Italics are letters that slant slightly to the right. When using a word processor (like Microsoft Word) italicized words generally look like this: 

This sentence is in italics. 

Italics should be used consistently in your writing. In general, italics are used to identify the title of a major publication (such as a book, newspaper, or magazine), for emphasis, for scientific or technical words, and for foreign words. 

Titles

The titles of major literary works should be italicized. This includes textbooks, fiction or nonfiction books, newspapers, magazines, academic journals, films, epic poems, plays, operas, musical albums, television shows, movies, works of art, and the names of legal cases. 

• My favorite book is July's People by Nadine Gordimer. 
• I read The New York Times to keep up with the political debates. 
• I have every Taylor Swift album except Today Was a Fairytale. 
• The 1976 version of the movie Carrie was much scarier than the newer version. 
• Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey are my two favorite epic poems. 
• The Scream by Edvard Munch is a well-known painting.

Keep in mind that smaller published works, such as an individual article from a newspaper/magazine/journal, or a single poem, should be set in quotation marks. For example: 

• The magazine Southern Living published an interesting article on traveling in the U.S. called "The South's Best Roadside Attractions" in the November, 2015 edition. 

Emphasis

When you need to emphasize a word you can use italics to make it stand out. Sometimes, emphasizing certain words gives the sentence a sarcastic tone. It can also emphasize a fact as true. Let's review some examples. 

• She only wants to make 100% on every test. 
• If they are offended, then that’s their problem.
• These are the files we need. 

Scientific or Technical Terms

Italics are often used in scientific and mathematical writing. Algebraic equations are usually italicized. The scientific (Latin) names of species are also italicized. Here are some examples. 

• Slope is found by calculating y=mx+b.
• Several more Homo sapiens fossils were discovered recently.
• The scientific name for the house sparrow is Passer domesticus. 

Foreign Languages

Words in foreign languages should also be italicized. Here are a couple of examples. 

• In an interview, Julia Alvarez once said, “What I can’t push as successfully out of sight are my own immigrant childhood fears of having a gringa stepmother with foreign tastes in our house."
• I was at the coffee shop when a man approached me and said, “Como esta?” like he knew me, but I don't speak Spanish. 

The only exceptions are words that have been integrated into English like cliché, patio, and karate. Otherwise, foreign words should be italicized. 

Bubo scandiacus

The species name is italicized because species names are in Latin.