Marilyn S. Farley Editorial Services

Services

Although the terms “editing” and “proofreading” are sometimes used interchangeably, these are two different types of review and serve different purposes in the process of refining and polishing your final document.

Editing

There are several types of editing. Copyediting addresses English usage in the areas of grammar, punctuation, style, and spelling. This is different from substantive editing, which includes revision and sometimes major rewriting.

We offer our clients copyediting services, with careful attention to the following areas:

• Spelling
• Grammar
• Punctuation
• Usage
• Style
• Agreement of subject and verb
• Agreement of number and gender
• Agreement of tense
• Consistency of use of modifiers
• Consistency of compound terms, product names, and special phrases

Proofreading

Proofreading (also called “comparison proofreading”) is the process of reading a proof (or set of proofs) in its final form and comparing it to a reference document, word for word, to verify that all text from the reference document has been set or transferred accurately.

Proofreading is performed after the document has previously been edited and the spelling and grammar have been checked and approved.

During this operation, a proofreader may question or “query” — but not change — a word or phrase that seems incorrect yet matches the reference copy. What may look like an “error” may actually be a distinctive spelling of a name, a professional term, a logotype for a corporate name, etc.

Changes at this stage are only made with author approval.

Proofreading is performed to verify the accuracy of newly set or formatted documents. In this case, proofs are read against the reference document to be certain that text and captions have been set correctly. If corrections or revisions have been made, revised proofs will be read against the original proofs to be certain that all marked corrections have been made and that nothing was unintentionally deleted, modified, duplicated, or reformatted.

Proofreading is also necessary when product literature is revised or reprinted, requiring new typesetting or formatting. In this case, the modified older version of the literature becomes the reference document for the new proofs.

Formatting

Some document formatting may be necessary. For example, documents may contain sections copied and pasted from multiple sources using a variety of fonts, colors, margin settings, etc. In such cases it is necessary to modify the formatting and fonts to maintain consistency throughout the entire document.