vertical lists

Follow the guidelines below when deciding how to format a vertical list.

On this page

• Punctuation
  • Colon
  • Semicolon
  • Period
• Numbering
• Capitalization

Punctuation

Vertical lists can be punctuated in a number of ways, but the writer should ensure that punctuation is consistent throughout the text.

Colon

The colon is generally used to introduce vertical lists. When the sequence of a list is random or arbitrary, the various elements may be simply indented or set off with bullets or em dashes:

A colon can be used to introduce a vertical list even if the items in the series are a complement or object.

However, it is better to use a full sentence before the colon, as shown below.

Semicolon

In a print document, use a semicolon after each item (and a period at the end of the list) if one or more items contain internal punctuation, or after each item of a list ending in “and” or “or,” even if the items contain no internal punctuation:

In an online government document, however, the Canada.ca Content Style Guide stipulates that no punctuation should be used at the end of list items and that no conjunction (“and” or “or”) should be used between the last and the second-last items.

Period

In a print document, items made up of sentences should begin with a capital letter and end in a period (or question mark):

If a comma or semicolon is used after each item in a list, put a period after the final item.

In an online government document, however, the Canada.ca Content Style Guide stipulates that no punctuation should be used at the end of list items, even when the items are complete sentences.

Numbering

Numbers and letters, enclosed in parentheses or followed by a closing parenthesis or period, are used to introduce items in lists where precedence or sequence is important:

In a print document, punctuation can be omitted after each item if the items are brief. Otherwise, a comma, semicolon or period is generally used.

In an online government document, however, the Canada.ca Content Style Guide stipulates that no punctuation should ever be used at the end of list items.

Capitalization

Practice regarding capitalization of items in vertical lists varies.

The first word of each item is usually lower-cased if the items in the list are syntactically linked to the introductory statement, especially if the list is not introduced by a colon:

In a print document, the first word of each item is usually capitalized when the item is a complete sentence or when the introductory statement is a complete sentence.

However, in an online government document, the Canada.ca Content Style Guide lower-cases the first word of each item after an introductory sentence, even when the item is a complete sentence. On the other hand, the guide capitalizes the first word in items that follow a heading.