When referencing a newspaper in print, academic writing, or online content, the title requires specific formatting to distinguish it from the surrounding text. While the visual presentation differs between handwriting, digital documents, and web publishing, the underlying grammatical principle remains consistent: the newspaper title is a standalone creative work.
The Core Principle: Italicization
The primary rule for punctuating newspaper titles is to italicize the entire name. This typographical treatment signals to the reader that the phrase represents a distinct publication, rather than a casual reference to the act of reading. For example, *The New York Times* and *The Guardian* are both presented as self-contained entities. This standard applies universally across major style guides, including the Associated Press (AP) for journalism and the Chicago Manual of Style for general publishing.
Associated Press (AP) Style Specifics
While italics are the gold standard in book publishing and academic writing, the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook—often used by journalists and public relations professionals—traditionally advocated for underlining newspaper titles when produced on typewriters or systems lacking italics capability. In the modern digital age, where most text is created directly in word processors or content management systems, AP style now aligns with standard publishing practices and expects italicization. Therefore, whether you are writing for a global news outlet or a university publication, you should format the title of the paper as The Washington Post.
Punctuation Within the Title
The rules for internal punctuation within the newspaper title itself are fixed and must be preserved exactly as the publication dictates. This includes commas, apostrophes, ampersands, and colons. When you italicize the title, you italicize these elements as part of the complete brand. For instance, the possessive apostrophe in the *Los Angeles Times* or the ampersand in the *Boston Globe* are integral parts of the title and are never altered or omitted during the punctuation process.
| Publication Name | Key Punctuation Feature |
|---|---|
| The New York Times | Comma within the title |
| Los Angeles Times | Implies "City of"; no comma in official title |
| The Guardian | Standard capitalization |
| The Washington Post | Definite article "The" |
| The Wall Street Journal | Standard capitalization |
| USA Today | Standard capitalization (not U.S.A. Today) |
Contextual Variations: Quotation Marks and Handwriting
In scenarios where italics are technically impossible—such as when writing by hand or filling out a form that does not support formatting—the title should be underlined. This serves as a direct visual proxy for italics. Conversely, quotation marks are generally reserved for shorter works, such as articles, chapters, or poems. Because a newspaper is a large, self-contained publication, quotation marks are incorrect and should be avoided to maintain professional tone.
Capitalization and Formatting Rules
Capitalize the major words in the newspaper title, following standard title case rules. This means the first letter of the first word, the last word, and every noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, and adverb should be uppercase. Articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or), and prepositions (in, on, of) are typically lowercase unless they are the first or last word of the title. When in doubt about the specific style guide of the publication you are submitting to, default to sentence case for safety, but title case is the expected norm for formal references.
Integrating the Title into Your Sentence
Once the title is properly punctuated, the surrounding sentence grammar adapts to accommodate the italicized element. If the title appears at the end of the sentence, the period that concludes the sentence follows the closing italics tag. For example: "I read the analysis in *The Wall Street Journal*." Conversely, if the sentence structure places the title in the middle, you do not add an extra comma after the closing italics tag unless the grammar of the sentence demands it for clarity.
