Is New York Times Italicized? (APA, AP, MLA, and Chicago)

Many people are unsure how to cite the New York Times in a paper, and it can be confusing to understand the different formats. This article explains the correct method of how to write the New York Times in a paper or a piece of formal writing.

Is New York Times Italicized?

The newspaper title should always be in italics when including a citation for the New York Times in an essay that follows APA, Chicago, or MLA styles. The individual stories should be in quotation marks and not italics. For AP Style, the NY Times is not in italics or quotes.

When you include the New York Times in a piece of formal writing, you should use italics for both in-text citations and on the reference page.

For MLA and Chicago styles, the specific stories from the newspaper should be in quotation marks, not italics.

Here are some examples of citations for the NY Times:

APA Style

• The theme of the article is how global warming affects carbon in soil (Popkin, 2020)
• Popkin (2020) discusses how global warming affects carbon in the soil.
• Popkin, G. (2020, August 12^th). Global warming could unlock carbon from tropical soil. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/climate/tropical-soils-climate-change.html

MLA Style

• The theme of the article is how global warming affects carbon in soil (Popkin)
• Popkin discusses how global warming affects carbon in the soil.
• Popkin, Gabriel. “Global Warming Could Unlock Carbon from Tropical Soil.” The New York Times, 12 August. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/climate/tropical-soils-climate-change.html

Chicago Style

• Sokol (2017) questions whether the memory of Martin Luther King is still alive today.
• The article deals with the controversial topic of Martin Luther King (Sokol, 2017)
• Jason Sokol, “Which M.L.K Are We Celebrating Today?” The New York Times, Jan 16^th, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/opinion/which-martin-luther-king-are-we-celebrating-today.html

Is New York Times Quoted?

When citing the New York Times in a formal paper that follows either APA, MLA, or Chicago Style, you should not use quotation marks for the title of the newspaper. The time when you would use quotation marks in these styles is when you are referencing an individual article in the NY Times.

However, when referring to the NY Times in an AP Style document, you should not use quotation marks for the newspaper’s title, but you should use them for the name of an article.

Here are some examples of how the New York Times appears in AP Style:

• Donald Trump criticizes the New York Times on an almost daily basis.
• An article that appeared in the New York Times entitled “How to survive the new climate norm” describes the dangers posed by climate change.

Is New York Times Underlined?

When citing the New York Times in a piece of academic writing, you should not underline the title of the newspaper.

Historically, before word processors became commonplace, underlining parts of an article or text was usually done to highlight that the underlined words needed to be in italics.

Therefore, in modern writing, where you can use italics, it is unnecessary to underline titles such as the New York Times.

Is New York Times Italicized in APA Style?

If you are referring to the New York Times in an APA Style document, you should use italics for the newspaper’s title. However, individual stories found inside the paper are not in italics.

Furthermore, when using an in-text citation from an article in the New York Times, you should simply reference the author of the article and year rather than the publication.

Here are some examples of a New York Times reference in APA Style:

• Haberman (2022) discusses the recent FBI raid on Donald Trump’s residence Mar-a-Lago.
• It is apparent that someone informed the FBI concerning the missing documents (Haberman, 2022).
• Haberman, M. (2022, August 17^th). FBI Interviewed Top White House Lawyers About Missing Documents. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/16/us/politics/trump-cipollone-philbin-interviews-fbi.html

Is New York Times Italicized in AP Style?

You should not use italics for any part of the citation when citing references for the New York Times or any other newspaper in AP Style.

In AP Style, you should use quotation marks if you mention individual pieces of work like songs and books; however, you do not need to add anything for newspaper titles.

Here are some examples of how the New York Times would look in an AP Style article:

• The two most prominent left-leaning newspapers in the world are the New York Times and the Guardian.
• In a recent New York Times article entitled “Are you at peace?”, the author examines personal satisfaction levels in modern society.

Is New York Times Italicized in Chicago Style?

When citing the New York Times in an essay that uses Chicago Style, you should always put the newspaper name in italics.

Furthermore, the individual stories from the newspaper should be placed in quotation marks, not italics. When referencing stories from the NY Times in-text, you should include the author of the article and the year of publication.

Here are some examples of how a New York Times citation looks in Chicago Style:

• Haberman (2022) discusses the recent FBI raid on Donald Trump’s residence Mar-a-Lago.
• It is apparent that someone informed the FBI concerning the missing documents (Haberman, 2022).
• Maggie Haberman. “FBI Interviewed Top White House Lawyers About Missing Documents.” The New York Times, Aug 17^th, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/16/us/politics/trump-cipollone-philbin-interviews-fbi.html

Is New York Times Italicized in MLA Style?

When referring to the New York Times in an MLA Style document, you should use italics for the newspaper’s name and quotation marks for the specific stories it contains. For an in-text citation, you only need to refer to the article’s author.

Here are some examples of how a New York Times reference looks in MLA:

• Haberman discusses the recent FBI raid on Donald Trump’s residence Mar-a-Lago.
• It is apparent that someone informed the FBI concerning the missing documents (Haberman).
• Haberman, Maggie. “FBI Interviewed Top White House Lawyers About Missing Documents.” The New York Times, 17^th August. 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/16/us/politics/trump-cipollone-philbin-interviews-fbi.html

Final Thoughts

When citing the New York Times in MLA, APA, and Chicago styles, you should use italics for the newspaper’s title and quotation marks for individual stories contained in the paper. However, for AP style, you would not use italics or quotation marks for the New York Times.