Are Map Titles Italicized?
MLA’s map guidance makes the formatting conditional on source relationship: standalone map titles are italicized, while map titles for images contained in larger works are placed in quotation marks. The guide retains the article’s eighth-edition boundary.
In the cited MLA guidance, italicize the title of a standalone map; put a titled map in quotation marks when it is a contained image inside a larger work.
Key details
Important caveats
Scope Boundary
The cited MLA Style Center article is tied to the eighth edition, and functional digital maps can require source/container decisions beyond a simple italics-or-quotes rule. Verify current handbook guidance when strict ninth-edition compliance matters.
Further guidance
Example
MLA-style invented contrast: *Transit Lines of Northport* is a stand-alone map; “Transit Lines of Northport” would be quoted if it were a titled map image contained inside a larger work under the cited rule.
Practical Application
Under the cited MLA map guidance, italicize a stand-alone map title; when a titled map is a contained image inside a larger work, place the map title in quotation marks.
Reader Check
Classify the source relationship first: is the map the work you are citing, or is it one image/component inside a book, article, or site?
Recommendation
Decide whether the map is the independent work or a component of another work. Standalone maps take italics in the cited MLA guidance; contained maps can take 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.
- How do I cite a map? (opens in a new tab)Modern Language Association · MLA Style Center guidance explicitly distinguishing italicized standalone map titles from quoted map titles contained in larger works