Deciding when to use italics can be confusing, and the literature is not consistent. Here are our rules, and whilst you're writing for us, it's best to stick to them. But whatever you do, remember to BE CONSISTENT.
use italics
- when referring to titles of individually published works, such as books, journals and stand-alone academic papers, whether written as part of the title of an essay, within the text, in a footnote or in a bibliography, e.g. The Aeneid, or the Aeneid (whichever you prefer), Horace's Odes, Xenephon's A History of My Times
- any words or short phrases in any language other than English or Greek, e.g. a priori, inter alia, inamicis, hostis, casus belli, déjà vu
- for transliterated terms, i.e. terms from Greek that you are quoting directly, with the Greek spelling, e.g. 'For trygoidia too knows what is right' (Aristophanes, Akharnians, 500)
don't use italics
- for unnecessary emphasis
- for Greek words such as polis, hubris, nemesis