publications - In text listing style - how to use? Any downsides?

I'm currently considering to use a in line (in text) listing style, such as:

'Some things are quite good. (i) Thing A can do this and that, which is awesome because of this and that. (ii) Thing B can do, ... . (iv) Some people also say that this and that, therefore thing Z is great.'

I've got more important points already highlighted through bullets, therefore I don't want to use bullets again for this minor information, plus I want to logically link the single points through sentences, but still provide an easy way to pick out the key words quickly.

First question: I've seen this style in quite a few papers. Is it considered to be a "good" style, or are there any downsides to this approach? Should I not use this style? Does the reader get confused by this?

Second question: Shall the brackets and latin number be bold, only the number, or nothing?

Third question: Should I place the enumeration element right infront of the keyword, or at the beginning of the sentence containing the keyword?

Answer

• If the numbers are never used, or if the technique is overused, then this can be considered bad style. I would not use it in the example above, for instance.


• You can use whatever style you want. There is no reason that they are bold. Sometimes the leading parenthesis is dropped, sometimes both. It's best to consult the style guidelines for the relevant publishers.


• Put the enumeration element in front of the sentence or phrase under consideration. Try it out, if you put it near the keyword, then you'll have spurious sentence elements in illogical positions.