Dael Reader wrote: ↑22 Jul 2018, 15:08
Dael Reader wrote: ↑22 Jul 2018, 14:49
Tiny_Turtle wrote: ↑22 Jul 2018, 11:09
I'm not saying that you should, or shouldn't, but you do have the option to contest it. Simply cite your source for the punctuation rules that you are following.
Dael Reader wrote: ↑ I was under the impression that you are only allowed to contest an editorial score three times. Since I am still relatively new, I was hoping to figure out more or less what the review editors are thinking before I start using up those. I understand and completely agree with the need to set grammar and punctuation standards at a high level, in order to provide a high level product. But our access to higher level reviews depends on those scores, and if one editor accepts a serial comma while another takes points off, I think there's a bit of a problem. Of course, there's also the problem of my own detail-oriented nature. If I make a mistake, I am glad that someone can point it out. But this use of a serial comma was an "option" not a mistake." I'm really surprised that the editorial team does not have a set style guide. That would clear up any and all problems right away.
Dael Reader wrote: ↑I feel like the only real solution is to make sure I never use more than two things in a sentence. Then there will never be a question about whether or not the serial comma is acceptable to the editor, because there won't be any at all.
An even better solution would be for there to be a set standard, with a guide we could access, like you mentioned. Unfortunately, that's not up to us. All we can do is just do our best.