As a nursing student, understanding how to write a book title in an essay is essential for academic success. Whether you’re writing an essay about nursing ethics, medical procedures, or healthcare policy, you’ll inevitably need to reference books and properly format their titles. This comprehensive guide addresses the question, ‘how do you write a book title in an essay?’ following various citation styles commonly used in nursing education.
Why Proper Book Title Formatting Matters in Nursing Papers
When you write an essay for your nursing courses, proper citation is not just about avoiding plagiarism—it demonstrates your attention to detail, a critical skill in the nursing profession. The way you write the title of a book in your essay signals to your professors that you understand academic conventions and take your work seriously.
Many nursing students struggle to understand how to properly include a book title in an essay. Whether you’re writing an academic essay about nursing theory or an essay on the advantages of evidence-based practice, correctly formatting the title and author of sources is crucial. Nursing students frequently need to cite medical textbooks, nursing manuals, and healthcare research publications. Knowing how to write a book title in an essay correctly ensures your writing maintains professional standards expected in healthcare documentation.
How Do You Write a Book Title in an Essay: The Basics
No matter which style guide you follow, there are some universal principles for how to write a book title in an essay:
- Italicize or underline full-length book titles: When you write about an entire book, the title should be italicized. A book title in italics is the standard in typed essays, though a book title should be underlined when handwriting your paper.
- Capitalize properly: When you write the title of a book, capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle, as well as all major words in the title (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and some conjunctions). The last words of the title should also be capitalized, regardless of their part of speech.
- Be consistent: Choose one style guide and follow it consistently throughout your essay. This applies to how you put the title in your essay as well as how you handle the name of the author.
How to Write a Book Title in an Essay Using APA Style
Since APA is commonly used in nursing programs, let’s explore in detail how to write a book title in an essay following APA guidelines:
In-Text Citations
When you write a book title in the body of your essay using APA style, always italicize the title. For example:
In Professional Nursing: Concepts, Challenges, and Opportunities, Carol J. Huston explores the evolution of nursing education.
When citing a book title in your work, remember that neither appears on your title page but should be properly formatted within the text. If you’re wondering how to write the name of the author in an essay, typically you write the author’s last name followed by the publication year in parentheses:
Huston (2020) argues in Professional Nursing that evidence-based practice has transformed healthcare delivery.
When mentioning a book title in a sentence, maintain italics regardless of where it appears in your writing:
After reading Professional Nursing, many students reported a deeper understanding of their career path.
Reference List
In your reference list, here’s how to write a book title in an essay using APA style:
Author's Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year of Publication). Title of book: Subtitle of book. Publisher.
For example:
Huston, C. J. (2020). Professional nursing: Concepts, challenges, and opportunities (5th ed.). F.A. Davis Company.
Notice that only the first word of the title, the first word of the subtitle (after the colon), and any proper nouns are capitalized. The book title should be italicized.
How to Write a Book Title in an Essay Using MLA Style
If your nursing program requires MLA style for some assignments, here’s how to write book titles using this format:
In-Text Citations
Similar to APA, when you write the title of a book in the body of your essay using MLA style, you should italicize it:
Florence Nightingale’s Notes on Nursing remains influential in modern nursing education.
When referencing the author, you typically write the author’s last name and the page number:
The importance of sanitation in healthcare settings was emphasized early in nursing literature (Nightingale 22).
Works Cited
In your Works Cited page, here’s how to write a book title:
Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication.
For example:
Nightingale, Florence. Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not. D. Appleton and Company, 1860.
In MLA style, the book title should be italicized and use title case, where you capitalize the first word, the last word, and all principal words.
How to Write a Book Title in an Essay Using Chicago Style
Some nursing history or ethics courses might require Chicago style. Here’s how to write book titles using this format:
In-Text Citations
When you write a book title in Chicago style, you italicize it in the text:
The analysis presented in The Future of Nursing discusses the need for advanced education in the field.
Chicago style offers two documentation systems: notes-bibliography and author-date. In the notes-bibliography system, you use a superscript number in the text that corresponds to a footnote or endnote:
The Institute of Medicine’s report offered comprehensive recommendations for nursing practice.¹
Bibliography
In your bibliography, here’s how to write a book title in Chicago style:
Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.
For example:
Institute of Medicine. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2011.
Like other styles, the book title is italicized in Chicago style.
How to Write a Book Title in an Essay When It Contains Special Elements
Book Title with a Subtitle
When you write a book title that includes a subtitle, include both the main title and its subtitle, separated by a colon. Don’t condense to just part of the title:
In Nursing Research: Principles and Methods, Polit and Beck provide a comprehensive framework for conducting nursing studies.
Edited Books
When writing about an edited book in an essay, you should still italicize the book title, but make sure to indicate that it’s an edited work. This is a special kind of title that requires acknowledging multiple contributors:
Contemporary Nursing: Issues, Trends, & Management, edited by Barbara Cherry and Susan R. Jacob, addresses current challenges in the profession.
Books in a Series
If the book is part of a series, you still italicize the book title but not the series name:
Medical-Surgical Nursing from the Clinical Companion series offers practical guidance for nursing students.
Novels and Literary Works
When nursing courses require discussion of literary works, remember that a novel should be treated like any other book in an essay. For example, if analyzing healthcare portrayals in literature:
The medical ethics explored in Robin Cook’s novel Coma highlight issues still relevant to modern nursing practice.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Book Titles in Essays
As nursing students learn how to write a book title in an essay, several common errors should be avoided:
- Using quotation marks around the title: Do not put quotation marks around book titles. Quotation marks are typically used for shorter works like articles or chapters, not for entire books.
- Inconsistent formatting: Don’t italicize some book titles but underline others in the same essay. Pick one approach and be consistent.
- Incorrect capitalization: Pay attention to the capitalization rules for the style guide you’re following, especially regarding major words in the title.
- Forgetting to italicize: Many students forget to italicize book titles, especially when typing or handwriting the essay quickly.
- Incorrect title and author formatting: When including both the book title and author’s name, maintain proper formatting for each—italicize the title but not the author’s name.
- Improper handling of titles if they are followed by additional information: Maintain proper formatting even when a title is followed by page numbers or other citation elements.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I properly cite book titles in quotation marks in my nursing essay?
You should not cite book titles in quotation marks in your nursing essay. Instead, book titles should be italicized according to APA, MLA, and Chicago style guidelines. Quotation marks are reserved for shorter works like journal articles, book chapters, or essays within a larger collection.
What is the correct way to format the first word of the title when writing about multiple books?
When writing about multiple books in your nursing paper, always capitalize the first word of the title of each book, regardless of which style guide you’re following. This remains consistent even when listing several book titles consecutively in the same sentence or paragraph.
How should I handle book names when typing or handwriting my essay?
When typing your essay, always italicize book names. If you’re handwriting your essay and cannot italicize, underline the book title instead. This underlined text serves as the handwritten equivalent of italics and indicates to your reader that you’re referring to the title of a book.
Should a book title be condensed to its main title when space is limited in my essay?
In academic nursing essays, you should not condense a book title to just its main title if it has a subtitle. The work’s title and its subtitle should be included and separated by a colon. If you must reference the book multiple times, you may use a shortened version of the title after the first full mention, but never eliminate important identifying information from the title.