Editing Encyclopedia:Manual of Style (section)

====Serial commas<span class="anchor" id="Serial comma"></span><span class="anchor" id="Oxford comma"></span><span class="anchor" id="Oxford commas"></span><span class="anchor" id="Harvard comma"></span><span class="anchor" id="Harvard commas"></span>====
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A [[serial comma]] (sometimes also known as an ''Oxford comma'' or ''Harvard comma'') is a comma used immediately before a conjunction (''and'', ''or'', ''nor'') in a list of three or more items.

{{Block indent|{{xt|ham, chips, and eggs}}{{spnd}}serial comma}}
{{Block indent|{{xt|ham, chips and eggs}}{{spnd}}no serial comma}}

Editors may use either convention so long as each article is internally consistent. Serial commas are more helpful when article text is complex, such as a list with multi-word items (especially if one contains its own "''and''"{{--)}} or a series of probably unfamiliar terms.

However, there are cases in which either omitting or including the serial comma results in ambiguity:

{{Block indent|{{!xt|The author thanked her friends, Sinéad O'Connor and Bob Marley}}{{spnd}}which may list either four or more people (the friends and the two people named) or two people (O'Connor and Marley, who are the friends).}}

{{Block indent|{{!xt|The author thanked a friend, Sinéad O'Connor, and Bob Marley}}{{spnd}}which may list either two people (O'Connor, who is the friend, and Marley) or three people (the first being the friend, the second O'Connor, and the third Marley).}}

In such cases of ambiguity, clarify one of four ways:
*Add or remove the serial comma.
*Use separate sentences, bullet lists, or some other structural change to clarify.
*Recast the sentence ("friends" case):
**To list two people: {{xt|The author thanked her friends Sinéad O'Connor and Bob Marley.}}
***Clearer: {{xt|The author thanked two friends – Sinéad O'Connor and Bob Marley.}}
**To list several people:
**: {{xt|The author thanked Sinéad O'Connor, Bob Marley and her friends}} or
**: {{xt|The author thanked Sinéad O'Connor, Bob Marley, and her friends}}.
***But not: {{!xt|The author thanked Bob Marley, Sinéad O'Connor[,] and her friends}}{{spnd}}introduces ambiguity about ''her''.
*Recast the sentence ("friend" case):
**To list two people: {{xt|The author thanked Bob Marley and her friend, Sinéad O'Connor.}}
***Or be more specific when possible (the commas here set off non-restrictive [[Apposition|appositives]]): {{xt|The author thanked her childhood friend, Sinéad O'Connor, and her mentor, Bob Marley.}}
**To list three people: {{xt|The author thanked Bob Marley, Sinéad O'Connor, and a friend.}}
***Clarity with gender-specific terms such as ''mother'' can be tricky; {{!xt|The author thanked her mother, Kim Thayil, and Sinéad O'Connor}} is unclear because readers may not know [[Kim Thayil]] is male and wouldn't be the same person as the mother.
***Clearer: {{xt|The author thanked Kim Thayil, Sinéad O'Connor, and her own mother}} or {{xt|The author thanked her mother and musicians Kim Thayil and Sinéad O'Connor}}.