The use of commas can be a major issue for writers. Copy editors and/or the publisher style choice usually become the final authority before publication.
My personal opinion is that the Oxford comma is necessary. Thanks to Daniel Neep’s recent tweet for pointing out some excellent examples to reinforce my opinion.
The clarity of these sentences is lost without the Oxford comma and leaves the reader some very weird meanings. Wouldn’t you agree?
Grammarcheck.com also offers this infographic with further explanations about the comma dilemma.
Source: www.grammarcheck.net
I doubt the question of comma usage will ever have a definitive answer. When I’m in a quandary, I simply figure out a way to rewrite. ;-)
What’s your opinion on comma use? Too many commas or not enough?
If it makes the sentence more sense, then absolutely use it.