Writers and editors often ask, what do you italicize, and the answer lives in the careful space between grammar rules and stylistic choices. Italicizing signals to the reader that a specific element requires special treatment, whether that emphasis is functional or decorative. This guide cuts through the noise to deliver clear, authoritative guidance that helps you decide when to lean on italics and when to choose another solution.
Core Principles for Italic Use
At the highest level, italics serve three primary purposes: emphasis, titling, and technical clarity. Emphasis draws the eye to a word or phrase without the visual break of quotation marks, suggesting a writer’s intent rather than a speaker’s exact words. Titling applies to standalone creative works and vehicles, while technical clarity handles foreign terms, scientific names, and legal definitions. Understanding this framework makes the question “what do you italicize” much easier to answer on a case-by-case basis.
Titles of Standalone Works
When deciding what do you italicize in the realm of publishing, titles of standalone works top the list. Books, journals, newspapers, albums, plays, long poems, films, television series, and major artworks should appear in italics. For example, The Great Gatsby , Nature , The New York Times , and Kind of Blue are all styled this way. By contrast, shorter pieces such as articles, chapters, and songs are placed in quotation marks, creating a clear visual hierarchy that readers can navigate quickly.
Emphasis and Introducing New Terms
Italics can add rhetorical weight to a sentence when used sparingly for emphasis, but this approach demands discipline. Overuse dulls the impact and can make prose feel dramatic rather than precise. A more technical application involves introducing a new term, especially in instructional or legal texts; the first appearance of the term is italicized to cue the reader that it carries a specific definition. In both cases, the underlying answer to “what do you italicize” remains the same: use italics to guide attention, not to decorate every important word.
Foreign Words and Technical Vocabulary
Another frequent answer to “what do you italicize” concerns words borrowed from other languages that might confuse readers. Italicize terms such as ad hoc , carpe diem , and zeitgeist on their first use, particularly when they lack widespread adoption in the host language. Technical vocabulary, including scientific names and mathematical variables, also leans on italics to maintain precision. Biology treats species names like Homo sapiens as standard practice, while physics uses italics for variables like velocity v and acceleration a to distinguish them from constants and units.
Punctuation and Formatting Nuances
Correct punctuation around italics is essential for professionalism, so the question “what do you italicize” naturally extends to how you punctuate around those elements. Periods and commas always sit inside closing italics marks in American English, while semicolons and colons live outside. Question and exclamation marks follow the logic of the sentence: if they belong to the quoted material, they go inside; if they belong to the whole sentence, they go outside. Understanding these small details prevents awkward visual breaks and keeps your text polished.
When to Avoid Italics
Knowing what do you italicize is only half the battle; knowing when not to is equally important. Underlining is an obsolete holdover from typewriter days and should be reserved for handwritten text indicating italics. Bold and all caps can create harsh contrast, so reserve them for headings or calls to action rather than extended passages. In digital media, hyperlinks often replace italics for emphasis, since link color and underlines already draw attention without additional formatting.
