Student's guide to writing college papers, Fourth edition - Kate L. Turabian 2010
Titles
Titles, names, and numbers
Style
23.1 Titles
23.1.1 Spelling
23.1.2 Capitalization
23.1.3 Italics and Quotation Marks
23.2 Proper Names
23.2.1 People, Places, and Organizations
23.2.2 Historical Events and Periods
23.2.3 Other Types of Names
23.3 Numbers
23.3.1 Words or Numerals?
23.3.2 Inclusive Numbers
23.3.3 Percentages and Decimal Fractions
23.3.4 Money
23.3.5 Time
23.3.6 Addresses and Thoroughfares
23.3.7 Dates
How to Use This Chapter
This chapter is organized for your reference. Find the section that deals with a specific form or issue and follow the instructions there.
23.1 Titles
The following conventions apply when you reproduce in your text the title of a book, article, poem, film, or other work. For titles in citations, see the appropriate sections of part 2.
23.1.1 Spelling
Reproduce a title exactly as it appears in the original. Preserve the original spelling (including hyphenation) even if it departs from your dictionary or standard usage.
23.1.2 Capitalization
In your text, capitalize titles headline style. In this style, you should capitalize the first letter of all words except the following:
✵ articles ( a, an, the)
✵ coordinating conjunctions ( and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet)
✵ prepositions ( of, in, at, above, under, and so forth)
✵ the words to and as
✵ parts of proper nouns that are in lowercase (Ludwig van Beethoven, Charles de Gaulle)
✵ the second word of a hyphenated compound if it starts with a prefix (Anti-intellectual, Re-establishment)
Always capitalize the first and last words of the title and subtitle, even if they are on the list of words that are not capitalized.
The Economic Effects of the Civil War in the Mid-Atlantic States
To Have and to Hold: A Twenty-First-Century View of Marriage
All That Is True: The Life of Vincent van Gogh, 1853—1890
Four Readings of the Gospel according to Matthew
Self-Government and the Re-establishment of a New World Order
Note: The principles of capitalization have nothing to do with length. Capitalize all short words that are not on the do-not-capitalize list; use lowercase for all words that are on the list, no matter how long they might be.
For titles of works published in the eighteenth century or earlier, retain the original capitalization (and spelling), except that words spelled out in all capital letters should be given with an initial capital only.
A Treatise of morall philosophy Contaynyge the sayings of the wyse
23.1.3 Italics and Quotation Marks
Set off most titles either in italics or enclosed by quotation marks.
Italics
Most long, separately published works are printed in italics. If the first word of the title is the, do not capitalize or italicize it. Italicized works include
✵ books
Culture and Anarchy the Chicago Manual of Style
✵ plays and very long poems, especially those of book length
A Winter's Tale Dante's Inferno
✵ journals, magazines, newspapers, and other periodicals
Signs Time the Washington Post
✵ long musical compositions such as operas and albums
the Marriage of Figaro Kala by M.I.A.
✵ paintings, sculptures, and other works of art, except for photographs
Mona Lisa Michelangelo's David
✵ movies, television shows, and radio programs
Citizen Kane Sesame Street All Things Considered
Quotation Marks
Most short works are enclosed in quotation marks, especially those that are part of a larger work. Works set enclosed in quotation marks include
✵ chapters or other titled parts of books
“The Later Years”
✵ short stories, short poems, and essays
“The Dead” “The Housekeeper” “Of Books”
✵ articles or other features in journals, magazines, newspapers, and other periodicals
“The Function of Fashion in Eighteenth-Century America”
“Who Should Lead the Supreme Court?”
“Election Comes Down to the Wire”
✵ individual episodes of television series
“The Opposite”
✵ short musical compositions
“The Star-Spangled Banner”
✵ photographs
Ansel Adams's “North Dome”
Exceptions
For a few special types of titles, you should capitalize them but print them in regular type.
✵ book series
Studies in Legal History
✵ scriptures and other sacred works
the Bible
the King James Bible
the Upanishads
the Koran
Genesis
Exodus
✵ websites mentioned in your text (in citations, they are in italics)
twitter.com Salon.com aldaily.com
Do not treat terms for the parts of books as titles; do not capitalize or set them off.
your bibliography the preface to Style see chapter 4