Punctuation of Bullet Lists

Punctuating Bullet Lists is Widely Misunderstood

Everyone uses bullet lists (vertical lists in which the order of listed items doesn’t matter and items are preceded by the same mark, usually a “•”). They’ve become increasingly popular as data and content explode. Business writers rely heavily on lists to grab readers’ attention and convey information quickly. Despite their utility, writers often ignore or misunderstand proper punctuation of bullet lists. As an editor I’ve witnessed first-hand how this problem regularly embarrasses business writers. Incorrect punctuation of bullet lists is a distraction and bad for readability and your message.

Here are some simple rules to help you get it right.

Intro Statement

How should you punctuate the transition from introductory text (lead-in statement) to the list—with a comma, a colon, or nothing? If your lead-in text is a complete sentence, use a colon. If the lead-in is a sentence fragment, you can omit the colon, or use it. It’s up to you—either is okay. Never use a comma between your lead-in and the bulleted items.

Capitalization

Should the first word of bullet-list items be capitalized? As a general rule, yes. Especially when the lead-in transition is a colon. Also, when any of your list items are complete sentences, capitalize the first letter of all items in the list. Exception: if all list items are one or two words or short sentence fragments, it’s ok to not capitalize the first letter—it’s a style choice. My preference is to always capitalize the first letter of all list items for the sake of consistency; also, without a capital letter to start list items look unfinished or out of place.

End Punctuation

How are list items punctuated at the end? It depends. Whether to place periods or other terminal punctuation at the end of bullet-listed statements is widely misunderstood, but it’s not that complicated:

“If you begin each item with a lowercase letter, put a semicolon at the end of each item, use and after the next-to-last item, and put a period after the last item.”

Consistency

It’s very important that punctuation of each bullet item be consistent through the whole list. All list items should be punctuated the same way. They either all start with a capital letter, or they don’t. They all have terminal punctuation, or none do. Never mix some items with periods and some without, or only some starting with capital letters.

The structure/style of each list item should be the same. For example, to the extent possible, all list items should be either full sentences or fragments. While a mix is okay, it should be avoided when possible (sometimes it’s just not possible). If one list item starts with a noun, all others should start the same way.

Examples — Correct Punctuation of Bullet Lists

Below is a list that calls for capital letters and periods—all items are complete sentences:

I have traveled to the other side of the planet and seen wonderful things:

Below is an example of a bullet list that doesn’t require capital letters or terminal punctuation—all items are short sentence fragments:

The parties are interested in determining whether the services can be:

The same list could also properly appear as follows:

The parties are interested in determining whether the services can be:

Applying Garner’s rule, this list would appear as follows—items start with lowercase letters:

The parties are interested in determining whether the services can be:

Under Garner’s rule, the first list above is properly presented this way:

I have traveled to the other side of the planet and seen wonderful things, including:

These are basic guidelines for punctuation of bullet lists in business writing. To learn more, consult style and usage guides like The Chicago Manual of Style, Garner’s Modern American Usage, and The Gregg Reference Manual.