Re: Comma before and after "which"?

Kaveh wrote: 
I am copy editing some academic text as a freelancer, and I have
sentences like the following:

"We can see two curves which, on close inspection, are almost
identical."

The in-house copy editor keeps correcting this by adding an extra comma
before "which". I feel this is an unnecessary pause.

To keep your copy editor happy, either accept his traditional comma or change your non-traditional 'which' to the traditional 'that'.

Could I have an
opinion, and if you think I am right, a reference to show them the
reason the comma is not needed.

Look up 'that' vs. 'which' in a traditional style manual. You will see that your usage, although fairly common, is not traditional. I'll leave questions of right and wrong to your own judg[e]ment.


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