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The title is usually prominently displayed in the work, often near the author. If the title has a subtitle, include it after the main title.
For titles and subtitles, capitalize the first word, the last word, and all principal words, including those that follow hyphens in compound terms.
Use a colon and a space to separate title and subtitle, unless the title ends in a question mark or exclamation point. Include other punctuation only if it is part of the title or subtitle.
A title is placed in quotation marks if the source is part of a larger work. A title is italicized (or underlined if italics are unavailable) if the source is self-contained independent.
A book is a whole unto itself. This means that the title is set in italics.
A collection of essays, stories, or poems by various authors is also a whole unto itself. This means this title is also in italics.
Gorman, Amanda. Call Us What We Carry: Poems. Viking Books, 2021.
Han, Jenny. The Summer I Turned Pretty. Simon & Schuster, 2009.
O'Connor, Flannery. The Complete Stories. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1971.
An essay, story, or poem in a collection is part of a larger whole. A journal article is also part of a large whole (the entire journal). This means the title should be placed in quotation marks.
But when a work that is normally independent (such as a novel or play) appears in a collection, the work's title remains in italics.
Higgins, David M. "Survivance in Indigenous Science Fictions: Vizenor, Silko, Glancy, and the Rejection of Imperial Victimry." Extrapolation, vol. 57, no. 1-2, 2016, pp. 51-72. Gale Literature Resource Center, http://dx.doi.org/10.3828/extr.2016.5.
Oliver, Mary. "Lines Written in the Days of Growing Darkness." A Thousand Mornings, 2013, pp. 27-28.
Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest. 1989. The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde: Stories, Plays, Poems, & Essays, Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2008, pp. 321-384.
Very long titles may be shortened in a works cited entry. Include enough of the title to make it easy to identify from other sources, and use ellipses to indicate the title has been shortened.
If a period or comma is needed to mark the end of an element, insert it after the ellipses.
Fadiman, Anne. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.... Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997.
Saltz, Jerry. Art is Life: Icons and Iconoclasts.... Riverhead Books, 2022, pp. 78-80.
To cite an introduction, preface, foreword, afterword, or other section of a work that is titled only with a generic label, capitalize the label just as you would a title but do not italicize it or enclose it in quotation marks.
If a unique title is available, generally only give the unique title, enclosed in quotation marks. You may include the generic label when available if you think it will be important to the reader.
Gifford, James. Introduction. The Picture of Dorian Gray. 1890. By Oscar Wilde, U of Victoria, 2011, pp. i-xii.
Seyhan, Azade. "Novel Moves." Introduction. Tales of Crossed Destinies: The Modern Turkish Novel in a Comparative Context, by Seyhan, Modern Language Association of America, 2008, pp. 1-22.
If a work does not have a title, you can use a description in the title element. Capitalize the first word of the description, capitalize proper nouns, and use punctuation when necessary. Do not enclose the description in quotation marks or italicize it.
In some cases, using text from the work itself is the clearest way to identify an untitled work, such as with untitled poems.
When a social media post consists entirely of a photograph or video, provide a description for a title. You can also provide a description in place of text from the post itself when your discussion focuses on a nontextual part of the post.
Nduke, Uche. "When shall your wounds." Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/58666/untitled-when-shall-your-wounds.
NPR. Photograph of Allie Young, a Diné woman on the Navajo Nation in Arizona, who is riding on horseback to the polls on Election Day. Twitter, 13 Nov. 2020, twitter.com/NPR/status/1327361180357300224?s=20.
Ury, Claude. Review of Erasing the Finish Line: The New Blueprint for Success Beyond Grades and College Admission, by Ana Homayoun. Library Journal, 2 Sept. 2023, www.libraryjournal.com/review/erasing-the-finish-line-the-new-blueprint-for-success-beyond-grades-and-college-admission-1800363.