If you need to emphasize a word or a particular fact in a sentence, you can use italics to stress it. That said, italics and other font changes lose their impact if overused. Use it sparingly and rely on strong writing and strategic word placement to get your point across.

Boldface fonts can be used sparsely to draw attention to words or short phrases, and are most often seen in business writing. Using boldface for emphasis is not appropriate for academic writing.