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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.
Some people use the Oxford comma (also known as the Harvard or serial comma). This is a comma before "and" or "or" at the end of a series, regardless of whether it is needed for clarification purposes. For example: X, Y, and Z (with an Oxford comma) X, Y and Z (without an Oxford comma)
In general, the comma shows that the words immediately before the comma are less closely or exclusively linked grammatically to those immediately after the comma than they might be otherwise. The comma performs a number of functions in English writing. It is used in generally similar ways in other languages, particularly European ones, although ...
All about the Oxford comma, including when it may or may not be necessary.
The comma-free approach is often used with partial quotations: The report observed "a 45% reduction in transmission rate". A comma is required when it would be present in the same construction if none of the material were a quotation: In Margaret Mead's view, "we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities" to enrich our culture.
Symbol-specific names are also used; decimal point and decimal comma refer to a dot (either baseline or middle) and comma respectively, when it is used as a decimal separator; these are the usual terms used in English, [1] [2] [3] with the aforementioned generic terms reserved for abstract usage.
The serial comma (for example the comma before and in "ham, chips, and eggs") is optional; be sensitive to possible ambiguity arising from thoughtless use or thoughtless avoidance, and be consistent within a given article. Avoid comma splices. Picture captions should not end in a full stop (a period) unless they are complete sentences.
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