Bullet lists – the six most important rules

Rule Example
#1 Start each bullet with a lowercase letter when the bullet completes the introductory stem. When making bullet lists, you should:
  • follow these simple rules
  • ask Language Service, if you are in doubt about the rules.
#2 Start each bullet with an uppercase letter when the bullet character is a letter or number. When writing a research paper, always remember:
  1. Coffee
  2. Breaks
  3. Correct language use
#3 Use a period (or other full stop) after every bullet that is a sentence. When making a bullet list, you should check the following:
  • Is the punctuation correct?
  • Are the sentences in parallel structures?
  • Does the bullet list create an overview?
#4 Always (as a general rule) use a period after the final bullet point (when the sentences in the bullet list are not full sentences). When making a bullet list, you should not:
  • use commas between the bullets
  • use periods after the bullets unless they are full sentences.
#5 Don’t use commas between the bullets/don’t write ’and’ or ’or’ between the two final bullets in the list. A bullet list
  • creates overview
  • can break up large blocks of text to make reading easier and
  • can be used to highlight important messages in a text.
#6 The sentences should be in parallel structures to ensure linguistic uniformity and consistency across the text. Read our language tip on parallelism.