You are not going to find a plethora of rules for using single quotation marks, since they simply are not used that frequently. Although there are not many rules, there still are rules, and you should know them in order to correctly use this handy punctuation mark.
The most common usage of the single quotation mark is when you are quoting someone within a quotation. You have probably seen this format used in different types of papers, books, interviews, newspaper stories, and so forth.
Here are some examples to make you more familiar with this primary example of the use of single quotation marks:
If your headline was the title of a short story in quotation marks, yet you had a quotation within that quotation, you would use the single quotation marks for that second piece of information. Generally, you will see this format used when the headline is in reference to someone who said something.
Sometimes you might see a word set off in a specific discipline, particularly philosophy or theology. In Britain, they generally always set these words off with single quotation marks. However, in America, some use double quotation marks and others use singular quotation marks.
If you are writing in a specific discipline, check with the guidelines of the institution or publication for which you are writing. Some common uses by the British include:
Enjoy using the single quotation mark. It can come in very handy.