Lars Eighner's Homepage Writers' Workshop FAQ: Q. Hmmm, I hadn't thought about this. As my word processor can do italics, I was using "real" italics. I'll make the changes...next question, How does one show underlining? Do I assume double underline? I'm thinking of a title. I was taught that book titles, for example, are underlined in print.?

Q. Hmmm, I hadn't thought about this. As my word processor can do italics, I was using "real" italics. I'll make the changes...next question, How does one show underlining? Do I assume double underline? I'm thinking of a title. I was taught that book titles, for example, are underlined in print.?

A. Book titles are not underlined in print. They are set in italics. You are taught to underline book titles so that they will be set in italics if you ever prepare material for publication. Likewise, underlining for emphasis: this was what students were taught when it was assumed they would prepare their works with typewriters. The thought was that students having learned this in school would then automatically know how to prepare work for print.

And it worked, until students got Macs.

Double underlining means small caps. Triple underlining means all caps. Wavy underlining means boldface. Writers should not use any of these except as mentioned below.

I don't know how to indicate underlining in print because this is not done in general publications. Songs, television programs, articles, and short stories are set in quotes. The distinction is between so-called major and minor works. Thus, Tommy (the whole opera) is underlined in the manuscript and set in italics in print but "Jumpin' Jack Flash," a single song is quoted. You might extend this to underline Roots (the whole miniseries) but to quote titles of particular episodes if they have titles.

The Chicago Manual of Style is as near to a standard authority on this sort of thing as we have, but for academic writing there are several different standards according to your subject and the preferences of your committee or the principal journal of your discipline.

No writer of general interest articles or fiction writer should call for material to be underlined in the printed version of the text. Italics is about the limit of typographical novelties that the author has a right to. If you work regularly for a particular publication you might know when to use boldface or small capitals, but it is really best to leave this to the editor unless he or she has specifically instructed you otherwise.

In preparing mathematics texts or other technical writing you may have occasion to want material underlined in print (as opposed to being set in italics), but in such a case you should consult an appropriate authority on how to prepare such manuscripts in your particular discipline. Often the principal journal in a particular field of study will set the de facto standard.