Italics
Italics are sloping letters used in contrast to standard ‘roman’ type. Use these for:
- book and journal titles
- full titles of acts and legal cases
- blogs
- film, television and radio titles
- plays
- artworks
- words and phrases in other languages
- formulas and mathematical theorems
- some scientific names (genus, species, infectious organisms).
Italics can also be used sparingly to show that certain text has special meaning (for example, the first instance of a technical term). Excessive use of italics affects readability, so single quote marks may be better for showing emphasis.