diff --git a/include/cantera/kinetics/Reaction.h b/include/cantera/kinetics/Reaction.h
index fc42e1a255..5df2a92d2f 100644
--- a/include/cantera/kinetics/Reaction.h
+++ b/include/cantera/kinetics/Reaction.h
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ class Reaction
     //! Flag indicating that serialization uses explicit type
     bool m_explicit_type = false;
 
-    //! Flag indicating that third body collider is ambiguous
+    //! Flag indicating that third body requires explicit serialization
     bool m_explicit_3rd = false;
 
     //! Flag indicating that object was instantiated from reactant/product compositions
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ class ThirdBody
     //! @param node  AnyMap receiving serialized parameters
     //! @param explicit_3rd  Flag triggering explicit third body efficiency output
     //! @since  New in Cantera 3.0
-    void getParameters(AnyMap& node, bool explicit_3rd=false) const;
+    void getParameters(AnyMap& node, bool explicit_3rd) const;
 
     //! Get the third-body efficiency for species *k*
     double efficiency(const std::string& k) const;
diff --git a/src/kinetics/Reaction.cpp b/src/kinetics/Reaction.cpp
index 524c143dab..99e3f39297 100644
--- a/src/kinetics/Reaction.cpp
+++ b/src/kinetics/Reaction.cpp
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ Reaction::Reaction(const Composition& reactants_,
 {
     setRate(rate_);
 
-    // ensure safe serialization
+    // set flags ensuring correct serialization output
     bool count = 0;
     for (const auto& reac : reactants) {
         if (products.count(reac.first)) {
diff --git a/test/kinetics/kineticsFromScratch.cpp b/test/kinetics/kineticsFromScratch.cpp
index cbfbe9563b..30a577b8fe 100644
--- a/test/kinetics/kineticsFromScratch.cpp
+++ b/test/kinetics/kineticsFromScratch.cpp
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ TEST_F(KineticsFromScratch, multiple_third_bodies4)
     auto R = make_shared<Reaction>(equation, rate, tbody);
     EXPECT_EQ(R->thirdBody()->name(), "O2");
 
-    AnyMap input = R->parameters();
+    AnyMap input = R->parameters(false);
     EXPECT_FALSE(input.hasKey("type"));
     EXPECT_TRUE(input.hasKey("efficiencies"));
     auto efficiencies = input["efficiencies"].asMap<double>();
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ TEST_F(KineticsFromScratch, multiple_third_bodies6)
     auto R = make_shared<Reaction>(reac, prod, rate, tbody);
     EXPECT_EQ(R->thirdBody()->name(), "O2");
 
-    AnyMap input = R->parameters();
+    AnyMap input = R->parameters(false);
     EXPECT_FALSE(input.hasKey("type"));
     EXPECT_TRUE(input.hasKey("efficiencies"));
     auto efficiencies = input["efficiencies"].asMap<double>();
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ TEST_F(KineticsFromScratch, multiple_third_bodies7)
     auto R = make_shared<Reaction>(equation, rate, tbody);
     EXPECT_EQ(R->thirdBody()->name(), "M");
 
-    AnyMap input = R->parameters();
+    AnyMap input = R->parameters(false);
     EXPECT_FALSE(input.hasKey("type"));
     EXPECT_TRUE(input.hasKey("efficiencies"));
     auto efficiencies = input["efficiencies"].asMap<double>();
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ TEST_F(KineticsFromScratch, multiple_third_bodies8)
     auto R = make_shared<Reaction>(equation, rate, tbody);
     EXPECT_EQ(R->thirdBody()->name(), "M");
 
-    AnyMap input = R->parameters();
+    AnyMap input = R->parameters(false);
     EXPECT_FALSE(input.hasKey("type"));
     EXPECT_TRUE(input.hasKey("efficiencies"));
     auto efficiencies = input["efficiencies"].asMap<double>();
diff --git a/test/kinetics/kineticsFromYaml.cpp b/test/kinetics/kineticsFromYaml.cpp
index 3c39da148f..5487faf4a5 100644
--- a/test/kinetics/kineticsFromYaml.cpp
+++ b/test/kinetics/kineticsFromYaml.cpp
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ TEST(Reaction, ThreeBodyFromYaml2)
     const auto& rate = std::dynamic_pointer_cast<ArrheniusRate>(R->rate());
     EXPECT_DOUBLE_EQ(rate->preExponentialFactor(), 1.2e11);
 
-    AnyMap input = R->parameters();
+    AnyMap input = R->parameters(false);
     EXPECT_FALSE(input.hasKey("type"));
     EXPECT_TRUE(input.hasKey("efficiencies"));
 
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ TEST(Reaction, ThreeBodyFromYaml4)
     const auto& rate = std::dynamic_pointer_cast<ArrheniusRate>(R->rate());
     EXPECT_DOUBLE_EQ(rate->preExponentialFactor(), 5.0e+9);
 
-    AnyMap input = R->parameters();
+    AnyMap input = R->parameters(false);
     EXPECT_EQ(input.getString("type", ""), "three-body");
     EXPECT_FALSE(input.hasKey("efficiencies"));
     EXPECT_FALSE(input.hasKey("default-efficiency"));
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ TEST(Reaction, ThreeBodyFromYaml6)
     const auto& rate = std::dynamic_pointer_cast<ArrheniusRate>(R->rate());
     EXPECT_DOUBLE_EQ(rate->preExponentialFactor(), 5.0e+9);
 
-    AnyMap input = R->parameters();
+    AnyMap input = R->parameters(false);
     EXPECT_FALSE(input.hasKey("type"));
     EXPECT_TRUE(input.hasKey("efficiencies"));
     auto efficiencies = input["efficiencies"].asMap<double>();
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ TEST(Reaction, ThreeBodyFromYaml7)
     const auto& rate = std::dynamic_pointer_cast<ArrheniusRate>(R->rate());
     EXPECT_DOUBLE_EQ(rate->preExponentialFactor(), 5.0e+9);
 
-    AnyMap input = R->parameters();
+    AnyMap input = R->parameters(false);
     EXPECT_EQ(input.getString("type", ""), "three-body");
     EXPECT_TRUE(input.hasKey("efficiencies"));
     auto efficiencies = input["efficiencies"].asMap<double>();
@@ -454,7 +454,7 @@ TEST(Reaction, ThreeBodyBlowersMaselFromYaml)
     const auto& rate = std::dynamic_pointer_cast<BlowersMaselRate>(R->rate());
     EXPECT_DOUBLE_EQ(rate->preExponentialFactor(), 38.7);
 
-    AnyMap input = R->parameters();
+    AnyMap input = R->parameters(false);
     EXPECT_EQ(input.getString("type", ""), "three-body-Blowers-Masel");
 }