Are Newspaper Titles Italicized?
In MLA style, a newspaper’s publication title is treated as a periodical title and italicized, while an individual newspaper article title is placed in quotation marks. The newspaper title and an article title are different levels of work. Follow the required style guide when a publication uses another convention.
Italicize the newspaper’s publication title in MLA-style prose; put an individual article title in quotation marks.
Key details
Important caveats
Scope Boundary
The newspaper title and an article title are different levels of work. Follow the required style guide when a publication uses another convention.
Further guidance
Example
MLA-style invented example: “Council Approves River Plan” appears in *The Morning Ledger*. The article title is quoted; the newspaper title is italicized.
Practical Application
In MLA-style writing, italicize the newspaper’s publication title and put the title of an individual newspaper article in quotation marks.
Reader Check
Separate the publication name from a headline/article title. Styling the newspaper title does not determine how every title printed inside that newspaper is treated.
Recommendation
Italicize the newspaper’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.
- 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.