Editing Encyclopedia:Manual of Style (section)

==Italics==
{{Shortcut|MOS:IT|MOS:ITAL}}
{{Main|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Text formatting#Italic type}}

===Emphasis<span id="Do not use capitals for emphasis"></span>===
{{Main|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Text formatting#Emphasis}}

Italics are used for emphasis, rather than [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Text formatting#Boldface|boldface]] or [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters#All caps and small caps|capitals]]. But overuse diminishes its effect: consider rewriting instead.

Use {{tag|em}} or {{tlx|em|...}} for emphasis. This allows [[Help:User style|user style sheets]] to handle emphasis in a customized way, and helps reusers and translators.{{refn|{{cite web |last1=Ishida |first1=Richard |title=Using b and i elements |quote=the content of a <code>b</code> element may not always be bold, and that of an <code>i</code> element may not always be italic. |url=https://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-b-and-i-tags |website=W3C Internationalization |publisher=[[World Wide Web Consortium]] |date=2015 |access-date=1 September 2016}} }}
*Correct: <code>{{mxt|<nowiki>The meerkat is <em>not</em> actually a cat.</nowiki>}}</code>
*Correct: <code>{{mxt|<nowiki>The meerkat is {{em|not}} actually a cat.</nowiki>}}</code>

===Titles<span id="Italics-Titles"></span>===
{{/titles hatnote include|where=MOS#I-T}}
{{shortcut|MOS:NOITALIC}}
Use italics for the titles of works (such as books, films, television series, named exhibitions, computer games, music albums, and artworks). The titles of articles, chapters, songs, episodes, storylines, research papers and other short works instead take double quotation marks.

Italics are not used for major religious works ({{xt|the Bible}}, {{xt|the Quran}}, {{xt|the Talmud}}).
Many of these titles should also be in [[#Titles of works|title case]].

===Words as words===
{{Main|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Text formatting#Words as words}}
{{for|the policy when a word or phrase itself may be an encyclopedic subject|WP:WORDISSUBJECT}}

Use italics when {{em|mentioning}} a word or character {{crossref|pw=y|(see [[Use–mention distinction]])}} or a string of words up to one sentence ({{xt|the term ''panning'' is derived from ''panorama''}}; {{xt|the most common letter in English is ''e''}}). When a whole sentence is mentioned, double quotation marks may be used instead, with consistency ({{xt|The preposition in ''She sat on the chair'' is ''on''}}; or {{xt|The preposition in "She sat on the chair" is "on"}}). Quotation marks may also be used for shorter material to avoid confusion, such as when italics are already heavily used in the page for another purpose (e.g., for many non-English words and phrases). {{em|Mentioning}} (to discuss grammar, wording, punctuation, etc.) is different from {{em|quoting}} (in which something is usually expressed on behalf of a quoted source). Quotation is done with quotation marks, never italics, nor both at once {{crossref|pw=y|(see {{section link||Quotations}} for details).}}

A closely related use of italics is when introducing or distinguishing terms: {{xt|The ''natural numbers'' are the integers greater than 0.}}

===Non-English words <span class="anchor" id="Foreign words"></span> ===
{{Main|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Text formatting#Non-English terms}}
Italics are indicated for non-English phrases and isolated non-English words that are not commonly used in everyday English. However, proper names (such as place names) in other languages are not usually italicized, nor are terms in non-Latin scripts. The {{tlx|lang}} template and its variants support all [[ISO 639]] language codes, correctly identifying the language and automatically italicizing for you. Please use these templates rather than just manually italicizing non-English material. {{crossref|pw=y|(See {{section link|WP:Manual of Style/Accessibility#Other languages}} for more information.)}}

===Scientific names===
Use italics for the scientific names of plants, animals, and [[Kingdom (biology)|all other organisms]] except viruses at the [[genus]] level and below (italicize {{xt|''Panthera leo''}} and {{xt|''Retroviridae''}}, but not {{xt|Felidae}}). The hybrid sign is not italicized ({{xt|''Rosa''&nbsp;×&nbsp;''damascena''}}), nor is the "connecting term" required in [[Trinomial nomenclature#In botany|three-part botanical names]] ({{xt|''Rosa gallica'' subsp. ''officinalis''}}).

===Quotations in italics<span id="Italics and quotations"></span>===
{{shortcut|MOS:NOITALQUOTE|MOS:ITALQUOTE}}{{See also|#Quotations}}

<section begin="Quotations in italics body"/>Do not put quotations in italics. [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Quotation marks|Quotation marks]] (or [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Block quotations|block quoting]]) alone are sufficient and the correct ways to denote quotations. Italics should only be used if the quoted material would otherwise call for italics.<section end="Quotations in italics body"/> ([[#Italics within quotations|See below]].)

===Italics within quotations===
<section begin="Italics within quotations body"/>Use italics within quotations to reproduce emphasis that exists in the source material or to indicate the use of non-English words. The emphasis is better done with {{tlx|em}}. If it is not clear that the source already included italics (or some other styling) for emphasis, or to indicate when emphasis was not used in the original text but was editorially added later, add the editorial note {{xt|[emphasis in original]}} or {{xt|[emphasis added]}}, respectively, after the quotation.
* For example: {{xt|"Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince: And {{em|flights of angels}} sing thee to thy rest." [emphasis in original].}}<section end="Italics within quotations body"/>

===Effect on nearby punctuation===
{{Shortcut|MOS:ITALPUNCT}}

Italicize only the elements of the sentence affected by the emphasis. Do not italicize surrounding punctuation.
*{{em|Incorrect:}} {{!xt|What are we to make of {{em|that?}}}} (The question mark applies to the whole sentence, not just to the emphasized ''that'', so it should not be italicized.)
*{{em|Correct:}} {{xt|What are we to make of {{em|that}}?}}
*{{em|Correct:}} {{xt|Four of Patrick White's most famous novels are ''A Fringe of Leaves'', ''The Aunt's Story'', ''Voss'', and ''The Tree of Man''.}} (The commas, the period, and the word ''and'' are not italicized.)