Works that receive title case and quotations:
  • book titles
  • computer game titles
  • movie titles
  • opera titles
  • play titles
  • poem titles
  • album and song titles
  • radio and television programs titles
  • titles of lectures
  • titles of works of art

Rule: Use quotations around all works except the Bible and books used as a catalog of reference material (almanacs, directories, dictionaries, handbooks and similar publications).
  • the “CBS Evening News”
  • “Brave New World”
  • “Gone With the Wind”
  • “Mona Lisa”
  • “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”
  • Encylopaedia Britannica

Software Titles


Rule: Capitalize using the rules for composition titles, but do not use quotations around software titles.

  • Windows
  • Microsoft Office
  • WordPerfect


Smartphone and Game App Titles


Rule: Regular, non-gaming apps are not put in quotation marks, but they are capitalized according to the rules for composition titles. The word “application” is not capitalized.

  • Netflix app


Rule: Gaming apps are put into quotation marks and capitalized like composition titles.

  • “Angry Birds”


Websites and App (Non-Game) Titles


Rule: The names of most websites and apps (that are not game apps) are capitalized without quotation marks.

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Kindle app


Exception: Computer game apps require quotation marks.

  • “FarmVille”
  • “Mafia Wars”