View source for Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Titles

{{Wikipedia:Manual of Style/titles hatnote include|where=MOS:TITLES}}
{{style-guideline|MOS:TITLE|WP:MOSTITLE|MOS:T|WP:MOST|sortkey=Titles}}
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This part of the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style|Manual of Style]] covers '''title formats and style for works of art or artifice''', such as capitalization and italics versus quotation marks.

== Italics ==
{{seealso|Wikipedia:Article titles#Italics and other formatting|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Text formatting#Italic face}}

[[Italic type]] (''text like this'', marked up with pairs of apostrophes as <code><nowiki>''text like this''</nowiki></code>) should be used for the following types of names and titles, or abbreviations thereof:

{{Anchor|Major works of art and artifice}}
===Major works===
{{shortcut|MOS:MAJORWORK|MOS:ITALICTITLE}}
* Officially named series of major works: {{xt|[[The Lord of the Rings|{{xt|''The Lord of the Rings''}}]] film series}} {{crossref|(see {{section link||Series titles}} below)}}
* Audio albums (musical or spoken-word)
* Non-generic names of major independent compositions {{crossref|(see {{section link|Wikipedia:Naming conventions (music)|Definitions{{snd}}italics}} for more detail)}}:
** Musicals, operas, operettas and other self-contained pieces of musical theatre
** Named oratorios, cantatas, motets, orchestral works, and other compositions beyond the scope of a single song or dance:
*** {{xt|Symphony No. 2 by Gustav Mahler, known as the [[Resurrection Symphony|{{xt|''Resurrection Symphony''}}]] ...}} (generic vs. non-generic name)
*** {{xt|[[Cantata (Stravinsky)|{{xt|Stravinsky's Cantata}}]] is a work for soprano, tenor, female choir, and instrumental ensemble ...}} (unnamed cantata)
*** {{xt|[[On an Overgrown Path|{{xt|''On an Overgrown Path''}}]] (Czech: ''Po zarostlém chodníčku'') is a cycle of thirteen piano pieces written by Leoš Janáček ...}} (named piano composition)
* Books, multi-volume works (e.g. encyclopedias), and booklets, but not certain revered [[religious text]]s or scriptures
* Television and radio programs, specials, shows, series and [[serial (radio and television)|serials]]
* Films (including short films) and documentaries
* Comic books, comic strips, graphic novels and manga
* Video games, board games, trading card games
* Court case names, but not [[case citation]] or [[law report]] details included with the case name: {{xt|[[Brown v. Board of Education|{{xt|''Brown v. Board of Education''}}]], 347 U.S. 483 (1954)}}{{efn|Exception: For articles on legal topics that use [[Bluebook|Bluebook legal citation]], case names are italicized in the body of the article (Bluebook Rule 2.2(a)(i)) but are in normal (Roman) type in the reference list (Bluebook Rule 2.1(a)).}}
* Named exhibitions (artistic, historical, scientific, educational, cultural, literary, etc.{{snd}}generally hosted by, or part of, an existing institution such as a museum or gallery), but not [[#Neither|large-scale exhibition events]] or [[#Quotation marks|individual exhibits]]
* Paintings, sculptures and other works of visual art with a title rather than a name {{crossref|(see [[MOS:VATITLE]] for more detail)}}
* Periodicals (newspapers, journals, magazines)
* Plays (including published screenplays and teleplays)
* Long or epic poems: {{xt|''[[Paradise Lost]]'' by [[John Milton]]}}
* Syndicated columns and other features republished regularly by others
* Titles of doctoral and master's theses and dissertations

The actual medium of publication or presentation is not a factor; a video feature only released on video tape, disc or the Internet is considered a "film" for these purposes, and likewise an e-book is a book, a webcomic is a comic strip, a music album only available from the artist on a limited-edition USB drive is a real album, a TV series only available via streaming services is still a series, etc.

{{em|Minor works}} (any specifically titled subdivisions of italicized major works) are given in quotation marks {{crossref|(see {{section link|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Text formatting|When not to use italics}} for details)}}.

{{Anchor|Italic website}}
{{Shortcut|MOS:ITALICWEBCITE|MOS:ITALICWEBSITE|MOS:WEBITALIC|MOS:WEBITALICS}}
Website titles may or may not be italicized in running text depending on the type of site and what kind of content it features. Online magazines, newspapers, and news sites with original content should generally be italicized ([[Salon (website)|{{xt|''Salon''}}]] or [[HuffPost|{{xt|''HuffPost'']]}}). Online non-user-generated encyclopedias and dictionaries should also be italicized ([[Scholarpedia|{{xt|''Scholarpedia''}}]] or [[Merriam-Webster Online|{{xt|''Merriam-Webster Online''}}]]). Other types of websites should be decided on a case-by-case basis.{{efn|When used by Wikipedia in a reference citation, any website or other online publication is being cited {{em|as a published work}}, [[Wikipedia:Reliable_sources#Definition of a source|by definition]]; Wikipedia does not cite companies, individuals, or other entities, only works published by them.  As with sources in any medium, titles of minor works (e.g., online articles) go in quotation marks, and titles of major works (e.g. websites) go in italics, even if they would not be italicized in running text as services, companies, etc.  Our [[Help:Citation style 1|citation templates]] already apply this quotation-marking and italicization automatically.  A website with no clear title other than its domain name is treated as having the minimal form of the domain name as its title (e.g., drop "www." if the URL works without it; {{crossref|printworthy=y|for more on display of domain names, see [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Linking#Link titles]]}}).  Whether the publisher name is substantially the same as the work name is immaterial; as the citation template documentation instructs, in such a case the publisher (not work) should be omitted as redundant.  Do not abuse incorrect template parameters (e.g. by putting the work title in {{para|publisher}} or {{para|via}}) in an attempt to avoid italicizing digital sources. This has been the subject of numerous consensus discussions, the most recently conclusive of which is [[WP:CITALICSRFC]] (October 2019).  Online services that are simply conduits for others' independent publishing are better coded as {{para|via}}. E.g.: {{tlx|Cite web |title{{=}}How 2021 was celebrated around the world |work{{=}}BBC News |via{{=}}YouTube |...}}; ''BBC News'' is an entire YouTube channel (i.e., a major work), and YouTube has nothing to do with its editorial creation. (That ''BBC News'' is also the title of the https://bbc.com/news website and of BBC's television and radio programming operations is irrelevant.)  A citation of the YouTube terms of service, as an [[WP:ABOUTSELF]] source regarding YouTube, would use {{para|work|YouTube}}. {{crossref|printworthy=y|See also: {{section link|WP:Citing sources#Say where you read it}}.}}}}

These cases are well-established conventions recognized in most style guides. Do not apply italics to other categories or instances because you feel they are creative or artful (e.g. game or sport moves, logical arguments, "artisanal" products, schools of practice or thought, Internet memes, aphorisms, etc.).

===Similar cases===
Some similar cases that are not titles of works include:
* Certain [[scientific name]]s: named [[gene]]s (but not proteins encoded by them); [[genus]] and lower [[taxon]]s (e.g. [[species]] and subspecies), but not higher taxa {{crossref|(See [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Text formatting#Scientific names|WP:Manual of Style/Text formatting §&thinsp;Scientific names]] for details)}}
* Specific, named transportation vehicles (but not prefixes, classifications, identifying numbers or other designations for them), including ships, spacecraft, trains, and locomotives (but not smaller conveyances such as cars or buses). Example: {{xt|USS ''Baltimore'' (CA-68), the lead ship of the ''Baltimore''-class cruisers}} {{crossref|(See [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Text formatting#Vessels|WP:Manual of Style/Text formatting §&thinsp;Vessels]] for details)}}

=== Link formatting ===
To display text in italics, enclose it in double [[apostrophe]]s.
* ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]'' is produced by italicizing around (not inside) the link: <code><nowiki>''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]''</nowiki></code>.

If the title is also a wikilink but only part of it should be italicized, use italics around or inside a [[Wikipedia:Piped link|piped link]] to properly display the title:
* ''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]'' is produced by <code><nowiki>''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]''</nowiki></code> or <code><nowiki>[[Casablanca (film)|''Casablanca'']]</nowiki></code>.
:Without piping, this wikilink would display – and incorrectly italicize – the [[WP:DISAMBIGUATION|disambiguation]] term, which is not part of the film title.

===Italicizing Wikipedia article titles===
{{further|Wikipedia:Article titles#Italics and other formatting}}
If the title of a Wikipedia article requires italicization, there are two options:
* Place {{tlx|Italic title}} at the top of the page to italicize the part of the title before the first parenthesis, as at [[Casablanca (film)|''Casablanca'' (film)]].
* Use the [[WP:DISPLAYTITLE|{{tld|DISPLAYTITLE}}]] magic word for more nuanced titles, as at [[List of Sex and the City episodes|List of ''Sex and the City'' episodes]] and [[USS Baltimore (CA-68)|USS ''Baltimore'' (CA-68)]] (''see [[Wikipedia:Page name#Changing the displayed title|WP:Page name §&thinsp;Changing the displayed title]]'' for technical details). Some [[WP:WikiProject|wikiprojects]] may provide special templates for this, and some infoboxes (e.g. {{tlx|Infobox film}}) automatically italicize the article titles.

== Quotation marks ==
{{shortcut|MOS:QUOTETITLE}}
{{about|use of quotation marks in titles of works of art or artifice|use of quotation marks generally|WP:Manual of Style#Quotation marks|section=yes}}

===Minor works===
{{shortcut|MOS:MINORWORK}}
Italics are generally [[#Italics|used only for titles of longer works]]. Titles of shorter works should be enclosed in double [[quotation mark]]s ("text like this"). It particularly applies to works that exist as a smaller part of a larger work. Examples of titles which are quoted but not italicized:

* Articles, essays, papers, or conference presentation notes (stand-alone or in a collected larger work): {{xt|"The Dos and Don'ts of Dating Online" is an article by Phil McGraw on his advice site.}}
* Chapters of a longer work (they may be labeled alternatively, e.g. sections, parts, or "books" within an actual book, etc.)
* Entries in a reference work (dictionary, encyclopedia, etc.)
* Single episodes or plot arcs of a television series or other serial audio-visual program: {{xt|"[[The Germans|{{xt|The Germans}}]]" is an episode of the television programme [[Fawlty Towers|{{xt|''Fawlty Towers''}}]]}}
* Exhibits (specific) within a larger exhibition
* Leaflets, flyers, circulars, brochures, postcards, instruction sheets, and other ephemeral publications
* Sections within a periodical, including features, departments, columns (non-syndicated), titled cartoons (not syndicated comic strips)
* Segments of a play, film, television show, etc., including named acts, skits, scenes, and the like
* Short poems: {{xt|"[[Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening|{{xt|Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening}}]]" by Robert Frost}}
* Short stories (textual or graphic): {{xt|"[[An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge|{{xt|An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge}}]]" by Ambrose Bierce}}
* Story lines that span multiple issues of a periodical
* Songs, instrumentals, arias, numbers in a musical, movements of longer musical piece, album tracks, singles, and other short musical compositions: {{xt|The Beatles' song "[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (song)|{{xt|Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band}}]]"}} appears on the album also titled ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]''
* Speeches, lectures, and conference presentations (only if given a specific title)

This convention also applies to songs, speeches, manuscripts, etc., with no known formal titles but which are conventionally referred to by lines from them as if they were titles: {{xt|Martin Luther King Jr.'s "[[I Have a Dream|{{xt|I Have a Dream}}]]" speech}}.{{efn|name=speech|1=The title given to Martin Luther King Jr.'s [[I Have a Dream|"I Have a Dream" speech]] appears in quotation marks because it quotes a line in the speech; the title given to Nixon's [[Checkers speech]] does not appear in quotation marks because it is derived from the name of a dog mentioned in the speech, rather than a passage quoted from the speech.}}

The formatting of the title of a pamphlet, which is on the divide between a booklet or short book on the one hand and a leaflet or brochure on the other{{snd}}specifically, whether to italicize the title or place it within quotation marks{{snd}}is left to editorial discretion at the article in question. Anything that has been assigned an [[ISBN]] or [[ISSN]] should be italicized. Another rule of thumb is that if the work is intended to stand alone and to be kept for later reference, or is likely to be seen as having merit as a stand-alone work, italicize it. Use quotation marks if the item is entirely ephemeral, trivial, or simply promotional of some other work or product.

The convention of [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Text formatting#Foreign terms|italicizing non-English words and phrases]] does not apply to proper names; thus, a title of a short non-English work simply receives quotation marks.

=== Additional markup ===
{{shortcut|MOS:AMU}}
If a title is enclosed in quotation marks, do not include the quotation marks in any additional formatting markup. For example, if a title in quotation marks is the subject of a Wikipedia article and therefore displayed in boldface in the [[Wikipedia:Lead section|lead section]], the quotation marks should ''not'' be in boldface because they are not part of the title itself. For further information, see [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Punctuation|Wikipedia:Manual of Style&nbsp;– Punctuation]].

Titles in quotation marks that include (or in unusual cases consist of) something that requires italicization for some other reason than being a title, e.g. a genus and species name, or a foreign-language phrase, or the name of a larger work being referred to, also use the needed italicization, inside the quotation marks: {{xt|"Ferromagnetic Material in the Eastern Red-spotted Newt ''Notophthalmus viridescens''"}} (an academic journal article containing an italicized phrase), and 
{{xt|"''Ich Bin Ein Auslander''"}} (a song with a German-language title).

== Neither ==
There are cases in which titles should not be in italics nor in quotation marks (though many are capitalized):
* Religious texts of large, well-known religions {{crossref|printworthy=y|(see details at [[#Religious texts|§&thinsp;Religious texts]], below)}}
* Legal or constitutional documents: [[temporary restraining order|{{xt|temporary restraining order}}]], [[Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms|{{xt|Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms}}]], {{xt|the [[United States Bill of Rights|{{xt|Bill of Rights}}]]}}
* Descriptive titles: a reference to or description of a work or part of a work when not using its actual title or conventional name: {{xt|137th graduation address}}, {{xt|conference [[keynote speech|{{xt|keynote speech}}]]}}, {{xt|an introductory aria}}, {{xt|Satie's [[furniture music|{{xt|furniture music}}]]}}, [[State of the Union address|{{xt|State of the Union address}}]], {{xt|Nixon's [[Checkers speech|{{xt|Checkers speech}}]]}};{{efn|name=speech}} also: {{xt|the season finale of [[Game of Thrones|{{xt|''Game of Thrones''}}]]}}, not {{!xt|the "Season Finale" of ''Game of Thrones''}} {{crossref|printworthy=y|(for media franchises such as series of books, films, etc., see {{section link||Series titles}} below)}}
** This also applies to a conventional name that refers to a specific work but is a descriptor: {{xt|[[Symphony No. 2 (Mahler)|{{xt|Symphony No. 2}}]] by Gustav Mahler}}, {{xt|Shakespeare's [[Sonnet 130|{{xt|Sonnet 130}}]]}}, {{xt|the [[Magnificat (Schütz)|{{xt|Magnificat}}]] by Schütz}}, {{xt|the Adagio sometimes attributed to [[Albinoni|{{xt|Albinoni}}]]}}
* Traditional games, sports, dances, and other activities: [[Hopscotch|{{xt|Hopscotch}}]], [[Blackjack|{{xt|Blackjack}}]], [[rugby football|{{xt|rugby football}}]], [[American football|{{xt|American football}}]], [[Viennese waltz|{{xt|Viennese waltz}}]], [[geocaching|{{xt|geocaching}}]]
* Software other than games: [[iTunes|{{xt|iTunes}}]], [[traceroute|{{xt|traceroute}}]], [[Sobig|{{xt|Sobig}}]]
* Commercial products other than media works: [[Cheerios|{{xt|Cheerios}}]], [[Toyota Sportivo Coupe|{{xt|Toyota Sportivo Coupe}}]], [[Silly Putty|{{xt|Silly Putty}}]]
* Exhibitions, concerts, and other events: {{xt|the [[world's fair|{{xt|world's fairs}}]]}}, [[Expo 2010|{{xt|Expo 2010}}]], [[Cannes Film Festival|{{xt|Cannes Film Festival}}]], [[Burning Man|{{xt|Burning Man}}]], [[Lollapalooza|{{xt|Lollapalooza}}]]
* Smaller parts of larger works when they are simply numbered sequentially, and the title appears that way in the work (or a preponderance of reliable sources about the work): {{xt|[[To Kill a Mockingbird|{{xt|''To Kill a Mockingbird''}}]], Part One, Chapter 1}}
* Names (not to be confused with titles) of some works of art such as [[illuminated manuscript]]s: {{xt|the [[Vienna Dioscorides|{{xt|Vienna Dioscorides}}]]}} (which is a copy of [[De Materia Medica (Dioscorides)|''De Materia Medica'']] by [[Dioscorides]])
* Names of [[archaeological artifact]]s, including those with inscriptions: {{xt|the [[Rosetta Stone|{{xt|Rosetta Stone}}]]}}
* Names of buildings and other structures, aside from statues (artworks).

=== Religious texts ===
{{see also|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters#Religions, deities, philosophies, doctrines, and their adherents}}
[[Religious Text|Texts]] of large, well-known religions should not normally be italicized. For example, [[Bible|{{xt|Bible}}]], [[Quran|{{xt|Quran}}]], [[Talmud|{{xt|Talmud}}]], [[Bhagavad Gita|{{xt|Bhagavad Gita}}]], [[Adi Granth|{{xt|Adi Granth}}]], [[Book of Mormon|{{xt|Book of Mormon}}]], and [[Avesta|{{xt|Avesta}}]] are not italicized. Their constituent parts, such as [[Book of Ruth|{{xt|Book of Ruth}}]], [[New Testament|{{xt|New Testament}}]], or [[Gospel of Matthew|{{xt|Gospel of Matthew}}]], are not italicized either, as such titles are generally traditional rather than original ones. However, the titles of specific published versions of religious texts should be italicized: [[Authorized King James Version|{{xt|''Authorized King James Version''}}]] and {{xt|''New Edition of the [[Babylonian Talmud|{{xt|Babylonian Talmud}}]]''}}.

Many relatively obscure spiritual works are also generally italicized, particularly if the work is not likely to be well-known to the Wikipedia reader, if the work was first published in modern times and has not undergone substantial changes, or if it might be unclear that the title refers to a book. For example, [[The Urantia Book|{{xt|''The Urantia Book''}}]], [[The Satanic Bible|{{xt|''The Satanic Bible''}}]], [[Divine Principle|{{xt|''Divine Principle''}}]], and [[Gylfaginning|{{xt|''Gylfaginning''}}]] should be italicized.

===Series titles===
{{shortcut|MOS:SERIESTITLE}}
Descriptive titles for [[media franchise]]s (including trilogies and other series of novels or films) and [[fictional universe]]s should {{em|not}} be placed in italics or quotation marks, even when based on a character or feature of the works: {{xt|the [[Sherlock Holmes|{{xt|Sherlock Holmes}}]] mysteries}}; {{xt|Tolkien's [[Middle-earth|{{xt|Middle-earth}}]] writings}}. Those with official names from the publisher are capitalized (in the singular, not in plural and other genericizing constructions), without quotation marks or italics: [[Marvel Universe|{{xt|Marvel Universe}}]], [[Marvel Cinematic Universe|{{xt|Marvel Cinematic Universe}}]], and [[DC Universe|{{xt|DC Universe}}]], but {{xt|the Marvel and DC comics universes}}.

However, the following should be set in italics:
* Actual titles of a series declared by the author or publisher: [[Les Rougon-Macquart|{{xt|''Les Rougon-Macquart''}}]], [[The Chronicles of Narnia|{{xt|''The Chronicles of Narnia''}}]]
* The name of an individual work within the series name: {{xt|the [[Star Wars (franchise)|{{xt|''Star Wars'' franchise}}]]}}, named for the ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' film; {{xt|the [[Three Colours trilogy|{{xt|''Three Colours'' trilogy}}]]}}, named for films with the prefix ''Three Colours''. Do not capitalize or italicize descriptive terms that are not part of an official series title (as with "franchise" and "trilogy" in those two examples).

For use of definite and indefinite articles at the start of a series title, apply [[#Indefinite and definite articles|the same rules as for work titles]].

== Punctuation ==
{{shortcut|MOS:TITLEPUNCT}}
Place adjacent punctuation [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Punctuation inside or outside|outside any quotation marks or italics]] unless the punctuation is part of the title itself.
* {{xt|Johnson spoke often of [[Huckleberry Finn|{{xt|''Huckleberry Finn''}}]], his favorite novel.}}&nbsp;– The comma is not part of the title and therefore is not italicized.
* {{xt|George Orwell's well-known 1946 essay in ''Horizon'', "[[Politics and the English Language|{{xt|Politics and the English Language}}]]", condemned the hypocrisy endemic in political writing and speech.}}&nbsp;– The commas are not part of the title and are therefore outside the quotation marks.
* {{xt|[[O Brother, Where Art Thou?|{{xt|''O Brother, Where Art Thou?''}}]] is a 2000 comedic film.}}&nbsp;– The comma and question mark are both part of the title and are therefore italicized.
Where subtitle punctuation is unclear (e.g. because the subtitle is given on a separate line on the cover or a poster), use a colon and a space, not a dash, comma, or other punctuation, to separate the title elements. If there are two subtitles, a [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Dashes|dash]] can be used between the second and third elements.

{{Anchor|Capitalization|Capitalisation}}
== Capital letters ==
{{For|capitalization in Wikipedia article titles|Wikipedia:Naming conventions (capitalization)}}
{{Shortcut|MOS:TITLECAPS|MOS:CAPTITLE|MOS:CAPTITLES|MOS:CT}}
For article titles that are not of English-language works, Wikipedia uses [[sentence case]]. In sentence case, generally only the first word and all [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters#Proper names|proper names]] are capitalized (this is [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Section headings|also true]] of section headings, captions, etc.{{efn|name=Sentence case|1=Wikipedia uses [[sentence case]] for sentences, [[Wikipedia:Article titles|article titles]], [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Layout|section titles]], [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Tables|table headers]], [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Images|image captions]], [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lists|list entries]] (in most cases), and entries in [[Wikipedia:Infobox|infoboxes]] and similar templates, among other things. Any instructions in MoS about the start of a sentence apply to items using sentence case, and vice versa.<!-- Please keep this footnote synched with the version at the main WP:MOS page.-->}}). Examples: [[List of selection theorems|{{xt|List of selection theorems}}]], [[Women's rights in Haiti|{{xt|Women's rights in Haiti}}]].

In titles (including subtitles, if any) of English-language works (books, poems, songs, etc.), every word except for [[Definite article|definite]] and [[indefinite article]]s, short [[coordinating conjunction]]s, and short [[preposition]]s is capitalized. This is known as {{em|[[title case]]}}. Capitalization of non-English titles varies by language {{crossref|printworthy=y|(see [[#FOREIGNTITLE|below]])}}. Wikipedia normally follows these conventions when referring to such works, whether in the name of an article or within the text.

{{section link|WP:Citing sources#Citation style}} permits the use of pre-defined, off-Wikipedia citation styles within Wikipedia, and some of these expect sentence case for certain titles (usually article and chapter titles). Title case should not be imposed on such titles under such a citation style when that style is the one consistently used in an article.

{{Shortcut|MOS:5LETTER}}
'''Always capitalized:''' When using title case, the following words {{em|should}} be capitalized:
* The first and last word of the title
* Every [[adjective]], [[adverb]], [[noun]], [[pronoun]], and [[Conjunction (grammar)#Subordinating conjunctions|subordinating conjunction]] (''Me'', ''It'', ''His'', ''If'', etc.)
* Every [[verb]], including forms of ''to be'' (''Be'', ''Am'', ''Is'', ''Are'', ''Being'', ''Was'', ''Were'', ''Been'')
* {{anchor|5LETTER}}[[List of English prepositions|Prepositions]] that contain five letters or more (''During'', ''Through'', ''About'', ''Until'', ''Below'', ''Under'', etc.) – the "'''five-letter rule'''"
* Words that have the same form as prepositions, but are not being used specifically as prepositions
** Particles of [[phrasal verb]]s{{efn|name=phrasal|1=The term "phrasal verb" has conflicting meanings. According to ''English Grammar Today'' (Carter, McCarthy, Mark, and O'Keefee, 2016, as quoted by ''Cambridge Dictionary''[https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/about-verbs/verbs-multi-word-verbs]): "Multi-word verbs are verbs which consist of a verb and one or two particles or prepositions (e.g. ''up'', ''over'', ''in'', ''down''). There are three types of multi-word verbs: phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs. Sometimes, the name 'phrasal verb' is used to refer to all three types." For capitalizing in titles, "phrasal verb" is meant in the narrow sense (of verb&nbsp;+ particle) only.}} (e.g. [[Give Up the Ghost (album)|{{xt|''Give Up the Ghost''}}]], {{xt|"[[Puttin' On the Ritz|{{xt|Puttin' On the Ritz}}]]"}})
** The first word in a [[compound preposition]] (e.g. [[Time Out of Mind|{{xt|''Time Out of Mind''}}]])

'''Not capitalized:''' For title case, the words that are {{em|not}} capitalized on Wikipedia (unless they are the first or last word of a title) are:
* [[Article (grammar)|Indefinite and definite articles]] (''a'', ''an'', ''the'')
* Short [[grammatical conjunction#Coordinating conjunctions|coordinating conjunctions]] (''and'', ''but'', ''or'', {{nobr|''nor''{{hsp}};}} also ''for'', ''yet'', ''so'' when used as conjunctions)
* [[Preposition and postposition|Prepositions]] containing four letters or fewer (''as'', ''in'', ''of'', ''on'', ''to'', ''for'', ''from'', ''into'', ''like'', ''over'', ''with'', ''upon'', etc.); but see above for instances where these words are not used as prepositions{{efn|1=Consensus discussions have sometimes concluded in favor of an exception to the five-letter preposition rule, for cases that present unique facts. See, for example, multiple discussions in the archives of [[Talk:Star Trek Into Darkness|Talk:''Star Trek Into Darkness'']], in which it was determined that the title is a play on words, with "Into" serving simultaneously as the start of a subtitle and as a mid-title preposition, and is found capitalized in almost all independent sources. An outlying case like this is not dispositive of how Wikipedia normally treats "into" in mid-title.}}
* The word ''to'' in [[infinitive]]s

Other styles exist with regard to prepositions, including three- or even two-letter rules in [[news style|news and entertainment journalism]], and many [[academic writing|academic publishers]] call for capitalization of no prepositions at all. These styles are not used on Wikipedia, including for titles of pop-culture or academic works.

Potential exceptions: Apply our five-letter rule (above) for prepositions except when a significant majority of current, reliable sources that are independent of the subject consistently capitalize, in the title of a specific work, a word that is frequently not a preposition, as in "Like" and "Past". Continue to lower-case common four-letter (or shorter) prepositions like "into" and "from".{{efn|Five-letter rule exception, for uncommon prepositions and consistent capitalization in reliable sources, on a per-topic basis, added per [[Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)/Archive 148#RFC on capitalization of prepositions|December 2018 RfC]].}}

'''{{vanchor|Hyphenation}}:''' The general rule in English is to not capitalize after a hyphen unless what follows the hyphen is itself usually capitalized (as in {{xt|post-Soviet}}). However, this rule is often ignored in titles of works. Follow the majority usage in independent, reliable sources for any given subject (e.g. [[The Out-of-Towners|{{xt|''The Out-of-Towners''}}]] but [[The History of Middle-earth|{{xt|''The History of Middle-earth''}}]]). If neither spelling is clearly dominant in sources, default to lowercase after a hyphen, per the general rule.

'''{{vanchor|Subtitles|SUBTITLE|SUBTITLES}}''': Not everything in parentheses (round brackets) is a subtitle. For titles with subtitles or parenthetical phrases, capitalize the first word of each element, even if it would not normally be capitalized, if the element is either:
* A clause that can stand alone as a title and is sometimes used that way, as a short name: {{xt|"[[(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I|{{xt|(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I}}]]"}}
* A clearly separate or alternative title, expansion, or descriptive phrase, given in parentheses or following a colon or dash: {{xt|"[[Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)|{{xt|Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)}}]]"}}, {{xt|"Linking Albinism and Immunity: The Secrets of Secretory Lysosomes"}}, [[Star Trek: The Motion Picture|{{xt|''Star Trek: The Motion Picture''}}]]
Do not capitalize a normally lower-cased word:
* In a [[dependent clause]] that does not begin the title and is not used as a stand-alone title: {{xt|"[[Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)|{{xt|Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)}}]]"}}
* After a comma: [[The Hobbit|{{xt|''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again''}}]]

{{Shortcut|MOS:INCIPIT}}'''{{vanchor|Incipits|INCIPIT|INCIPITS}}:''' If a work is known by its first line or few words of text (its {{lang|la|[[incipit]]}}), this is rendered in {{em|sentence case}}, and will often be the Wikipedia article title. Examples:
* ''[[Remember not, Lord, our offences|{{xt|Remember not, Lord, our offences}}]]'', a musical setting of an excerpted passage from a liturgical text
* {{xt|"An act to enforce the 15th amendment to the Constitution of the United States"}}, the beginning of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]] and sometimes used as a long name for it; legal incipits are often originally published in [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters#All caps and small caps|all-capitals]].

{{shortcut|MOS:FOREIGNTITLE}}'''{{vanchor|Capitalization in foreign-language titles|Capitalisation in foreign-language titles|FOREIGNTITLE|FOREIGNTITLES}}''' varies, even over time within the same language. Retain the style of the original for modern works. For historical works, follow the dominant usage in modern, English-language, reliable sources. Examples:
*[[Les Liaisons dangereuses|{{xt|{{lang|fr|Les Liaisons dangereuses}}}}]] (French; the English title is [[Dangerous Liaisons (disambiguation)|''{{xt|Dangerous Liaisons}}'']])
*[[El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha|{{xt|{{lang|es|El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha}}}}]] (Spanish; the English title is {{xt|''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha''}}, or [[Don Quixote|{{xt|''Don Quixote''}}]] for short)
*[[List of compositions by Franz Schubert by genre#Smaller sacred works|{{xt|"{{lang|de|Hymnus an den heiligen Geist}}"}}]] (German; there is no English title, though it translates as {{xt|"Hymn to the Holy Ghost"}})
Non-English titles should be wrapped in the {{tlx|lang}} template with the proper [[List of ISO 639-1 codes|ISO language code]] (the shortest available for the language or dialect in question), e.g.: <code><nowiki>"{{lang|de|Hymnus an den heiligen Geist}}"</nowiki></code>. This is done inside surrounding quotation marks, for short/minor works. Since 2017, the template automatically [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#No common usage in English|italicizes foreign material in a Latin script]], so no manual italics markup around or inside the template is needed, and should be removed if present. Such titles should be italicized as non-English regardless whether they would also be italicized as major works or not italicized as minor ones. See the template documentation for complicated markup situations, such as use within a piped link.

'''Series, franchise, and fictional universe names''': {{crossref|printworth=y|See {{section link||Series titles}}.}}

== Indefinite and definite articles ==
{{shortcut|MOS:THETITLE}}
A leading ''A'', ''An'', or ''The'' is preserved in the title of a work, including when preceded by a possessive or other construction that would eliminate the article in something other than a title, e.g.: {{xt|Stephen King's ''The Stand''}}; however, ''the'' is sometimes not part of the title itself, e.g.: [[Odyssey|{{xt|the ''Odyssey''}}]], [[Los Angeles Times|{{xt|the ''Los Angeles Times''}}]] but [[The New York Times|{{xt|''The New York Times''}}]].

The leading article may be dropped when the title is used as a modifier: {{xt|According to a ''New York Times'' article by ...}}. 

An indefinite or definite article is [[#Capital letters|capitalized]] only when at the start of a title, subtitle, or embedded title or subtitle. For example, a book chapter titled "An Examination of ''The Americans'': The Anachronisms in FX's Period Spy Drama" contains three capitalized leading articles (main title "An", embedded title "''The''", and subtitle "The").

== Translations ==
For works originally named in languages other than English, use [[WP:COMMONNAME]] to determine whether the original title or an English language version should be used as the article title. For works best known by their title in a language other than English, an English translation of that title may be helpful. If the work is also well known by an English title, give the English translation in parentheses following normal formatting for titles: {{xt|''Les Liaisons dangereuses'' (''Dangerous Liaisons'')}}. Where the work is not known by an English title, give the translation in parentheses without special formatting in sentence case: {{xt|''Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen'' (Weeping, lamenting, worrying, fearing)}}. In references, square brackets are used: {{xt|''Il Giornale dell'Architettura'' [The journal of architecture]}}.

== Typographic effects ==
{{Main|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Trademarks}}
Do not attempt (with HTML, Unicode, wikimarkup, inline images, or any other method) to emulate any purely typographic effects used in titles when giving the title in Wikipedia, though an article on a work may also include a note about how it is often styled, e.g. in marketing materials. When giving such a stylization, it is not italicized or placed in quotation marks as a title; this confuses readers, who are apt to think such markup is part of the stylization when it is not.
* Right: {{xt|'''''Alien 3''''' (stylized as ALIEN<sup>3</sup>) is a 1992 American science-fiction horror film.}}
* Wrong: {{!xt|''ALIEN<sup>3</sup>'' initially received mixed reviews from critics.}}
For typographic effects that do not represent actual mathematical or scientific usage, it is preferable to use HTML or wiki markup, not Unicode equivalents, for superscript and subscript. When giving a stylization, do not attempt to mimic specific fonts, font size quirks, uneven letter placement, coloration, letters replaced with images, unusual upper- or lower-casing, or other visual marketing {{crossref|(see [[WP:Manual of Style/Trademarks]], [[WP:Manual of Style/Capital letters]])}}.

If a stylization that readers might look for can be created as an article title, [[WP:Redirect|redirect]] it to the actual article, and include {{tlx|R from stylization}} on the redirect page: [[ALIEN³]].

[[Semantic markup]] and special characters in titles should be preserved when they convey meaning not just decoration, especially if omitting them would make the title difficult to understand or cause it to not copy-paste correctly. Examples:
* {{xt|1=According to section 4.5.28, "The <span style="font-family: monospace;">span</span> element", in ''HTML 5.2: W3C Recommendation''}}<br />This should not be done for titles inside {{cs1}} and {{cs2}} templates, however, as it will negatively affect COinS metadata output.

Quotation marks simply used as a form of title stylization on a cover are removed. They are retained within a title when reliable sourcing demonstrates they indicate an actual quotation, or [[scare quotes|sarcasm]]. If the title is put into double quotation marks as a minor work, its interior quotation marks are rendered as single quotes.{{efn|1=An unusual case is the retention of quotation marks around the entire titles of David Bowie's album {{xt|''"Heroes"''}} and single {{xt|{{"'}}Heroes{{'"}}}}. This was done because reliable sources made it clear that the markup was intentional indication of [[irony#Verbal irony|verbal irony]] by Bowie, i.e. to suggest "so-called heroes". Such typographic quirks are too subtle and inconsistently applied to qualify for [[WP:SMALLDETAILS]], so the actual article titles are disambiguated as, respectively, [["Heroes" (David Bowie album)|''"Heroes"'' (David Bowie album)]] and [["Heroes" (David Bowie song)]]. See talk page archives of these two articles for the consensus discussions that produced these special-case results, which are not indicative of how Wikipedia normally treats quotation marks around titles. See also the TV-episode article [[Marge Simpson in: "Screaming Yellow Honkers"]], the title of which would be given as {{xt|"Marge Simpson in: 'Screaming Yellow Honkers{{'"}}}} in running text.}} When giving a quoted title that begins or ends with an interior quotation mark, the templates {{tlx|"'}} and {{tlx|'"}}, respectively, can be used to [[Kerning|kern]] the double and single quotation marks apart for better readability; this should not be done inside citation templates, just in running prose. Interior quotation marks in an italicized title go within the italics.

== Typographic conformity ==
{{Main|Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Typographic conformity}}
{{Shortcut|MOS:CONFORMTITLE|MOS:TITLECONFORM}}
Generally, the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Typographic conformity|guidelines on typographic conformity in quoted material]] also apply to titles of works, including normalization of dashes and quotation marks, conversion of various emphasis techniques, cleanup of punctuation, and use of italics for things like scientific names of species.

Some special considerations:
* Inside a [[Help:Citation Style 1|citation template]], {{em|do not}} use formatting templates like {{tlx|em}} or {{tlx|lang}}, or raw HTML markup like {{tag|em}}, in the titles of the work, author(s) names, or any of [[Template:Citation Style documentation#COinS|the other parameters]] in which extended markup should be avoided. Using such code in them pollutes the [[Wikipedia:COinS|COinS]] metadata emitted by the templates, for use with [[reference management software]]. To italicize or boldface something in a title, use basic wikimarkup, e.g.: <code>{{mxt|1=<nowiki>{{</nowiki>Cite journal {{!}}title=Gray wolf (<nowiki>''Canis lupus''</nowiki>) is a natural definitive host for <nowiki>''Neospora caninum''</nowiki> {{!}}date=...<nowiki>}}</nowiki>}}</code>. It will be filtered out of the COinS metadata, as will wikilinks, but most other markup will not be.
* An entirely boldfaced, all-caps, underlined, neon-green, or otherwise stylized title in the source material is not interpreted as a form of emphasis. This includes partial titles; e.g., a newspaper might have an in-house convention for all-caps in the first part of a title and all-lowercase in a subtitle: something like {{!xt|"JOHNSON WINS RUNOFF ELECTION: incumbent leads by at least 18% as polls close"}} should be rendered on Wikipedia as {{xt|"Johnson Wins Runoff Election: Incumbent Leads by at Least 18% as Polls Close"}} or {{xt|"Johnson wins runoff election: Incumbent leads by at least 18% as polls close"}}, depending on title-case or sentence-case for periodical sources in the citation style used in the article.
* A particular specially-treated word within an otherwise plain title probably will need markup, however. In such a case, convert any such highlighting to plain wiki <nowiki>''...''</nowiki> markup in a citation template, but {{tlx|em}} markup when the title is mentioned in running text, if the intent was emphasis.  Italics used by convention to indicate a foreign expression, a legal case name, a movie title, a species scientific name, etc., are not emphasis and just take <nowiki>''...''</nowiki> markup.
* Titles of works that should be italicized receive this treatment inside another title. E.g., convert a newspaper title like {{!xt|"Ben Daniels Joins Cast of 'The Crown' for Season Three"}} to {{xt|"Ben Daniels Joins Cast of ''The Crown'' for Season Three"}}. This includes in a citation template as well as in running text.
* Abbreviations in titles of works should be left as-is, and do not need any linking or markup; if the abbreviation is contextually important, it should be treated in the main article prose.  Use of the {{tlx|abbr}} template in particular should not be done in citation templates, except in the {{para|quote}} parameter (which is free-form text and does not generate metadata).
* Do not inject {{sic}} or the template {{tlx|sic}} into a work title. If it seems important to use, do it after the title. Within a citation, it is better to use an HTML comment, e.g. {{para|title|The Compleat Gamester&lt;!--Original period spelling.--&gt;}}. Do not use the templated version of {{tlx|sic}} inside citation template data at all, except in the {{para|quote}} parameter.

== Abbreviation of long titles ==
<!-- This section is linked to from WP:Manual_of_Style/Use_sourceable_abbreviations -->
{{main|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Abbreviations}}
When it is impractical to keep repeating a long title in the same article, it is permissible to use a [[WP:Verifiability|source-attested]] abbreviation of it. This can be introduced in parentheses, with or without a parenthetical "hereafter", at an early occurrence in the page: {{xt|"It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" (hereafter "ITEOTWAWKI")}}. Some other examples include ''{{xt|OED}}'' for ''The Oxford English Dictionary'', ''{{xt|LotR}}'' for ''The Lord of the Rings'', and ''{{xt|STII:TWoK}}'' for ''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan''. It is not necessary to use [[camel case]], as in ''{{xtg|LotR}}'', unless most of the [[WP:Identifying reliable sources|reliable sources]] prefer such a spelling. Such an abbreviation need not be mentioned in the [[WP:Manual of Style/Lead section|lead section]] of the article unless the work is very commonly known by the abbreviation (e.g., ''{{xt|GTA}}'' for the ''Grand Theft Auto'' video game series), or the lead is long and the abbreviation is needed in the lead.

A common convention in literary and film reviews is to use the first major word or two from the title (or subtitle, for franchise works) in the same manner, e.g. {{xt|Roger Ebert gave ''Eternal Sunshine'' a rating of ..."}}, for ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind''. Although this approach may be also used on Wikipedia, it can seem unencyclopedically colloquial if used for works that have short titles to begin with. It is common to shorten a reference to a work in a series to just its subtitle on second and later mention, or when the context already makes it clear what the overarching title is. However, avoid this usage if confusion could occur, as when the abbreviated form could refer to another element in the same franchise that is also mentioned in our article ({{!xt|''Shannara'' adapts literary high fantasy ...}} would not work well at our article on ''[[The Shannara Chronicles]],'' because "Shannara" appears in the titles of the books on which the TV series is based). Abbreviated forms should be retained as-is in direct quotations, and may be clarified if necessary with square-bracketed editorial insertions.

In all cases, such abbreviations follow the italic or quotation-marked style of the full title.

Titles or what could be taken for titles {{em|should}} be trimmed, both in main text and in [[Wikipedia:Citing sources|reference citations]], to remove extraneous and reader-unhelpful injections. A common case is navigational website interface elements, such as [[breadcrumb (navigation)|breadcrumbs]], [[hashtag]]s, and [[keyword advertising|keyword links]] appearing in front of or after the article title {{lang|la|per se}}. Another frequent example is author, department/column, or publication names put inline with the title. Less often, a website (especially in an officially bilingual country like Canada) may include an English title and a translation in another language as a co-title. Another case is marking exclamations, e.g. "Exclusive:" or "Breaking:" at the start, though sometimes tacked on at the end {{nowrap|("... – Exclusive!")}}. Including these serves no encyclopedic or citation-verification purpose.

== Credit abbreviations ==
{{Crossref|See {{section link|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Abbreviations#Songwriting credits}}, for usage of composition and performance credit abbreviations, including "feat.", "arr.", and "trad."}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

{{Style wide}}
[[Category:Wikipedia Manual of Style (formatting)]]