Bullet lists – the six most important rules

12 October 2021

	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: Coffee Breaks 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.

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