Bulleted Lists

A bullet list of rules about bullet lists:

• Use plain bullet points rather than decorative and distracting points.

• Do not use more than one sentence per bullet point - use commas or dashes to expand on an item.

• Do not put “or” or “and” after the bullets.

• If any item in a list forms a complete sentence, all items must begin with a capital letter and end with a terminal punctuation mark.

• If no items in a list form a complete sentence, skip the capitalization and terminal punctuation.

• Place a colon after the lead-in to clarify the link between the lead-in and the bulleted points.

• Leave a line space between the colon and the first bullet point.

Complete Sentence Bulleted List Example

The committee came to two important conclusions:

• Officers from the department should investigate the feasibility of legislated guidelines.

• Research should be funded in three priority areas.

Sentence Fragments Bulleted List Example

Assistance is available in several forms:

• monetary

• equipment or environmental modifications

• advisory services