Editing Serial comma (section)

===In general===
* The list '''x, y and z''' is unambiguous if '''y and z''' cannot be read as a renaming of '''x'''.
* Equally, '''x, y, and z''' is unambiguous if '''y''' cannot be read as a renaming of '''x'''.
* If neither '''y''' nor '''y and z''' can be read as a renaming of '''x''', then both forms of the list are unambiguous, but if both '''y''' and '''y and z''' can be read as a renaming of '''x''', then both forms of the list are ambiguous.
* '''x and y and z''' is unambiguous if '''x and y''' and '''y and z''' cannot both be grouped.

Ambiguities can often be resolved by the selective use of semicolons instead of commas when more separation is required.<ref>{{cite journal |id={{ProQuest|237293138}} |last1=Watkins |first1=Ron |title=The Semicolon |journal=English Journal |volume=93 |issue=4 |date=March 2004 |page=22 |doi=10.2307/4128975 |jstor=4128975 }}</ref> General practice across style guides involves using semicolons when individual items have their own punctuation or coordinating conjunctions, but typically a "serial semicolon" is required.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bruthiaux |first1=Paul |title=The Rise and Fall of the Semicolon: English Punctuation Theory and English Teaching Practice |journal=Applied Linguistics |date=March 1995 |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=1–14 |doi=10.1093/applin/16.1.1 }}</ref>