Editing what does mean

A mark is also placed in the text to indicate where the correction needs to be made. Proofreading marks are traditionally written in red ink for better visibility. Delete: , , or. Space needed:. Close up a space:. Delete letters and close up a word:. New paragraph:. Period or full stop:. Semicolon: or. Colon: or. Insert or superscript:. Insert or subscript:. Insert comma:. Insert apostrophe or single quotation mark:.

Insert double quotation marks:. Insert en dash: , , or. Insert em dash: , , or. Centered: , or. Let it stand:. So seriously, what do these weird marks strewn all over my beautifully typed pages mean? The guide below will help serve as a reference for these mysterious copyediting marks.

Before you know it, you'll be deciphering the markings like a pro! Keep in mind that the logic behind most of these copyediting symbols is simply to make punctuation changes more visible. Who would notice a comma if it didn't have a little roof above its head? One more thing: this post only applies to copyeditors who copyedit by hand. Maybe it will appear online as a blog or article, in a journal or newspaper, as an announcement or poster, or as a full-length book.

There are several types of manuscript manipulation techniques that require understanding to fully grasp where editing falls within the publishing process. Copyeditors typically provide editing services on a line-by-line or sentence-by-sentence basis.

This means they will make suggestions for sentence structure, flow, and word choice and will correct any errors they come across in grammar, spelling, or punctuation.

These style guides are especially particular about the references and citation lists in academic or technical works. Copyediting typically does not include providing suggestions about the style and consistency of the entire document, especially if it is a book-length work. Copyediting is more laser-focused on each sentence, word, and paragraph.

Sometimes copyeditors communicate with authors, but often they do not. Substantive editing, also referred to as developmental editing, addresses the organization of ideas within a document, and dives deeper into meaning and tone for the intended audience than copyediting does.