Italics are used to highlight or emphasise text:

He was the only juror in the twelve-member panel to reject the defendant’s claims.

As a general rule, use italics sparingly, as blocks of italics are difficult to read, especially on screen. For this reason, quotes that run over several lines are not set in italics. (see ‘long quotes’)

Italics are also used in the following conventions:

• Titles of works including books, journals, newspapers, plays and long poems, films, videos, television and radio programs:
  •   Sydney Morning Herald   Pride and Prejudice   MasterChef episode

Do not use italics for titles of articles, chapters or essays; instead use quotation marks.

• Specific names of ships, aircraft and other vehicles:
  •   HMAS Adelaide   Orient Express
• Scientific names of plants and animals:
  •   Eucalyptus haemastoma (broad-leaved scribbly gum)
• Works of art
  •   van Goh’s Starry Night
• Legislation and legal cases
  •   The Government Information (Public Access Act) 2009 (NSW)   Noh v Davies (2012)
• Foreign words that have not been absorbed into the English language:
  
  • ‘Silenzioso!’, Guiseppe whispered. He pointed to the path ahead where a large male boar was snuffling through the leaves. ‘Cinghiale!’
  • ‘You look gorgeous. You’ll be the belle of the ball!’ (belle, a French word, has been absorbed into English so is not italicised)