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To Oxford Comma or to not Oxford Comma: That is the Question

Last month, I threw a party. My friend Jen agreed to help me prepare for this event, and two days before the party, she texted me this: “Can I bring Josh, a DJ and a clown?” I had planned to provide the party’s music, but I was thrilled Jen had found someone who would do the job for free, especially since this person would DJ in costume.
The days before the party moved slowly, for I could not wait to meet Josh the DJ-ing clown. The night of the party arrived and so did Jen, Josh, a DJ, and a clown, who was just a man named Rick getting off work from a kid’s birthday party. I lay in bed that night thinking how the entire night’s events went wrong all because of one missing punctuation mark: the Oxford comma.
I asked Jen, who is British, if she could begin using the Oxford comma—aka the serial comma—for clarity’s sake, but she refused vehemently. She hates the Oxford comma, she retorted, and would rather die than ever use it. I responded with just as much passion that the Oxford comma should be used. The Oxford comma is the comma used before the conjunction in a series: “Can I bring Josh, a DJ, and a clown?”
We finally came up with a compromise: she would use the Oxford comma only when its use would prevent reader confusion. I conceded I would omit the Oxford comma (unless its absence proved too confusing) whenever I texted or communicated with her. We named our agreement The Truss Compromise, for we both consulted Lynn Truss’s book Eats, Shoots and Leaves to help settle our difference in comma usage.
In Eats, Shoots and Leaves, Truss shares that people in Britain generally leave the Oxford comma out while people in American tend to put it in (84). Truss concedes even people in Great Britain will use the Oxford comma if its use avoids confusion.
Speaking of confusion, though, it’s worth noting that there is so much confusion surrounding the Oxford comma. One reason confusion abounds is due to the British use versus American use. Additionally, most journalism publications such as magazines and newspapers will forego the Oxford comma in order to save space. Therefore, it’s likely you’ve read tons of material that uses the Oxford comma such as  American books and other places; likewise, you’ve also read material that left this comma out. So we find ourselves asking this question: to Oxford comma or to not Oxford comma.
When writing, it’s important to consider one’s audience. Believe it or not, knowing your audience can tell you whether or not to include or omit certain punctuation marks such as the Oxford comma. Because your writing in college will be assessed by professors, it’s likely best to use the Oxford comma when writing academic papers. This audience expects more formality when applying grammar, syntax, and punctuation rules; therefore, it’s likely best you use the Oxford comma.
If you write creatively, for periodicals, or creatively for periodicals, you can choose to omit the Oxford comma because, to some extent, its use hinges on preference or style. You can go crazy on your academic drafts, too. But be sure to include that Oxford comma as you revise your paper.
Of course, the Oxford comma is not the only confusing comma rule, and you can learn about all of the others this week during Workshop 2: Common Comma Rules, held in the Seminar Room in the library at 11 a.m. on Monday. An encore of this workshop takes place at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, September 19, at the same location. We hope to see you there!

If you would like more resources on the Oxford comma or on commas in general, please refer to these resources:

MU Writing Center Comma Usage Handout
MU Writing Center Ten Comma Rules PowerPoint 
Owl at Purdue Comma Resource

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