such as feet, miles, etc. Examples: She is 5-foot-3. He wrote with a 2-inch pencil.
Use figures for any distances over 10. For any distances below 10, spell out the distance. Examples: My flight covered 1,113 miles. The airport runway is three miles long.
Always use a person’s first and last name the first time they are mentioned in a story. Only use last names on second reference. Do not use courtesy titles such as Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms. unless they are part of a direct quotation or are needed to differentiate between people who have the same last name.
Never begin a sentence with a figure, except for sentences that begin with a year. Examples: Two hundred freshmen attended. Five actors took the stage. 1776 was an important year.
Use roman numerals to describe wars and to show sequences for people. Examples: World War II, Pope John Paul II, Elizabeth II.
For ordinal numbers, spell out first through ninth and use figures for 10th and above when describing order in time or location. Examples: second base, 10th in a row. Some ordinal numbers, such as those indicating political or geographic order, should use figures in all cases. Examples: 3rd District Court, 9th ward.
For cardinal numbers, consult individual entries in the Associated Press Stylebook. If no usage is specified, spell out numbers below 10 and use figures for numbers 10 and above. Example: The man had five children and 11 grandchildren.
When referring to money, use numerals. For cents or amounts of $1 million or more, spell the words cents, million, billion, trillion etc. Examples: $26.52, $100,200, $8 million, 6 cents.
Punctuation
Use a single space after a period.
Do not use commas before a conjunction in a simple series. Example: In art class, they learned that red, yellow and blue are primary colors. His brothers are Tom, Joe, Frank and Pete. However, a comma should be used before the terminal conjunction in a complex series, if part of that series also contains a conjunction. Example: Purdue University's English Department offers doctoral majors in Literature, Second Language Studies, English Language and Linguistics, and Rhetoric and Composition.
Commas and periods go within quotation marks. Example: “I did nothing wrong,” he said. She said, “Let’s go to the Purdue game.”
States and Cities
When the name of a state name appears in the body of a text, spell it out. State abbreviations should also be avoided in headlines where possible. States should be abbreviated when used as part of a short-form political affiliation. Examples: He was travelling to Nashville, Tenn. The peace accord was signed in Dayton, Ohio. The storm began in Indiana and moved west toward Peoria, Ill. Updated guidance to AP style notes that state names can also be abbreviated for the following purposes:
- Naming states in dateline text
- Naming states in photo captions
- Naming states in lists or tables
- Naming states in in editor's notes and credit lines
Here is how each state is abbreviated in AP style (with the postal code abbreviations in parentheses):
You will notice that eight states are missing from this list. That is because Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah are never abbreviated.
AP style does not require the name of a state to accompany the names of the following 30 cities:
The exact time when an event has occurred or will occur is unnecessary for most stories. Of course, there are occasions when the time of day is important. In such cases, use figures, but spell out noon and midnight . Use a colon to separate hours from minutes, but do not use :00 . Examples: 1 p.m., 3:30 a.m.
Generally, capitalize formal titles when they appear before a person’s name, but lowercase titles if they are informal, appear without a person’s name, follow a person’s name or are set off before a name by commas. Also, lowercase adjectives that designate the status of a title. If a title is long, place it after the person’s name, or set it off with commas before the person’s name. Examples: President Bush; President-elect Obama; Sen. Harry Reid; Evan Bayh, a senator from Indiana; the senior senator from Indiana, Dick Lugar; former President George H.W. Bush; Paul Schneider, deputy secretary of homeland security.
Technological Terms
Here are the correct spelling and capitalization rules for some common technological terms:
- BlackBerry, BlackBerrys
- eBay Inc. (use EBay Inc. when the word begins a sentence)
- e-book reader
- Google, Googling, Googled
- IM ( IMed, IMing ; for first reference, use instant messenger )
- iPad, iPhone, iPod (use IPad, IPhone, or IPod when the word begins a sentence)
- social media
- Twitter, tweet, tweeted, retweet
- World Wide Web, website (see the AP's tweet about the change) , Web page
- History of Feminist Rhetorics and Writing Practices
- Memory and Media
- Gender and the History of Rhetoric
Curriculum Vitae · Course Syllabi · [email protected]
Updated: 27 March 2003
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Here are some writing tips to help you break into the world of magazine writing. 1. Target your pitches carefully. Freelance writers typically have to pitch stories via a query letter before being given an assignment. Be judicious when you pitch to editors.
( How to write better titles .) So let's look at some of the major categories: Fiction. When it comes to fiction, magazines expect writers to submit the complete manuscript with a cover letter or note (more on that below). Most short stories run 1,500 to 5,000 words.
Do. Keep it concise and informative. What's appropriate for titles varies greatly across disciplines. Take a look at some articles published in your field, and check the journal guidelines for character limits. Aim for fewer than 12 words, and check for journal specific word limits. Write for your audience.
For certain types of works, they're used to set apart titles. The general rule is to use quotation marks for titles of short works such as articles, poems, songs, essays, or short stories. By contrast, use italics for larger works such as books, movies, and the names of periodicals. We provide a complete list below.
Ask questions. Alternatively, you can ask editors if they have stories that they are looking for, and then offer yourself as a candidate to execute that article. 5. Once your pitch is approved, get to work. Make sure you balance the house style of your publication with the voice that makes you unique as a writer.
As mentioned, how to write a magazine title in an essay is determined by what you are writing and which style guide you are adhering to for the text. In an essay or paper, if the essay follows APA, MLA, or Chicago style, then you should put the magazine's name in italics.
Titles should normally be given in full in the Works Cited list, but if any of your sources has a particularly long title (often the case with older works), you can use an ellipsis to shorten it here. This is only necessary with extremely long titles such as the example below.
Work titles should be italicized (books, magazines, newspapers, movies, plays, and CDs). For shorter works, use quote marks (book chapters, articles, poems, and songs). You will occasionally find yourself trapped and unsure of what punctuation to use. In this case, follow the guidance of a good editor. Table of Contents
Apply italics to the title of a magazine, a newspaper, or an encyclopedia. If you are citing a magazine or a newspaper, you would italicize the title. Italicize For example, Vanity Fair or The Globe and Mail. Do this for both original works in text and published works in a bibliography. [8] [9] The titles of encyclopedias are also italicized.
Writing Magazine 12 issues per year View Reviews | Write Review From £2.42 per issue The saying goes that "everyone has a novel in them" and it's the mission of Writing Magazine to help you get yours out! Brought to you by real experts who know what it takes to get published, this monthly magazine is a must-have for all writers. .. read more
How to Write the Best Title In 10 Easy Ways to Find Good Ideas for Magazine Articles I described the importance of knowing your audience. I bet you've heard that before, so we won't go here. Instead, look at that title. What do you like about it? Dislike? Would you read it? It depends on your goals and needs as a reader. 3.
In English, when punctuating these magazine titles, headlines, and song or movie titles, keep in mind these two options: Put the title in quotation marks. Quotation marks enclose titles of smaller works or parts of a whole. Set the title off from the rest of the writing with italic or underlining. By using italic or underlining, you set off ...
1b. A title is not an add on - a good one feels integral to the piece - it might have arisen before the writing started, or during, or after - but it is a part of whatever is written. This means dedicating time to finding a title. Not just 5 minutes before the deadline. There are trends in titles - e.g: the x person of z place titles; 1 ...
To write the name of a journal or magazine in an APA paper: The title of the journal should be in italics - Example: Journal of the American Medical Association Capitalize all the major words. To write the the name of an article title in the body of your paper:
Made for writers, editors, students, and teachers of writing, The Writer's Chronicle is an invaluable literary source created by the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP). Each issue features in-depth essays on the craft, thorough interviews with masterful authors, and enlightening articles on writing.
Journal Title: Journal titles may omit an initial "The" but should otherwise be given in full, capitalized (headline-style), and italicized. Issue Information: The volume number follows the journal title with no punctuation and is not italicized.
Step 1: Choose a magazine Step 2: Get to know your audience Step 3: Confirm or choose your topic. If you already have an idea…. If you need an idea…. Step 4: Choose an angle Step 5: Write a query letter Step 6: Know the job Step 7: Research the topic Step 8: Interview sources Finding an expert Interviewing the expert Step 9: Create an outline
To edit the title and description of an existing magazine while using the Flipboard app, tap the Edit button on the cover of your magazine, then tap Edit Magazine: If you prefer, you can also edit the title and description via the Flipboard web editor tool by clicking on the gear icon: Posted in: FlipTips. Prev Next.
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 ...
The content of newspapers and other mass media is typically the result of many different writers and editors working together. AP style provides consistent guidelines for such publications in terms of grammar, spelling, punctuation and language usage. Some guiding principles behind AP style are: Consistency. Clarity.
• share pieces of their own writing, receive feedback on their work, and offer advice and suggestions to other writers. Materials Student Workbook, page 5, Descriptive Lines from Bluefire Teacher Resource #1, Two Powerful Excerpts Teacher Resource #2,"Among the Stars" (read aloud to class) Notebook or laptops for writing
Andrea Lunsford, Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor of English and Director of the Program in Writing and Rhetoric, joined the Stanford faculty in March, 2000. Prior to this appointment, Lunsford was Distinguished Professor of English at The Ohio State University (1986-00), where she served as Vice Chair of the Department of English, as Chair of ...
(e.g., listening, speaking, reading, and writing). For the same reason, a profi-ciency level does not identify a student (e.g., "Emerging student"), but rather identifies what a student knows and can do at a particular stage of English language development—for example, "a student at the Emerging level" or "a
Title: PATIENT GUIDE TO PSYCHIATRIC DISABILITY AND WORK LEAVE Author: E476708 Created Date: 11/3/2011 2:10:54 PM ...