Lists

Before the word processor, lists commonly occurred in regular sentences, with items separated by either:

• commas (for short lists)
• semi-colons (in a longer list)
• conjunctions (before the last item).

The Australian style for a short in-sentence list separates the first items with a comma but uses only a conjunction before the last one.  Other parts of the English-speaking world also use a comma before that final conjunction – known as the serial or Oxford comma.

The ASG entry on serial commas explains why the Australian practice differs.

Vertical or bulleted lists add value for readers because they more clearly separate each item on a list.

The most common case is where a list is made up of a single sentence. This has an introductory clause that ends with a colon, and each point that follows runs on grammatically from that clause. As a result, each list point starts with a lower case letter (unless the first word is a proper noun) and there is no punctuation until the full stop at the end.

When we started to convert sentence lists to vertical lists, we tended to keep the commas or semi-colons at the end of each item. But the bullets and line breaks are enough to separate the items without carrying over the in-sentence separators.

You also don’t need to use a conjunction such as ‘and’ before the final list point, because the list formatting clearly groups the items. Only if you are presenting alternatives might you want to add ‘or’ for extra clarity.

But even here, you can often avoid this depending on how you introduce the item.

When writing run-on sentence lists, make sure the grammar at the start of each item is consistent and follows from the introductory clause.  In the first example above, the points all start with a noun, while the second uses a verb form for each point.

The increasing use of lists has led to full sentence lists. Each item listed in these cases is a sentence in itself rather than forming part of a run-on sentence. As a result, each list item takes a capital letter and ends with a full stop.

Although lists are useful, they can lose their impact if they become too complex. The ASG recommends limiting the number of items on a list as follows.

One of the advantages of a vertical list is that you can include more items. This is because the line breaks more clearly separate each item than punctuation in a sentence. Notice how much more effective a vertical list is in the following example.

At the same time, even a vertical list has its limits. Readers can comfortably process between 5 and 7 items before they will start to lose track, so don’t have lists that run to 20 items or take up a whole page of bulleted paragraphs. You would be better to group such complex content into a series of lists or use other formatting options such as tables or headings. Save lists for short bursts of text.

For similar reasons, do not place lists within a list, creating tiers of bullets. This places more cognitive load on your readers than it brings in benefit.  

Also don’t mix full sentences and sentence fragments in a list. All list points should follow a parallel grammatical structure that flows from the introduction. 

Bullets will likely be your most common format for a vertical list. Most word processing programs have a range of options, but stick to simple circles or bullets unless you have a good reason to use another symbol.

Format a vertical list with bullets where there is no set order for the points you are listing.

Use numbered lists to show priority or chronological order, or when you will need to cross-refer to the individual list points. You can also use them for checklists.

Stick to Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) for numbered lists and avoid Roman ones (i, ii, iii) because readers will process Arabic numerals more quickly and easily.

Alphabetical lists (a, b, c) sometimes appear in legal contracts when cross-referencing is vital and numbering is reserved for the clauses. But try not to mix several different systems so you don’t place undue strain on your reader.

When we first started using vertical lists, we tended to indent the bullet point from the left margin. This practice flowed from typewriters, which were less precise in formatting bullets (often using the asterisk key).

With the precision of a word processor, you can now simply left align the bullets with the regular margin to keep the text neat and clean.

Unfortunately, the default list formatting in software such as MS Word isn’t ideal, so you’re best off creating your own style that:

• aligns the bullet or other symbol to the left margin (indent at 0 cm)
• has a tab stop at around 0.6 or 0.7 cm, and a matching indent
• has no paragraph spacing before it.

To clearly link all your lists to their introductory clauses, it’s good practice to put paragraph spacing before your body text style, not after. Along with no spacing before the list style, this will ensure there’s no awkward gap between the introductory clause and the first list point.