Lists can help you organize information and present it economically. The goal of any list is to help readers easily understand information. Over using lists, however, can have the opposite effect, making prose difficult to follow. Lists can be incorporated into your prose or set vertically. They can be numbered when enumeration is essential to your point.

It is preferable to integrate lists into your prose, rather than to set them vertically, whenever the information can be readily understood in this format. A colon is often used to introduce an integrated list unless the list is grammatically essential to the introductory wording—for example, when the list is the object of the verb that introduces it, as in the second example below (where the list is the object of the verb include). Punctuate items in an unnumbered, integrated list just as you would words in a sentence.

Numerals in lists in your prose should be enclosed in parentheses.

Vertical lists are best used when the information presented is lengthy, has many component parts, or benefits from being set apart from the main prose. Below are examples of vertical lists—which may be unnumbered, numbered, or bulleted—and how to introduce, punctuate, and capitalize them. Word processing programs automatically define styles for lists so that they are indented and thus clearly distinguished from the text and so that each item in the list forms a unit.

Most versions of Microsoft Word have built-in features that can help you create vertical lists in MLA style. For example, if you type the numeral 1 and then a period at the beginning of a paragraph and press the space bar, Word creates a numbered list. It creates a bulleted list if you type an asterisk (*) and press the space bar. You can adjust the appearance of the list, such as the numbering, indentation, and spacing, by right-clicking anywhere in the list.

To create lists with irregular spacing or appearance in Word, turn off the feature that automatically creates lists: in the AutoFormat As You Type tab in the AutoCorrect window, deselect the boxes labeled “Automatic bulleted lists” and “Automatic numbered lists.” To access the AutoCorrect window on a PC, open the File menu and select Options. To access the AutoCorrect window on a Mac, open the Word menu and select Preferences.

A list may be introduced with a complete sentence followed by a colon, as in the examples below. The items in the list can be composed of complete sentences or fragments but should be consistent in using one or the other.

If the list items are complete sentences, the first letter of the first word of each item should be capitalized, and the item should be followed by closing punctuation, such as a period or question mark.

In bulleted lists, elements begin with a lowercase letter (unless the first word is normally capitalized, such as a proper noun), and no punctuation follows list elements unless they are composed of a full sentence.

If the list items are not complete sentences and the list is not bulleted, then, whether the list is numbered or not, begin each item with a lowercase letter and punctuate the fragments like parts of a sentence. Use semicolons between the list items and write and or or before the final item. A period should conclude the list.

A list may also start with a sentence continued in the list, as shown in the examples below. No colon should appear before such lists. In most cases, list items continuing the sentence introducing them will not be complete sentences, and each item can therefore begin with a lowercase letter.

In formal contexts, you may punctuate the fragments in numbered and unnumbered lists like parts of a sentence. Use semicolons between the list items and write and or or before the final item. A period should conclude the list.

In bulleted lists, elements begin with a lowercase letter (unless the first word is normally capitalized, such as a proper noun), and no punctuation follows list elements unless they are composed of a full sentence.