Are Magazine Titles Italicized?
In MLA-style conventions, the magazine publication title is italicized, while the title of an individual magazine article is placed in quotation marks. This is a style convention rather than a grammar rule. Follow another required style manual or house style when it differs.
Italicize the magazine’s publication title in MLA-style prose; put an individual article title in quotation marks.
Key details
Important caveats
Scope Boundary
This is a style convention rather than a grammar rule. Follow another required style manual or house style when it differs.
Further guidance
Example
MLA-style invented example: “The New Night Train” appears in *City Monthly*. The article is quoted and the magazine title is italicized.
Practical Application
In MLA-style writing, italicize the magazine’s publication title and place an individual magazine article title in quotation marks.
Reader Check
If the title belongs to one article, interview, review, or other shorter contribution, do not give it the same treatment as the magazine itself.
Recommendation
Italicize the magazine’s publication title in MLA-style prose; put an individual article title in quotation marks.
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.
- 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.
- 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.