Used to mark text that should appear in italic type on output.
The intended meaning is that this element work as a toggle: if the formatting context already imposes italics (whether due to another <italic> element, a stylesheet, or some other means), then this element should turn italics off; another nested one would turn italics back on, and so on.
(#PCDATA | ext-link | related-article | inline-supplementary-material | bold | italic | monospace | overline | roman | sans-serif | sc | strike | underline | alternatives | inline-graphic | target | xref | sub | sup)*
Any combination of:
... <p align="left">The OQ was used to assess symptomotology. The OQ is a 45-item self-report outcome instrument designed for repeated measurement of client progress (in terms of symptomatology, interpersonal functioning, and social role performance). Items on the OQ are scored on a 5-point Likert scale from <italic>never</italic> (0) to <italic>almost always</italic> (4). The OQ has high internal consistency (.93), ...</p> ...
format3.ent