Refer to your teacher's or professor's preferred style guide before inserting bullet points into your research paper. The Chicago Manual of Style's MLA guide doesn't allow for bullets in research papers, as they're not deemed suitable for scholarly works. APA format does allow for bulleted lists.
Determine whether your list is more suited to a bulleted list or numbered list. A numbered list is used when you have a list of items such as "how to" steps that should be presented in a specific order. If your list is only a series of points or concepts that's not in any particular order, you'll want to use plain black circular bullets.
Type your list within the body of your research paper, making sure to press enter after each item on the list. When the list is complete, highlight all items using your mouse. On the toolbar of your word processing program, press the button at the top with the graphic of a list on it. If prompted, select the bullet style that shows a small black closed circle. If you don't see the button for inserting bullets, you may also access this from the Format tab.