The rules for formatting in italic, roman, or in quotes are as follows, using headline-style capitalization (See also “Titles of Works—Capitalization”).
Italicize titles of:
- art exhibitions
- blog names
- books
- concerts
- law cases
- long poems
- magazines
- movies
- newspapers
- plays
- podcast series
- radio shows
- record albums/CDs
- ships
- television shows
- web publications (e.g., Salon, Slate, and BU Today)
- works of art
Use quotation marks, with no italics, around titles of:
- articles and papers
- chapters
- individual lectures
- podcasts and individual videos
- short poems
- short stories
- single TV episodes
- songs
- speeches
- unpublished works, such as theses and dissertations
Use neither quotation marks nor italics for titles of:
- apps
- courses
- lecture series
- websites
Capitalization
Headline-style caps: in titles, capitalize the first word, proper nouns, and all other words except conjunctions, articles, and prepositions unless they come at the beginning or end of the headline. However, do capitalize a preposition that is emphasized or necessary to the verb that precedes it:
- Speeding Up the Process
- Calling Out for Help
Do not capitalize “to,” whether used as a preposition or part of an infinitive:
- It’s Time to Celebrate
Capitalize short verbs like “is” and “be”:
- Born to Be a Scholar
- Where Is Boston University?
In a title containing a hyphenated compound, both parts are usually capitalized:
- Long-Term Investment Strategies
- Ready-Made Savings Plans
Capitalize titles of courses, but do not italicize or enclose in quotes:
- Introduction to Communication Writing
- Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
Music
In general, follow this rule for the titles of written works:
- Long works are italicized
- Short works are enclosed in quotation marks
- They will sing three arias from Carmen and “When I Am Laid in Earth” from Dido and Aeneas.
When a title is written in the musical form, capitalize and, if appropriate, italicize, but do not use quotation marks:
- Sonata for Four Hands; Second Suite in F, Op. 28; Fanfare from La Péri; Chopin’s op. 48, no. 1
Foreign language titles in general should be italicized unless that is confusing because of other uses of italics nearby.
Capitalize the M in Major and Minor and the letter of the key preceding the word “Major” or “Minor”:
- Mozart’s Symphony in D Major (set in roman)
When a minor key is indicated but the word “minor” is not used, the letter is lowercase:
- The key of c (lowercase) means C Minor. C (uppercase) means C Major.
