Manuscript editing describes the process of carefully scrutinizing and correcting every word and punctuation mark in a manuscript. It is also known as copyediting or line editing. It can be a very important stage of the process of submitting and publishing work successfully.
It is a service that can be carried out in-house by a publisher. This is usually the case with published books. In the case of students or academics who want to publish or submit theses, scientific papers, or other academic documents, they have a range of options available.
For academics submitting their works to scholarly journals, they can rely on the manuscript editing services that the journal may have. Students and academics have two major options.
They can hire professional editing services from a host of online proofreading websites or they could hire personal freelance editors on their own. In any case, both scholarly journals and online editing websites rely heavily and sometimes completely on freelance editors.
A successful manuscript edit is a process that involves several stages of editing and proofreading. However, more important than that, it involves proper communication between the author and editor to make sure that they are working toward a common goal.
In this article, I discuss what goes into manuscript editing and the best practices to follow to ensure that you end up with a manuscript that you can take pride in.
What is manuscript editing?
Manuscript editing simply means editing and proofreading the contents of a manuscript. It differs from developmental editing, which is a more drastic form of editing that involves written work being completely reorganized or rewritten.
There are various stages of editing a manuscript. Let’s quickly list them below before we go on to describe them in detail:
Developmental editing
Mechanical editing
Substantive editing
Proofreading
Developmental editing can even be described as one level above manuscript editing. It involves drastically revising, reorganizing, and rewriting a work after editor feedback.
Substantive editing refers to rewriting or revising existing content. It differs from developmental editing, which is a more drastic stage of revising and organizing.
Mechanical editing refers to consistently applying a particular style, also known as a style guide — which will be described later. It involves things like grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and so on.
Proofreading is the last stage of editing. It refers to the stage of correction where the manuscript is transformed into the format in which it will be published but before publication. For example, PDF for journal manuscripts.
Each of these stages of editing will be further explained in the following sections. However, for now, read on to learn more about the job of a manuscript editor.
The job of a manuscript editor
A manuscript editor carefully examines and corrects a document according to a set of rules, also known as a style guide in academic writing. Several professions in academia, NGOs, and publishing require manuscript editing.
They include:
Professors
Students
Book authors
Academics trying to publish in scholarly journals
Corporations writing white papers
NGOs writing policy briefs
This type of service ensures that students, book authors, and academics can submit or publish work successfully. So what does manuscript editing entail?
A manuscript editor is responsible for polishing your writing to make sure as much as is humanly possible that there is no eros. Of course, you first have to define what an “error” is for each document.
“Organise” may be an error in a book published in the US. However, if it is being published in the UK for a British audience, then it would be perfectly fine. That is because a UK audience expects the word to be spelled in such a way, whereas the US audience would expect it to be spelled as “organize.”
This is why a manuscript editor edits and proofreads according to a style guide. The style guide is a set of rules to follow consistently to ensure that the manuscript is corrected accurately. A style guide exists on two levels.
First, there is the general level. There are common and widely accepted rules for English usage and spelling that every editor is supposed to reinforce when editing a manuscript. This includes spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Then, there is the second level, which is specific to a style guide. Perhaps, an author requires a certain word to be spelled in a way that no classic book on word usage or dictionary would agree with.
Or maybe the organization requires for certain words to be capitalized where they would not ordinarily be capitalized. The job of the editor is to look out for and enforce these rules and expectations according to a specific style guide.
The different types of editing
Editing can be described as existing in stages or a process, with the first stage being developmental editing and the last stage being proofreading. Let’s take a look at what each stage entails. You are free to hire the help of a professional editor at any stage of the process of writing your manuscript.
1. Developmental editing
In the publishing industry, developmental editing is not seen as manuscript editing per se. It refers to the extensive revising and organizing of content in a manuscript. Proper manuscript editing only occurs after the developmental editing has been executed.
There is some controversy on the difference between developmental and substantive editing. The development editor can come in either before, during, or after the author writes and completes their manuscript. Here is a list of things that a developmental editor is responsible for before writing:
Guiding the author in conceiving the topic
Help the author plan the overall structure
Assist in developing an outline
Coach authors in writing each chapter
If the developmental editor comes in after the manuscript is complete, they will focus on fixing organization and structure issues in the manuscript.
Here is a list of responsibilities they usually take on:
Moving content from one chapter to another
Requesting additional material or content when deemed necessary from the author
Making big-picture arguments more tight or solid
The developmental editor does not always come in as part of a smooth process at the beginning of the planning and writing stage. Sometimes, even close to the proofing stage, a publisher may deem it necessary to radically revise the author’s manuscript.
This would more resemble extensive substantive editing.
2. Substantive editing
Substantive editing deals with editing and proofreading content in a completed manuscript. It focuses on organizing and presenting existing content. It typically involves the following:
Rewriting to improve style
Rewriting to eliminate ambiguity
Reorganizing sections that lack coherence
Adjusting or recasting tables
As can be seen from this list, substantive editing involves major changes. For major substantive editing, the editor should make sure that they are on the same page with both the publisher and the author.
Only after agreement among the three, should an editor go ahead with major substantive editing.
3. Mechanical editing
Mechanical editing means consistently applying a particular style to a written document. This includes text, tables, references, and illustrations. Mechanical editing would involve questions of punctuation, spelling, etc.
Here is a full list of what may be involved:
Capitalization
Spelling
Hyphenation
abbreviations
Punctuation
How numbers are presented
Grammar
Syntax
Usage
Mechanical editing is closely related to style. Therefore, a style guide should be closely followed when implementing mechanical editing. This style guide could be based on the requirements of the publisher or major style guides (e.g., APA, MLA, CMoS).
4. Proofreading
Proofreading has both a general and industry meaning. Generally speaking, proofreading is the term we use to describe carefully examining every component of a manuscript to find and correct errors.
This is done at every stage of the editing process. However, in the publishing industry, it has a more specific meaning. It refers to combing for errors in the final version of the manuscript.
The final version of the manuscript refers to the format in which the manuscript will be published. So, this is the last stage before final publication. This is usually the PDF version of the manuscript for both book publishers and many journals.
The author is usually responsible for this stage of editing. The editor will mark what should be corrected and the author will make the changes.
Here is a list of what is typically involved in proofreading:
Correcting spelling errors
Correcting word breaks
Correcting errors in typeface and font
Checking page numbers and running heads
Checking illustrations and tables
Proofreading for coherent meaning and sense
Proofreading and editing for minor details can be carried out in Microsoft Word or other software such as PDF and Latex. Substantive editing in Word may be difficult for an author to follow. However, proofreading is typically a lighter form of editing that involves queries and pointing out errors that the author will find easier to follow.
Online proofreading companies often make a distinction between proofreading and editing. Proofreading often refers to editing work closer to the final stage of publication, while editing refers to work on manuscripts that require more substantial work.
In most cases, proofreading services may be marginally cheaper than editing services.
Final thoughts on manuscript editing
Manuscript editing does not simply begin and end with scrutinizing and correcting the author’s text. It involves a process of clear communication. You as the author should take care to set clear guidelines of what to expect from editing.
An editor should not go too far to correct the manuscript of the editor to the extent that the author cannot recognize their style. To avoid confusion and miscommunication, the following rules or best practices should be adhered to:
Authors should make it clear what they require: developmental, substantive, or mechanical editing
Editors should clearly explain their specific changes in comments in the Word comment function whenever possible
Editors should accompany edited manuscripts with “cover letters” broadly explaining and summarizing their changes
Using the Track function in Word has the advantage of allowing the author the privilege of accepting or rejecting changes and recommendations in their manuscript. The final decision on how the manuscript turns out is always in the hands of the author.
Make sure that you hire the services of an editor who respects that author's privilege. Good luck with your academic writing!
References
Chicago Manual of Style 17. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/book/ed17/part1/ch02/toc.html
Norton, Scott (2009). Developmental editing: A handbook for freelancers, authors, and publishers. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 1–4.
Cite this EminentEdit article |
Antoine, M. (2024, August 14). Manuscript Editing. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/manuscript-editing |
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