Format Consistency

One of the guiding principles in academic documents is consistency in one's formatting. Once a pattern has been chosen, stick with it throughout the document. This principle applies to headings and subheadings, to one's use of footers and headers, to one's use of numbering and bullets, to one's use of fonts, to one's use of indentation, etc.

So, for example, when using bullets, be consistent. Choose a reasonable bullet for each level of indentation, and stick with that pattern throughout the document. Bear in mind that most academic papers do not use decorative bullets. Limit yourself to circles (open or filled), simple carrots (>), hypends (-), squares. Similarly, when using numbers, be consistent and keep the same pattern for each indentation level. One might decide to use the following:

Level 1 (1cm indent): Capital Roman numeral followed by full stop

Level 2 (2cm indent): Capital alpha letters followed by full stop

Level 3 (3cm indent): Arabic numeral followed by a full stop

Level 4 (4cm indent): Lower case alpha followed by full stop

The online Writing Lab at Purdue University is one of the best sites available (https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html). Consult it as a guide when wondering about other writing or formatting issues.