Cut to the Core

How to Correctly Refer to Your Work

When Does a Title Belong in Italics? When Does It Need Quotation Marks?

 

This month, Kore colleagues realized their goal of publishing a blog and some blog-related materials. The non-editor team member (yours truly) started to put every reference to the blog, Cut to the Core, in both italics and quotation marks. Here is the short lesson I learned about how to cite your work correctly:

The major title of any work should be in italics: e.g., titles of books, titles of journals, titles of magazines, titles of brochures.

 

The internal titles of those works should be in quotation marks: e.g., titles of chapters in books, titles of articles in journals or magazines, titles of individual sections in a brochure.

Here's the caveat, however. Italics and/or quotation marks do not have to be used for these titles in their original use in the original document. They should be used, though, when the titles are referred to in other places: e.g., individual paragraphs, other articles, other documents. 

 Do you need to review your marketing materials for correct punctuation and grammar? Call or e-mail to get a review and a free quote for the editing of your marketing materials – click here.

Shades of Meaning: Tips to Communicate Clearly

Because the purpose of your words is to convey a certain point, structure your sentences such that each word serves its purpose well and fits into the word sequence in a way that fully develops your intended meaning. Example: In this month’s “8 Reasons to Use a Case Study,” an Express Knowledge report, point #1 was edited as follows:

Original Sentence:

Establish Trust: Earn credibility through a third-party testimonial that shares the characteristics of your targeted reader.

Edited Sentence:

Establish Trust: Earn credibility through a third-party testimonials that emphasize that shares the characteristics they share with of your targeted reader.

Final Sentence:

Establish Trust: Earn credibility through third-party testimonials that emphasize characteristics they share with your targeted reader.

Would your client and prospects understanding increase if you edited your meanings for clarity?Call or e-mail to get a review and free quote for the editing of your marketing materials – click here.