5.1.3.1 Punctuation

Title pages often omit punctuation for reasons of design, spacing, or visual effect. When citing a book, add the punctuation needed to make the title clear and readable. In general, separate a title and subtitle with a colon mark, regardless of how the title appears on the title page and regardless of the language of the work. Do not use a period, comma, semicolon, or dash for this purpose unless the title itself requires it. Avoid adding a colon mark after a question mark or exclamation point, since that would create awkward double punctuation.

Use a comma before a range of years at the end of a title unless the title page places the dates in parentheses. When two or more separate works are published together in a single volume, separate their titles with semicolons. Dashes that are part of the original title should be retained.