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How to Make a Bulleted List in APA

Bulleted lists don't always use bullets. You might use open circles, dashes or even small squares as the symbols delineating the points of your list. Bullet lists are particularly useful when you want to avoid what the American Psychological Association calls the "implication of ordinality," that is, the suggestion numbered lists make that item No. 1 is the most important, item No. 2 is the second most important, and so on. Bullet lists are also useful when you'd like to succinctly present your reader with the key points of the discussion at hand. Follow the guidelines of the APA when you're formatting a bullet list in APA style.

Instructions

    • 1

      Press your tab button to indent the first item of your bullet list as you would a new paragraph. According to the APA, the "default [tab] settings in most word-processing programs are acceptable."

    • 2

      Type your first bullet or other symbol.

    • 3

      Type a space after the symbol and begin your first bulleted item. Capitalize the first word of the item and end the item with a period if the item is a complete sentence. For example, type BB All individuals defended the correctness of their claims. (BB here represents a bullet symbol.)

    • 4

      Press your tab button on a new line to continue your bullet list.

    • 5

      Type a space after the symbol and begin your second bulleted item. Capitalize the first word of the item and end the item with a period if the item is a complete sentence. For example, type BB All individuals self-identified as eye-witnesses to the event.

    • 6

      Use your tab button on each new line and another symbol to continue and complete your bulleted list in APA style.

    • 7

      Lowercase the first word of each item and end each item with a semicolon if the items of your list are the continuation of an introductory sentence in the text. Precede the last item with "and" and end the last item with a period. For example:

      The author's somewhat diaphanous philosophy predicts

      BB ontological correctness;

      BB a recognition of being-in-the-world as numinous but questionable; and

      BB an elucidation of the self as disparate if not chaotic.

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