Use common sense. Punctuation should help make written language clear to readers; but if it does not, it should not be there. In other words, make light use of punctuation: as much as is necessary, but no more.

• Precedence
  
  Be careful of using two or more punctuation marks in succession. Generally speaking, use the stronger or more necessary one. For example, question and exclamation marks are stronger than commas and full stops. However, quotation marks, brackets and ellipsis points are often used next to other punctuation marks. In the first of the two examples below, the question mark is used instead of the habitual comma and precedes the closing quotation marks; and in the second, a full stop is not needed because the exclamation mark already ends the sentence.
  
  

  “Have all the results been reported?” asked the researcher.

  
  

  “Fees must be paid by 20 December!”

  
  
  
• Punctuation and spacing
  
  Punctuation marks in English – apart from dashes, ellipsis points, slashes and opening brackets – are always next to the preceding word, without a space.
  
  Slashes are closed up to the preceding word and to the next word when they separate two single words.
  
  

  and/or

  male/female

  
  
  When a slash separates two groups of words or a group of words from a single word, insert a space before and after the slash.
  
  

  This proposal has been approved / requires further consideration.

  
  

  Such documents shall be signed by the rector / rector’s delegate, as applicable.

  
  
  Full stops, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, colons and semicolons are always followed by a single space.