Do you put quotation marks around a book title

Double quotation marks are used for direct quotations and titles of compositions such as books, plays, movies, songs, lectures and TV shows. They also can be used to indicate irony and introduce an unfamiliar term or nickname.

Single quotation marks are used for a quote within a quote. ("I knew I wanted to come to WMU when President Dunn said, 'We're committed to your success.'") Although they are usually unnecessary, single quotation marks also can be used in headlines that contain a quote or composition title.

Do not place in quotation marks: names of newspapers, magazines, central texts of a religion (Bible, Koran), dictionaries, handbooks and reference books. Names of concertos, operas, overtures, sonatas, suites and symphonies, such as Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, are not placed in quotes, but if the work also has a title, the title is placed in quotes. (Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, "Pathetique.")

Do not place in quotation marks names of events (tailgate party, retirement reception), even if it is a unique event with a proper name (Bronco Bash). The title of a lecture is placed in quotes, the name of a lecture series is not (Sichel Lecture Series).

Running quotations: If a full paragraph of quoted material is followed by a paragraph that continues the quotation, do not use closing quotation marks at the end of the first paragraph, but do use opening quotation marks at the start the second paragraph. Continue this pattern, using closing quotation marks only at the very end of the quoted material.

Placement with other punctuation: A period or comma always go inside closing quotation marks. ("We hope to win the game," he said.) A dash, semicolon, question mark and exclamation point go inside closing quotation marks when the punctuation applies to the quotation itself and outside when it applies to the whole sentence.

When we reference the title of a book in our writing, the book’s title should appear in italics. If italic is not a formatting option, then the book’s title should be underlined. In some circumstances quotation marks can be used instead of underlining or italics.

Enclose the book title in quotation marks if you believe it is more appropriate to the overall appearance of your document. This would not apply to reference books. Book titles from books that are part of a collection would need to be underlined or in italics.

Be consistent in your style. Do not underline book titles in one section of your document, and enclose them in quotation marks in other sections of the same document.

Enclose the chapter title of a book in quotation marks. For example: My favorite chapter in the book was “Learn to Laugh.”

Use single quotation marks if the book title is contained in a quotation, and you have chosen not to use underlining or italics. For example: She said, “I loved the book ‘Where the Red Fern Grows.’"

Prior to computers, people were taught to underline titles of books and plays and to surround chapters, articles, songs, and other shorter works in quotation marks. However, here is what The Chicago Manual of Style says: When quoted in text or listed in a bibliography, titles of books, journals, plays, and other freestanding works are italicized; titles of articles, chapters, and other shorter works are set in roman and enclosed in quotation marks.

Below are some examples to help you:

Example: We read A Separate Peace in class. (title of a book)

Example: That Time magazine article, “Your Brain on Drugs,” was fascinating.
Note that the word “magazine” was not italicized because that is not part of the actual name of the publication.

Example: His article, “Death by Dessert,” appeared in The New York Times Magazine.

Note that the and magazine are both capitalized and set off because the name of the publication is The New York Times Magazine.

Newspapers, which follow The Associated Press Stylebook, have their own sets of rules because italics cannot be sent through AP computers.

If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.

A couple of generations ago, it was the custom to enclose all titles in quotation marks: titles of books, titles of poems, titles of films, titles of newspapers, and so on. This usage, however, has now largely disappeared, and the modern custom is to write most titles in italics. But in academic circles, at least, it is still usual to enclose the titles of articles in journals and magazines in quotes, as well as the titles of chapters in books — hence my reference above to Geoff Pullum's article `Punctuation and human freedom'. In British usage, however, we always use single quotes for this purpose, though American usage usually prefers double quotes here too.

It is still not exactly wrong to refer to a newspaper as `The Guardian', or to a book as `Uncle Tom's Cabin', but it is certainly old-fashioned now, and my advice is to use italics rather than quotation marks, except perhaps when you are writing by hand.

Maintained by the Department of Informatics, University of Sussex