Are Book Titles Italicized?
Book titles are normally italicized in MLA-style prose because books are independent long-form works. Other style systems may have their own conventions, so follow the required style for the document.
In MLA-style prose, italicize book titles. Follow a different required house or publication style if it specifies another convention.
Key details
Important caveats
Scope Boundary
Title styling is a style convention rather than a universal grammar law. Follow the required publication, academic, or house style when it differs.
Further guidance
Example
MLA-style invented example: In *The Quiet Harbor*, the author examines coastal change. The whole-book title is italicized.
Practical Application
In MLA-style prose, italicize a book title as an independent long-form work. Do not add quotation marks around the same title merely because it appears in a sentence.
Reader Check
Confirm that you are naming the whole book rather than a chapter, essay, or story contained within it, because contained works can follow a different convention.
Recommendation
Italicize a book title when you are following MLA-style conventions for titles of independent long-form works.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- If I mention the title of a fictional work in my text, how do I style it? (opens in a new tab)Modern Language Association · MLA guidance that book and other long-form work titles are normally italicized, while shorter works are normally placed in quotation marks.