PHRASES SEPARATED BY COMMAS

Job applicants will need to have:

• a high-school degree, 
• a bachelors degree,
• two years of experience,
• three recommendations.

Q: Are commas and semicolons redundant (repetitive) when using bullets?
A:  Most manuals advise against using them, such as Chicago Manual of Style (6.127-30); APA (64).

PHRASES SEPARATED BY PERIODS

Job applicants will need to have:

–  A high-school degree. (AP Stylebook)

–  A bachelors degree.

–  Two years of experience.

–  Three recommendations.

Q: Does the period after the list item mean that an applicant needs only one item to qualify?
A: Logically speaking, a period at the end of each list-item would indicate the introductory phrase plus ANY (one) list-item makes a complete sentence. The result is an OR statement.

PHRASES SEPARATED BY SEMI-COLONS

Job applicants will need to have    (APA Manual)

• a high-school degree, GED or diploma; 
• a bachelors degree, B.A., A.B., or B.S;
• two years of experience, in marketing or branding;
• three recommendations, high school, college, and recent employer.

Q: Does the period after the final list item mean that an applicant needs all four items to qualify?
A: Logically speaking, a semicolon or period at the end of the final item would indicate that ALL other items are part of the series concluding with the final list item. (AND)  

A computer lab should include:

Write about your qualifications:   (initial capitals for longer phrases) 

• To illustrate with examples areas of competency
• To detail skill sets
• To demonstrate instances of applying creative thinking

To shut down your computer:    (Periods occur after list items that are sentences.)

1. Close all windows.
2. Quit all open applications.
3. Log out of your profile.
4. Shutdown (Start menu / Apple menu).

The word processor can:  

• Create reports and fliers.
• Compose letters.
• Make data tables.
• Perform file merges.

To shutdown your computer:   

1. Close all windows.
2. Quit all open applications.
3. Log out of your profile.
4. Shutdown (Start menu).

During the recession, everyone had their wages cutback, millions lost their jobs, tens of thousands lost their homes, many more suffered hunger and hardship.

My duties at Tzonga were:    (phrase)

• planning 
• selecting
• organizing
• inviting
• overseeing
• cleaning up
• collecting

(CMOS 6.124-6)  

I co-managed:    (phrase)

Co-managed:    (shortened phrase)

My duties at Tzonga included:    (example word)

My duties were, for example: 

My duties were the following:  (sentence)

The decisions I made were:   (verb)

The board consists of:   (preposition)

The following introductory statements may be written more simply without the example word at the end.

My duties at Tzonga were, for example:  

My duties covered all aspects of fundraising, including:

My duties covered all aspects of fundraising, which included:

My duties covered all aspects of fundraising, namely:

The board consisted of a variety of officers, such as:  

See For example (lists)

The white space between the verb and the list item in a vertical list is "forgiving".

The decisions I made were: 

• who was going
• where we were going
• how we were going
• what time we were going

(verb is OK if items are listed vertically)

Ending an introductory clause with a verb is acceptable (formal) if it is a complete sentence.  

The company has not defined who its users are.   (independent clause)

• Are they teens?
• Are they male or female?
• Are they technically savvy?
• Are they professionals?

The board consists of:  (colon is OK if items are listed vertically)

• the president
• the CEO
• the CFO
• investors

A colon is normally used after "as follows" 

"A colon should not be used before a series that serves as the object of a verb." (CMOS 6.65)

The vegetables included carrots, peas, eggplant and turnips.
not
The vegetables included: carrots, peas, eggplant and turnips. 

"A colon is not normally used after "namely", "for example" and similar expressions [in an in-text list]. Nor is it used before a series introduced  by a verb or a preposition." (CMOS 6.43)

There are several alternatives to driving—namely, walking, biking, taking the bus or carpooling.

There are several alternatives to driving; namely, walking, biking, taking the bus or carpooling.

An MLA formatted list (in-text only) includes an introductory clause followed by a colon. "The reading list includes three Latin American novels: The Death of Artemio Cruz, One Hundred Years of Solitude, and the Green House. (MLA 3.24)

I was in charge of:

• planning 
• selected the venue and speakers (error)
• organization of event (error)
• invitations (error)
• oversaw the event (error)
• made sure to clean up (error)
• donation collection (error)
  

Job responsibilities:

We had several responsibilities:

• planning events   (optional capitalization for short phrases)
• selecting venues and speakers
• organizing caterers, florists and greeters
• sending out invitations
• hosting and entertaining
• cleaning up
• collecting donations

Chicago Manual – lowercase; AP – capitalized

You will be selected if you have:

• a high-school degree, 
• a bachelors degree,
• two years of experience,
• three recommendations.
   

 Use commas after phrases and a final period after the last item. Punctuating the list maintains the style of the larger body of writing.   

You will be selected if you have:

• a high-school degree, GED or diploma; 
• a bachelors degree, B.A., A.B., or B.S;
• two years of experience, in marketing or branding;
• three recommendations, high school, college, and recent employer.

Place a semicolon (rather than a comma) after each list item if any of the list items already includes a comma.

The committee decided:

• a new budget director would be sought;
• new fundraising drives would be started;
• outstanding loans would be collected;
• community partnerships would be established.

Place a semicolon after each list item if the items are clauses.

I had several management duties, including:  

• planning events, selecting venues and speakers;
• organizing caterers, florists and greeters;
• sending out invitations;
• overseeing the events, welcoming guests and cleaning up;
• sending out thank-you notes and collecting donations. (period)

Place a period after the final list item, if the list items are grammatically essential to completing the sentence begun by the introductory phrase, (especially after such as, for example, including, namely.)

In my job, I made decisions, such as:

• who was going to plan the event, 
• where the event was going to be,
• how the event would be funded,
• what the theme would be,
• how many people we could invite. (period)

Place commas after list items that are phrases. However, place semicolons after all items if the phrases already include commas.)

AP Style: Use periods at the end of each section.  AP Stylebook Online (2009) Ask the Editor FAQ

 Microsoft Manual of Style  "Begin each entry in a bulleted or numbered list with a capital. Use complete sentences. Use parallel construction. Use a period after each entry."

You will be selected if you have: 

• a high-school degree  (capitalization varies with style manual)
• a bachelors degree
• two years of experience
• three recommendations

 A bulleted list may imply that any ("or") of the items is required to complete the introductory statement.

  You will be selected if you have: 

• a high-school degree,
• a bachelors degree,
• two years of experience,
• three recommendations. (period)

 A punctuated bulleted list implies all of the items ("and")  are required to complete the introductory statement.

My duties included:

• planning events;
• selecting, organizing and finding venues and speakers; and
• sending out invitations;
• overseeing the events;
• cleaning up  and
• collecting donations.

Most manuals indicate it is unnecessary to set off text with bullets as well as add punctuation and conjunctions.  If you want to use semicolons (;) and conjunctions, delete the bullets and just write a sentence.

APA examples do indicate that it is acceptable to use a conjunction in a list.  APA  

Chicago Manual Q& A – "If your list forms a sentence, yes, semicolons work well, and there’s no rule against using and."