Copyedited typescript
The DIFFERENCE Between Copyediting And Proofreading Markup
A very common problem for people starting out as copyeditors is understanding the differance between marking up proofs as a proofreader and the hard copy of a typescript as a copyeditor. Many of the symbols are the same but they are used in different ways. This document aims at making those differences clear.
The first and most significant point is where to make the marks. In a proof, the majority of the symbols appear in the margins, with brief indicators in the text. This allows the typesetter to glance down the margins of a page and see which lines need attention. In a manuscript that is being copyedited however most of the markup goes in the text itself. The reason for this is that, before word processors, typesetters would have worked line by line through the text as they set up the blocks, and would need to be able to see the copyeditors’ changes as they worked along each line.
Of course these days, even when the copyeditor has marked up a hard copy, the typesetter will almost always be setting the text from an electronic file. But there are still advantages to copyeditors working in this way. The biggest one is that often the copyeditor simply needs to make more(and larger) changes than can readily be accommodated in the margins of the page. With a double-spaced typescript, he can insert significant chunks of text or show clearly how material needs to be moved around from one sentence - or even paragraph - to another.
e correcting
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There are minor differences in the symbols used by copyeditors and proof readers. The one that stands out most obviously is the change from upper case to lower case. Here, the proofreader will circle the text and use the relevant Bsi symbol in the margin. For a
copyeditor it is much more common to use a small Diagonal line across the top left corner of the character to be changed (linked to a long HORIZONTAL line above the top of any further capitals that need to be lower case). See the examples in this paragraph and compare how they are handled in the two versions. The other significant difference relates to
inserting additional material. As mentioned above, the copyeditor will normally write this between the lines of text at the relevant position. In contrast, the proofreader uses a letter in a daimond in the margin and links this to the material written out at the bottom or top of the page.
You might ask why it is worth learning how to copyedit on paper at all, surely all typescripts are prepared electronically and come to you in that form. But there various reasons why editing on hard copy can be a better option (or be required by a client).
Working on hard allows you to think more naturally about the visual elements of the text (boxes, tables, figures etc), to make consious decisions about appropriate heading levels, to code all these elements correctly.
Not all clients feel comfortable working with word files. They may find it difficult to follow tracked changes, and would rather see the changes marked up on paper.
Hard-copy editing forces you to think before you mark something and therefore to work at a pace which helps you to concentrate in more detail on the text. It is very easy in Word to change your mind a lot: “shall I put in this comma or not; let’s see what it looks like; oh, no, that doesn’t quite work, I’ll take it out again; repeat ad nauseam.” On paper, you have to think through what you are changeing and why or you end up using vast quantities of As mentioned above,
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, where there is space to give the correction clearly .
are
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.
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correction fluid and sometimes making such a mess that you have to reprint the page and start again.
There’s plenty of evidence out there that people take in information better when forced to take notes by hand instead of electronically or when reading on paper rather than onscreen.
The same is true equally for editors. So don’t grouse about learning to mark up hard copy.
See it as an opportunity to take the time to focus on the new skills that you’re learning. And be grateful for the modern technology that takes the tedium out of much of the work that we do!
BL
There is , or
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as editors
Marked-up proof
The DIFFERENCE Between Copyediting and Proofreading Markup
A very common problem for people starting out as copy-editors is understanding the differance between marking up proofs as a proo- freader and the hard copy of a typescript as a copyeditor. Many of the symbols are the same (though not all), but they are used in different ways.
This document attempts make those differences clear.
The first, and most significant point to note is where the marks are made. In a proof, the majority of the symbols appear in the margins, with brief indicators in the text itslef to show what the marginal symbols are referring to. This allows the typesetter to glance down the margins of a page and see in an instant which lines need attention. In a typescript that is being copyedited however most of the markup goes in the text itself.
The reason for this links back to the the fact that, before word processing, typesetters would have worked line by line through the text as they set up the blocks, and would need therefore to be able to see the copyeditors’ changes as they worked along each line, incorporating those changes as they went.
Of course these days, even when the copyeditor has marked up a hard copy, the typesetter will almost always be setting the text from an electronic file. But there are still advantages to copyeditors working in this way. The biggest one is that quite often the copyeditor simply needs to make more(and larger) changes than can readily be accomodated in the margins of the page. With a double-spaced typescript, he can insert significant chunks of text or show clearly how material needs to be moved around from one sentence - or even paragraph - to another.
As mentioned above, there are minor differences in the symbols used by copyeditors and proof readers. The one that stands out most obviously is the change from upper case to lower case. Here, the proofreader will circle the text and use the relevant Bsi symbol in the margin. For a
e
correcting
to
the advent of
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the copyeditor ,
, x2
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copyeditor however, it is much more common to use a small Diagonal line across the top left corner of the character to be changed (linked to a long HORIZONTAL line above the top of any further capitals that need to be lower case). See the examples in this paragraph and compare how they are handled in the two versions. The other significant difference relates to inserting extensive additional material. The copyeditor will normally write this between the lines of text at the relevant position. In contrast, the proofreader uses a letter in a daimond in the margin and links this to the material written out at the bottom or top of the page.
You might ask why it is worth learning how to copyedit on paper at all, surely all typescripts are prepared electronically and come to you in that form. But there is various reasons why editing on hard copy can be a better option (or be required by a client).
• Not all clients feel comfortable working with word files. They may find it difficult to follow tracked changes, and would rather see the changes marked up on paper.
• Working on hard copy allows you to think more naturally about the visual elements of the text (boxes, tables, figures, etc.), to make consious decisions about appropriate heading levels, and to code all these elements correctly.
• Hard-copy editing forces you to think before you mark
something and therefore to work at a pace which helps you to concentrate in more detail on the text. It is very easy in Word to change your mind a lot – shall I put in this comma or not;
lets see what it looks like; oh, no, that doesn’t quite work, I’ll take it out again; repeat ad nauseam. On paper, you have to think through what you are changing and why or you end up using vast quantities of correction fluid and sometimes making such a mess that you have to reprint the page and start again.
There’s plenty of evidence out there that people take in information better when reading on paper rather than onscreen, or when forced to take notes by hand instead of electronically. The same is true equally for
, where there is space to give the correction clearly
are
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x2
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,
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.
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editors. So don’t grouse about learning to mark up hard copy. See it as an opportunity to take the time to focus on the new skills that you’re learning. And be grateful for the modern tech that takes the tedium out of much of the work that we do!
as editors
a nology
Final typeset version
The Difference Between Copyediting and Proofreading Markup
A very common problem for people starting out as copyeditors is understanding the difference between marking up proofs as a proofreader and correcting the hard copy of a typescript as a copyeditor.
Many of the symbols are the same (though not all), but they are used in different ways. This document attempts to make those differences clear.
The first, and most significant, point to note is where the marks are made. In a proof, the majority of the symbols appear in the margins, with brief indicators in the text itself to show what the marginal symbols are referring to. This allows the typesetter to glance down the margins of a page and see in an instant which lines need attention. In a typescript that is being copyedited, however, most of the markup goes in the text itself.
The reason for this links back to the fact that, before the advent of word processing, typesetters would have worked line by line through the text as they set up the blocks, and would therefore need to be able to see the copyeditor’s changes as they worked along each line, incorporating those changes as they went.
Of course, these days, even when the copyeditor has marked up a hard copy, the typesetter will almost always be setting the text from an electronic file. But there are still advantages to copyeditors working in this way. The biggest one is that quite often the copyeditor simply needs to make more (and larger) changes than can readily be accommodated in the margins of the page. With a double-spaced typescript, the copyeditor can insert significant chunks of text or show clearly how material needs to be moved around from one sentence – or even paragraph – to another.
As mentioned above, there are minor differences in the symbols used by copyeditors and proofreaders. The one that stands out most obviously is the change from upper case to lower case. Here, the proofreader will circle the text and use the relevant BSI symbol in the margin. For a
copyeditor, however, it is much more common to use a small diagonal line across the top left corner of the character to be changed (linked to a long horizontal line above the top of any further capitals that need to be lower case). See the examples in this paragraph and compare how they are handled in the two versions.
The other significant difference relates to inserting extensive additional material. The copyeditor will normally write this between the lines of text at the relevant position. In contrast, the proofreader uses a letter in a diamond in the margin and links this to the material written out at the bottom or top of the page, where there is space to give the correction clearly.
You might ask why it is worth learning how to copyedit on paper at all.
Surely all typescripts are prepared electronically and come to you in that form. But there are various reasons why editing on hard copy can be a better option (or be required by a client).
• Not all clients feel comfortable working with Word files. They may find it difficult to follow tracked changes, and would rather see the changes marked up on paper.
• Working on hard copy allows you to think more naturally about the visual elements of the text (boxes, tables, figures etc), to make conscious decisions about appropriate heading levels, and to code all these elements correctly.
• Hard-copy editing forces you to think before you mark
something and therefore to work at a pace which helps you to concentrate in more detail on the text. It is very easy in Word to change your mind a lot – shall I put in this comma or not;
let’s see what it looks like; oh, no, that doesn’t quite work, I’ll take it out again; repeat ad nauseam. On paper, you have to think through what you are changing – and why – or you end up using vast quantities of correction fluid and sometimes making such a mess that you have to reprint the page and start again.
There is plenty of evidence out there that people take in information better when reading on paper rather than on screen, or when forced to take notes by hand instead of electronically. The same is equally true for editors. So don’t grouse about learning to mark up hard copy. See it as an opportunity to take the time to focus on the new skills that you are learning. And be grateful for the modern technology that takes the tedium out of much of the work that we as editors do!