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Hey everyone, I've written a few reviews now and every time there have been issues with commas. A couple of the editors suggested I use Grammarly, which I did for the next review. Unfortunately, all of the changes that were made by Grammarly were marked incorrect by the editors. What suggestions does everyone have about ensuring current comma usage? Are there still disagreements regarding the use of the Oxford comma?

Hi headlessheart,

Spell checkers (including Grammarly) should not be the only way to check for grammatical errors. While they can be helpful, grammar checkers are far from perfect. The feedback from the editors should explain why the commas were marked as errors.

The Oxford comma is not a requirement of the OBC because some writing styles leave it out, while others require it. Because the OBC does not follow one writing style, editors should not be taking away grammar points for the omission or use of the Oxford comma.

The International Grammar Forum would be a better forum to ask questions about the Oxford comma. I have provided a post from that forum below to help you get started.

viewtopic.php?f=72&t=130072

I hope this helps. If there is anything I need to clarify or answer further, do let me know.

Ooh this is very helpful. Thank you so much!

Are there otherways to check for errors apart from spell checkers?

fire_spice wrote: ↑09 Jun 2022, 04:23 Are there otherways to check for errors apart from spell checkers?

Hello!
Unfortunately, spellcheck doesn't always catch all errors, and neither does Grammarly, but I find using a combination of both helpful. You can also double check spelling by using online sites like thesauraus.com.

I totally agree. I’m new to reviewing and have been marked down for comma usage. I read my review several times, use Grammerly, and Scribens before submitting my reviews, but I still have comma errors or I think a word is borderline profanity but it’s apparently not. It’s so disheartening when I put several hours into reading and writing a review but my editorial scores are still low. I want to keep reviewing as I love this opportunity and website, but it’s getting hard to reconcile my time vs. my editorial scores.

Cecilia_L wrote: ↑09 Jun 2022, 18:23

fire_spice wrote: ↑09 Jun 2022, 04:23 Are there otherways to check for errors apart from spell checkers?

Hello!
Unfortunately, spellcheck doesn't always catch all errors, and neither does Grammarly, but I find using a combination of both helpful. You can also double check spelling by using online sites like thesauraus.com.

Thank you!

fire_spice wrote: ↑11 Jun 2022, 11:01

Cecilia_L wrote: ↑09 Jun 2022, 18:23

fire_spice wrote: ↑09 Jun 2022, 04:23 Are there otherways to check for errors apart from spell checkers?

Hello!
Unfortunately, spellcheck doesn't always catch all errors, and neither does Grammarly, but I find using a combination of both helpful. You can also double check spelling by using online sites like thesauraus.com.

Thank you!

You're welcome!

Firstly, I would recommend you use Quillbot Al for proofreading to make sure you are free from punctuation errors, and use Grammarly after for a deep check. 

Luna Grace wrote: ↑11 Jun 2022, 09:46 I totally agree. I’m new to reviewing and have been marked down for comma usage. I read my review several times, use Grammerly, and Scribens before submitting my reviews, but I still have comma errors or I think a word is borderline profanity but it’s apparently not. It’s so disheartening when I put several hours into reading and writing a review but my editorial scores are still low. I want to keep reviewing as I love this opportunity and website, but it’s getting hard to reconcile my time vs. my editorial scores.

I agree with you 100%. It seems that I can't get it "right", no matter how I use the commas. Unfortunately, I have not yet seen ANY explanation of why my comma use was correct or incorrect when I receive editor feedback. Honestly, I'm only 3 reviews in and I give up on it because I'm not seeing any way to get it right without feedback on what I'm doing wrong. And some of it is purely misreading what I wrote, where the editor's addition or deletion of the comma actually changed how the sentence reads. It's disheartening.

Jackie Kook wrote: ↑17 Jul 2022, 18:00 I agree with you 100%. It seems that I can't get it "right", no matter how I use the commas. Unfortunately, I have not yet seen ANY explanation of why my comma use was correct or incorrect when I receive editor feedback. Honestly, I'm only 3 reviews in and I give up on it because I'm not seeing any way to get it right without feedback on what I'm doing wrong. And some of it is purely misreading what I wrote, where the editor's addition or deletion of the comma actually changed how the sentence reads. It's disheartening.

I have submitted recheck requests and been successful in getting errors reversed when I felt my comma usage was correct and the editor misinterpreted what I wrote. If you can explain your usage and support it with a reputable reference link, you may get the error removed and the scorecard updated. If you don't get any feedback on what was wrong and you want another opinion (or two), feel free to ask your question in the international grammar forum.

Thanks! I just feel frustrated is all. I'm waiting on reviews to be published and in the meantime my score is low without explanation (when I do run the reviews through all sorts of checkers as well) and the book selection is VERY limited. I'm mainly doing this because I love to read and enjoy sharing my thoughts with others, so it's hard to be reviewed so harshly and not given an opportunity to improve. I'm sure it will get better? Punctuation intentional

MsH2k wrote: ↑17 Jul 2022, 18:33

Jackie Kook wrote: ↑17 Jul 2022, 18:00 I agree with you 100%. It seems that I can't get it "right", no matter how I use the commas. Unfortunately, I have not yet seen ANY explanation of why my comma use was correct or incorrect when I receive editor feedback. Honestly, I'm only 3 reviews in and I give up on it because I'm not seeing any way to get it right without feedback on what I'm doing wrong. And some of it is purely misreading what I wrote, where the editor's addition or deletion of the comma actually changed how the sentence reads. It's disheartening.

I have submitted recheck requests and been successful in getting errors reversed when I felt my comma usage was correct and the editor misinterpreted what I wrote. If you can explain your usage and support it with a reputable reference link, you may get the error removed and the scorecard updated. If you don't get any feedback on what was wrong and you want another opinion (or two), feel free to ask your question in the international grammar forum.

Aren't you only allowed so many recheck requests in your lifetime, three I think it was.

Luna Grace wrote: ↑11 Jun 2022, 09:46 I totally agree. I’m new to reviewing and have been marked down for comma usage. I read my review several times, use Grammerly, and Scribens before submitting my reviews, but I still have comma errors or I think a word is borderline profanity but it’s apparently not. It’s so disheartening when I put several hours into reading and writing a review but my editorial scores are still low. I want to keep reviewing as I love this opportunity and website, but it’s getting hard to reconcile my time vs. my editorial scores.

I agree that it is very frustrating and the time vs reward is lacking in some cases. Plus, not having the chance to respond to the errors is also frustrating. I have one reviewer dock me because I said, "The last quarter of the book saved the story". He claimed that he should have been "stories". To me, that is flat-out wrong. There is only one story, the book and it's not a book for short stories. I just don't understand how someone isn't checking them to see if they are correct. Or if we had a way to flag or comment and they could change if it made sense.

Tonia Freeman wrote: ↑20 Jul 2022, 10:01 I agree that it is very frustrating and the time vs reward is lacking in some cases. Plus, not having the chance to respond to the errors is also frustrating. I have one reviewer dock me because I said, "The last quarter of the book saved the story". He claimed that he should have been "stories". To me, that is flat-out wrong. There is only one story, the book and it's not a book for short stories. I just don't understand how someone isn't checking them to see if they are correct. Or if we had a way to flag or comment and they could change if it made sense.

and

Aren't you only allowed so many recheck requests in your lifetime, three I think it was.

You can respond to the errors if you think it is warranted. You are allowed only a certain number of rechecks, but you do get your recheck count back if the editor changes the scorecard in response to your recheck request. If the editor doesn’t change their scorecard, and you still think you are right, you can request an admin recheck on the scorecard. You will get the recheck back if the admin changes the scorecard.

Based on your scenario, I think you have a good case for getting the error reversed if you want to pursue it. Be sure to thoroughly explain why you think it is written correctly and provide any pertinent reference links (I can’t think of a reference link for this one, though). You don’t have the opportunity to add to your recheck request if you need to go for an admin recheck, so it is very important that the initial recheck request is thorough and complete.

BTW, I love your profile picture. Your cat's face is so...cat