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Serial comma

"Oxford Comma" redirects here. For the song, see Oxford Comma (song).

The serial comma (also referred to as the series comma, Oxford comma,[1] or Harvard comma[2]) is a comma placed after the second-to-last term in a list (just before the conjunction) when writing out three or more terms.[3][4][5] For example, a list of three countries might be punctuated without the serial comma as "France, Italy and Spain" or with the serial comma as "France, Italy, and Spain". The serial comma can help avoid ambiguity in some situations, but can also create it in others.[6] There is no universally accepted standard for when to use the serial comma.[7]

The serial comma is popular in formal writing (such as in academic, literary, and legal contexts)[8][9] but is usually omitted in journalism as a way to save space.[9][10][11] Its popularity in informal and semi-formal writing depends on the variety of English; it is usually excluded in British English, while in American English it is common and often considered mandatory outside journalism.[12][13][14] Academic and legal style guides such as the APA style,[15] The Chicago Manual of Style, Garner's Modern American Usage,[16] Strunk and White's The Elements of Style,[17] and the U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual[18] either recommend or require the serial comma, as does The Oxford Style Manual (hence the alternative name "Oxford comma").[13] Newspaper stylebooks such as the Associated Press Stylebook, The New York Times Style Book,[19] and The Canadian Press stylebook typically recommend against it. Most British style guides do not require it, with The Economist Style Guide noting most British writers use it only to avoid ambiguity.[12]

While many sources provide default recommendations on whether to use the serial comma as a matter of course, most also include exceptions for situations where it is necessary to avoid ambiguity (see Serial comma § Recommendations by style guides).[20]

  1. ^ Garner, Bryan A. (2016). Garner's Modern English Usage. Oxford University Press. p. 748. ISBN 978-0-19-049148-2.
  2. ^ Upadhyay, Abhishek. "Serial comma - Oxford comma - Harvard comma". Writers' Mentor. Archived from the original on January 16, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  3. ^ The terms Oxford comma and Harvard comma come from Oxford University Press and Harvard University Press, where serial-comma use is the house style.
  4. ^ Sometimes, the term also denotes the comma that might come before etc. at the end of a list (see the Australian Government Publishing Service's Style Manual for Authors, Editors, and Printers, below). Such an extension is reasonable, since etc. is the abbreviation of the Latin phrase et cetera (lit. and other things).
  5. ^ The serial comma sometimes refers to any of the separator commas in a list, but this is a rare, old-fashioned usage. Herein, the term is used only as defined above.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ McArthur, Tom (1998). "Comma". Encyclopedia.com. Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. Archived from the original on August 31, 2024. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gramlich was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference BusInsider was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ a b The Economist Style Guide (10th ed.). Profile Books. 2012. pp. 152–153. ISBN 978-1-84668-606-1. Most American writers and publishers use the serial comma; most British writers and publishers use the serial comma only when necessary to avoid ambiguity ...
  13. ^ a b The Oxford Style Manual, 2002: "The presence or lack of a comma before and or or ... has become the subject of much spirited debate. For a century it has been part of OUP style ..., to the extent that the convention has come to be called the 'Oxford comma'. But it is commonly used by many other publishers here and abroad, and forms a routine part of style in US and Canadian English" (p. 121).
  14. ^ Truss, Lynn (2004). Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. New York: Gotham Books. p. 84. ISBN 1-59240-087-6.
  15. ^ David Becker. "Using Serial Commas". APA. Archived from the original on October 19, 2014. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  16. ^ Garner, Bryan A. (2009). Garner's Modern American Usage (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 676. ISBN 978-0-19-538275-4. ... omitting the final comma may cause ambiguities, whereas including it never will ...
  17. ^ Strunk, William Jr.; White, E. B. (2005). The Elements of Style. Illustrated by Maira Kalman (Illustrated ed.). Penguin Press. p. 3. ISBN 9-7815-9420-069-4. In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last.
  18. ^ "GPO Style Manual" (PDF). United States Government Publishing Office. 2016. pp. 201–202. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 29, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2023. The comma is used ... after each member within a series of three or more words, phrases, letters, or figures used with and, or, or nor.
  19. ^ Jordan Lewis (1962). The New York Times Style Book for Writers and Editors. McGraw Hill.
  20. ^ "University of Oxford Style Guide" (PDF). p. 13. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved June 17, 2021. Note that there is no comma between the penultimate item in a list and 'and'/'or', unless required to prevent ambiguity – this is sometimes referred to as the 'Oxford comma'.
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