You may have seen some magazine titles italicized and others not. This article looks at exactly which formats use italics for magazine titles and which do not and provides examples of how to reference a magazine in each format.
If following the AP style, then magazine titles wouldn’t be italic; in Chicago and APA style, they would be italic. Therefore, whether or not to put a magazine title in italics depends entirely on the type of text and which formatting rules you are following.
As mentioned, how to write a magazine title in an essay is determined by what you are writing and which style guide you are adhering to for the text.
In an essay or paper, if the essay follows APA, MLA, or Chicago style, then you should put the magazine’s name in italics. However, you should not use it for the title of articles found within the publication.
In contrast, when you are using AP style in a paper, magazine titles are not in italics.
Most formal writing tends to follow either the Chicago, MLA, or APA rules; therefore, if you want to include a magazine title in an academic paper, it should be in italics.
The times when it wouldn’t be in italics are if you are following AP in your text; however, this style is mainly reserved for news and media outlets such as newspapers and magazines.
In APA, MLA, and Chicago formats, magazine titles are not put in quotation marks.
However, in the Chicago and MLA styles, it is necessary to put the article’s title in quotation marks. In contrast, in APA, you should not put the article’s title in quotation marks, but you should use a capital letter for the first word.
In AP style, you should not put quotation marks around the magazine title, but it is common for people to put the article title in quotation marks.
Here are some examples of how a magazine title looks in the three formats: Please note that for AP, there is conflicting information regarding the “title” of an article in a magazine. Some guides indicate that it is placed in quotation marks, whilst others suggest it isn’t. The name of the magazine, however, should not be in quotation marks in AP style.
In APA style, which is commonly used for academic writing, magazine titles are placed in italics. However, although you should capitalize the first word of the article, the remainder of the article title should not be in capitals, italics, or quotation marks.
Here is an example of an in-text citation and a reference in APA style:
In AP style, which is mainly used by media and news organizations, the titles of magazines are not in italics or quotation marks. According to some, the title of the article, if included, should go in quotation marks, but not everyone seems to follow this particular rule. Furthermore, when writing the article’s title, often in AP style, the words in the title are capitalized.
Here is an example of how a magazine title would appear in a newspaper article:
In the Chicago style, which is used mainly for academic writing, the titles of magazines should be in italics, and the title of the article should be in quotation marks. The magazine title itself should never be in quotation marks.
Here are some examples of how a magazine would look for an in-text citation and a reference list:
The MLA system follows the same rules for magazines as the Chicago style. Therefore, for MLA style, the magazine title should be italic, and the title of the article should be in quotation marks.
Regarding referencing magazines in different styles, APA, Chicago, and MLA use italics for the magazine title. However, only MLA and Chicago use quotation marks for the article title. In contrast, in AP style, most of the time, magazine titles are not in italics.
Martin holds a Master’s degree in Finance and International Business. He has six years of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and colleagues. Furthermore, he has teaching experience from Aarhus University. Martin has been featured as an expert in communication and teaching on Forbes and Shopify. Read more about Martin here.
