Final answer:
The correct statement is that using commas to separate elements in a series, including the Oxford comma, is true in English writing.
Step-by-step explanation:
The correct statement is: a) True. The use of commas to separate elements in a series, including the Oxford comma before the final item, is a general academic convention in English writing.
For example, in the sentence 'He studied all the notes, emails, memos, and reports related to the data breach,' the Oxford comma is used before the conjunction 'and' to separate the elements in the series.
However, it's important to note that certain style manuals, such as the AP Stylebook, do not use the serial comma.