Invariably, my response is that I use the serial comma because the style guide I follow says to use it. I know this is a provocative topic. I can’t think of anything that gets writers and editors more ...

Sign up for the daily CJR newsletter. You know it, and you love it or hate it—it’s the last comma in a simple series, the one before “and,” “but,” or ...

How would you write a public letter that you know will become front-page news? Would you write it yourself, or would you have a team of lawyers or a public relations firm write it for you? Or would ...

Your reader's example - "The $1 million was divided between Mary, John and Frank," is a lot different than "The $1 million was split between Mary, John, and Frank." - is completely nonsensical. It ...

"It was a typical Friday night at Costco in Corona. Customers, including an off-duty Los Angeles police officer, 32-year-old Kenneth French and his parents, waited in line for food samples." How many ...

I have spent my career navigating between literature and journalism, trying to learn from both worlds. From my training and experience as an English professor, I carried into the newsroom the power of ...