Writing & StyleStyle guide
Are Journal Titles Italicized?
In MLA-style conventions, a scholarly journal’s title is the periodical/container title and is italicized, while an individual journal article title is placed in quotation marks. Other required style manuals may differ.
In MLA-style writing, italicize the journal title and put an individual article title in quotation marks.
Key details
Core Issuehow to style the title of a scholarly journal rather than the title of an article within it
Registeracademic, edited, and style-governed writing
RuleIn MLA-style conventions, the journal is the periodical/container title and is italicized; an individual article title is placed in quotation marks.
Important caveats
Scope Boundary
This is a style convention, not a universal grammar rule. Follow the citation system or publisher style required for the document.
Further guidance
Recommendation
Italicize the journal title in MLA-style prose; use quotation marks for the title of an article published in that journal.
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.
- Should the initial article in periodical titles be retained in both prose and works-cited-list entries? (opens in a new tab)Modern Language Association · MLA guidance demonstrating periodical publication titles, including newspaper titles, styled as periodical titles in prose and works-cited entries.
- Quotation Marks with Titles — Purdue OWL (opens in a new tab)Purdue OWL · Purdue OWL guidance listing songs, short poems, book chapters, and other shorter works as titles normally enclosed in quotation marks.