P10-a: Titles of works

P10-aItalicize the titles of works according to convention.

Titles of the following types of works should be italicized.

titles of booksThe Color Purple, The Round House

magazinesTime, Scientific American, Slate

newspapers   the Baltimore Sun, the Orlando Sentinel

pamphletsCommon Sense, Facts about Marijuana

long poemsThe Waste Land, Paradise Lost

plays’Night Mother, Wicked

filmsCasablanca, Argo

television programsThe Voice, Homeland

radio programsAll Things Considered

musical compositionsPorgy and Bess

choreographic worksBrief Fling

works of visual artAmerican Gothic

video gamesEverquest, Call of Duty

databases [mla]ProQuest

web sites [mla]Salon, Google

computer software or apps [mla]Photoshop, Instagram

The titles of other works—including short stories, essays, episodes of radio and television programs, songs, and short poems—are enclosed in quotation marks. (See P5-c.)

note: Do not use italics when referring to the Bible, titles of books in the Bible (Genesis, not Genesis), or titles of legal documents (the Constitution, not the Constitution).