Easy Guide to Useful Bullet ‘n Numbered Lists

Efficiency, clarity, and simplicity: these are the benefits to be enjoyed by a good, well-placed bullet list.

(Hey, this post is about lists in essays, theses, reports, and so on, not PowerPoint. I’ll do a post on PowerPoint lists later.)

Placement Comes First

A useful bullet or numbered list is fully integrated into the document as a whole. It’s not meant to replace regular text but to break out from the paragraph structure to stress something that is better understood as a list. However, it must also make sense all on its own.

Take the following:

• Lem
• Shakespeare
• Penny
• Austin

Yeah, that’s just four random names, or worse, four random words. Basically, it’s useless.

(BTW, it’s my favorite authors, so it means something to me but not to the reader).

So, the first rule of bullet lists is to make sure they actually help the reader by correctly positioning them in the text.

Do You Really Need This List?

First and absolutely foremost, only use a bullet/numbered list if your main text is dense, meaning it’s full of information. You’re acknowledging the reader may have trouble keeping all the facts straight. It can be great as a summary, a to-do list, a series of steps, and so on. It’s not meant to pad out your page count or check off easy items.

So the following is just fine:

Sally went to the store to buy windshield wiper blades, a used alternator, and a Panhard rod.

It’s not made better with a bullet list.

Sally went to the store to buy:

• windshield wiper blades;
• a used alternator; and
• a Panhard rod.

However, say I’m doing a report on how a small retail business will benefit from the services of my supply company. After ten pages of statistical analysis, RBI estimates, scope of work and timeline discussion, a breakdown of my qualifications, a slew of testimonials, and reassurances about quality work, a bullet list might be a great thing on the last page just to punch up the highlights and remind the prospective client about what I said.

Bullet vs. Numbered Lists

The difference between a bullet list and a numbered list is a little more than just that one uses bullets and the other, well, numbers.

A numbered list is to be used only when the sequence matters in terms of time or importance. For example, if you’re explaining how to bake a cake, the sequence is critical.

1. Stir ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Pour into a buttered cake pan.
3. Bake at 375F for 20 minutes.
4. Allow to cool in pan before turning out onto a rack.

The same applies if you’re explaining military rank in the US Navy from lowest to highest.

1. Ensign
2. Lieutenant Junior Grade
3. Lieutenant
4. Lieutenant Commander
5. Commander
6. Captain
7. Rear Admiral Lower Half
8. Rear Admiral Upper Half
9. Vice Admiral
10. Admiral

If you’re just making a list with no particular order, numbers should not be used because they will give the impression of a sequence or rank. (See Sally’s shopping list above. It doesn’t matter in what order she buys those things, and presumably nothing on the list is more important than another thing).

Chicago Bullet and Numbered Lists

Of course, when we’re talking about format, we have to deal with styles. First, let’s cover Chicago style, which follows what I said about bullet vs. numbered list but also makes a formatting distinction based on what composes a complete sentence.

In the first format, the words introducing the list make a complete sentence, and so do the entries in the list.

For example:

I like several things about New Orleans right after it rains:

• The earth and grass take on a great smell, which is called “petrichor.”
• The skies clear up, at least for a while.
• In summer, it drops the temperature a few degrees.

In the second format, the whole thing (the words introducing the list and the list) make up a complete sentence when taken altogether.

When it rains in New Orleans

• the earth and grass smell great
• the skies clear up and
• the temp drops.

In both cases, however, the most important thing is that everything in the list is formatted the same. If you have all sentences or all phrases, you’re doing great. Capitalize the first word in all entries, or capitalize none. Don’t mix them.

And, as always, watch out for bad parallelism!

APA Bullet and Numbered Lists

In APA, of course, it’s a little different. Fortunately, it follows the rules about good parallelism and rank/sequence vs. a list of equally weighted items. Unfortunately for those who love them, it’s not crazy about bullet lists in general, but it does allow them when they’re really helpful.

APA also has two basic formats for lists, but both are based on the idea that the words introducing the list and the list itself make up a complete sentence.

In the first format for APA, the entries are simple.

A well-stocked garage has several crucial items:

• a tire pump
• safety gear
• a shop vac
• your basic working hand tools

In the second APA format, the entries are complex.

A well-stocked garage has several crucial items:

•  a good tire pump, which means it inflates quickly at a high-pressure capacity (80 PSI at the least), a secure valve connection, and a reliable power source;
• safety gear, which must include at least steel-toed boots (Flip-flops mean say “Goodbye to the toes!”), safety glasses, gloves, and hearing protection;
• a shop vac, which should handle both dry and wet debris; and
• your basic working hand tools, like a full set of socket wrenches, screwdrivers, pliers, and the like.

(Note the proper use of semicolons, which is similar to when you have a complicated non-bullet list.)

TL/DR

The most important thing about any bullet or numbered list, in any style, is that each element of the list matches the other entries in that list. I’ve seen complete sentences for each element in an APA list get a capitalized letter and a period. I’ve seen Chicago lists with semicolons. Ask your ProofreadingPal editor!

In fact…

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.”

Didn’t get the reference? May I suggest:

• Star Wars
• Star Trek
• This Is the End
• Blade Runner
• Arrival
• Project Hail Mary

Julia H.