What does it mean to edit a document?

It’s no wonder that authors are often unsure of what editing services they need for their document or manuscript. The term editing seems to be used interchangeably to mean proofreading, proofreading, substantive editing, content editing, and technical editing. So what does it mean to edit a document?

Defined editing

A simple definition of editing is enhancing text of some kind, whether it’s published for millions or for a college class. Editing services aim for the copy to be well-written, high-quality, and error-free. Publishing as a service is important for a variety of copy types. It may appear online as a blog or article, in a magazine or newspaper, as an advertisement or poster, or as an entire book.

There are several types of manuscript manipulation techniques that require understanding to fully understand where editing is within the publishing process. Related services that we will cover are copyediting, substantive editing, and proofreading.

Copy editing

Copyeditors often offer line-by-line or sentence-by-sentence editing services. This means that they will make suggestions for sentence structure, flow, and word choice and correct any mistakes they find in grammar, spelling, or punctuation. They will verify the format and alignment with applicable style guides, such as the Chicago Manual of Style or the American Psychological Association (APA) style. These style guides are especially particular about references and citation lists in academic or technical papers.

Typically, copyediting does not include providing tips on the style and consistency of the entire document, especially if it is a book. Copyediting focuses more on each sentence, word, and paragraph. Copyeditors sometimes communicate with authors, but often they don’t.

Substantive editing

Substantive editing, also known as developmental editing, addresses the organization of ideas within a document and delves into the meaning and tone for the intended audience that copyediting. A substantive editor will pay attention to how ideas are organized, worded, and legible.

Essay or noun editors will also pay attention to consistency of tone, language, and word usage throughout the document. They may or may not be responsible for correcting grammar or spelling errors, as their focus is on the complete presentation of the text.

Proofreading

Proofreading can be thought of as the “shallow” type of editing. Proofreaders look for typos and mistakes in text that has already been edited. Your job is to catch whatever the editor or proofreader missed. They don’t pay attention to global issues or tone.

Editing and proofreading, unlike proofreading, can include grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, style, consistency, word choice, tone, paragraph length, and much more. Often when people say “edit” they mean a more in-depth or developmental edit. Sometimes, however, “edit” is used to refer to proofreading.

This is why it is always a good idea to clarify if you are not sure what kind of service you need for your document, or if you have been asked to edit something. A simple clarifying answer will reveal whether the document needs to be scanned for errors or whether it needs to be reworked to improve the quality of the writing.

Working with an editor is always a good idea for school assignments; online publications such as blogs, newsletters or articles; important emails; copy of the website; or self-published books. Each project will differ in its development editing or proofreading needs. Therefore, it is important to consider how deeply the text needs to be revised to achieve the end goal of communicating with the intended audience.

Originally posted at https://www.EditorWorld.com.