Text management
The author of a document or website often reads what he or she expects to see, not what is actually on the page. A small investment in text management could save considerable money and embarrassment later on. There are two main aspects to text management: copy-editing and proofreading.
Copy-editing involves:
- checking text for spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors
- applying a consistent style to the text
- ensuring your message is clear and user-friendly, to make maximum impact, by improving the structure of sentences
- drawing attention to repetitive and dull text, and adapting it if required
- ensuring facts are consistent throughout a document
- checking references both within the document and to other publications.
Proofreading involves:
- ensuring the text is clear and accurately set, with no typographical errors
- checking for internal consistency of headings, main-text style and page layout
- checking tables and figures
- checking Contents lists against chapter headings, and any cross-reference folios.
Sample copy-editing and proofreading commissions.
For further reasons as to why copy-editing and proofreading are so important, visit the Why edit? page on the Society of Editors and Proofreaders’ website.
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