When to Use Bullets

Before you use a bulleted list in your research paper, consider if it is the best option for your series. Dr. Abel Scribe PhD, a website for research style guides, indicates that seriation, or the technique to separate out the parts of an idea or argument, is helpful when ideas are complex, the parts are disparate, or a transition paragraph is introducing a series of topics. Monash University's Language and Learning Online Web page points out that bullets present key ideas and allow the reader to gravitate to and understand those ideas quickly. Bullets, however, do not indicate a sense of hierarchal order or chronological sequence. If you present a list where one key idea must precede another, using a numbered list would be a better option. Furthermore, you should not overuse bullet points because limiting sequences to bullet lists indicates you are not going into enough detail in your research paper.

APA Style

The American Psychological Association handbook outlines rules for using bullets in lists. Write a sentence to introduce the list, followed by a colon. Type the bullet, which can be found under "Symbol" in a Microsoft Word program, followed by a space. APA does not specify you have to indent the list, but most papers will show a one-inch indent or a hanging indent. Use commas, periods or semicolons at the end of each point based on the grammatical structure. Capitalize the first letter of each point and write a period at the end if you use complete sentences. Use commas, lower case letters and a coordinating conjunction before the final point if you list items that put together make a complete sentence, and the last point will end with a period. Use semicolons if items in the list have internal commas. If you use semicolons, the last point will end with a period.

MLA Style

The Modern Language Association handbook does not have specific rules for seriation, but Dr. Abel Scribe PhD points out that publications of the Modern Language Association use numbered lists. Your instructor might suggest the use of bullets instead of numbers, particularly when there is no obvious hierarchal or chronological order. Since the MLA handbook is silent on the issue, follow your instructor’s requests.

Chicago Style

To create a bulleted list in Chicago style, first introduce the list with a complete sentence, followed by a colon. Write your bulleted list, but do not use closing punctuation at the end of each point unless they are complete sentences. If your list consists of short statements, you can use two or more columns to avoid the look of "skinny" lists. If items run over a line, however, you should indent the second line so it is flush with first letter of the word immediately after the bullet point. The Chicago Manual of Style points out that bullets make the paper look cumbersome in academic writing. They are, however, a possibility if you need to quickly extract ideas for the reader. Keep the words in your bullet list succinct. If your list is better suited for a numbered list or a series within a paragraph, defer to those options.

Parallel Structure

When using bullets to create lists, keep in mind that each statement should have parallel structure. The Purdue Online Writing Lab indicates that the elements in a list must be written in the same grammatical form. For example, if you write, “The research study produced these findings on the state of education: lack of educational foundations; need for educational reform; finding new ways to improve classroom instruction,” each point is not parallel because the grammatical form of “finding” does not match the other items. You can fix the final point by writing, “demand for new ways to improve classroom instruction.”