HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE PROOFREADING PROCESS
This is an Introduction
to the Correction of a Scientific or Academic Paper
There are Three Separate Stages of Correction in any given Document or Manuscript
1. Review
While reviewing, the evaluator only marks the errors or the mistakes.
The evaluator does not actually correct them.
It is a quality control measure in order to ascertain the quality of the work.
Often, if the manuscript's text is large, the review may only be conducted on a small sample
of the text, especially if the author/client is well know to the proofreading company.
In the case of PRS Proofreading Services, this work would be conducted by the
PRS Evaluation Team, in order to produce a Formal Quotation.
2. Copy Editing
Contrary to popular belief, a copy editor is not a glorified spell checker.
The copy editor is your necessary partner in a publication.
A copy editor checks for and corrects errors in grammar, spelling, syntax, and punctuation.
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PRS COPY EDITS THE DOCUMENT'S TEXT BY USING COLOURS
Highlighting Legend
In the above diagram - Yellow = Insert Text; Green = Delete Text; and Blue = Minor Modification
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People often refer to all of the stages of revision as “editing”,
but "copy editing" is what is performed after the reviewing process is completed.
It is the next stage in the process of producing the finished finalised paper.
Careful copy editing takes time - and it is an in-depth process.
It is critical for a polished, well written paper.
It cannot be rushed and hurried, regardless of what some companies on the Internet claim.
PRS Proofreading Services employs 2 different copy editors at this stage.
The first copy editor takes care of "The 1st Draft", which the author/client usually receives.
The second copy editor takes care of "The 2nd Draft", which is not usually sent to
the author/client, unless it is deemed to be critically important.
This 2nd stage corrects any errors that may have been missed previously.
This '2nd copy editing' is very pertinent, since in a manuscript with many errors,
it is often very difficult to spot all of the mistakes the first time.
This is because we are all humans - no matter how qualified we may be,
for it is sometimes, very confusing on the eye and on the brain
3. Proofreading
Proofreading comes next and this is the last stage (which might be conducted twice).
This proofreading stage consists of a final sweep through the paper, with an eye looking
out for any more errors.
Proofreaders do not suggest major changes to the text, rather,
they look for minor text and formatting errors.
Proofreading is the process of examining the final draft of a document or text,
after it has been copy edited and amended.
This is in order to ensure that there are absolutely no errors.
A proofreader will review for spelling errors, punctuation errors, typos,
or for the incorrect use of English
(in other words, ensuring that the paper is written correctly in American English or British English).
The proofreader will then confirm that the material is ready for publication.
Copy editing and proofreading are two separate tasks, although the terms are sometimes
used interchangeably by people who do not know the difference.
On highly technical and scientific papers,
PRS will again employ 2 proofreaders at this end stage, with a PRS Computerised Grammar Check,
in order to be completely satisfied that all of the revisions have been perfectly corrected.
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PRS PROOFREADING SERVICES HELPS AUTHORS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD WITH THEIR ENGLISH WRITINGS
PRS HELPS THEM TO UNDERSTAND
THE COPY EDITING & PROOFREADING PROCEDURES
What do these words really mean?
Do they have the same meaning?
No - Absolutely not - They are both different procedures
"Copy Editing" takes place first of all
"Proofreading" happens in the final stages of the revision
WHAT IS COPY EDITING?
Copy Editing (also written as copy-editing or copyediting) is the work that an editor does
in order to improve the formatting, the style, and the accuracy of the text.
Unlike general editing, copy editing does not involve changing the substance of the text.
It adheres to the original intended meaning.
Copy refers to written text or typewritten text,
intended for typesetting, printing, or for publication.
Copy Editing is always done before Proofreading,
which is the last step in the editorial cycle.
"The 5 C’s" summarise the copy editor's job: -
Make the copy clear, correct, concise, comprehensible, and consistent.
Copy Editors should “Make it say what it means, and mean what it says”.
Typically, Copy Editing involves correcting spelling, grammar, punctuation,
terminology and jargon, timelines and semantics (meanings).
Always ensuring that the script adheres
to the author's or the publisher's meaningful style.
Often, Copy Editors are also responsible for adding any "display copy",
such as headlines, standardised headers and footers,
together with photo and logo captions.
With PRS Proofreading Services, the bulk of Copy Editing
involves the correction of Scientific Manuscripts, Academic Articles, or Thesis.
WHAT IS PROOFREADING?
Proofreading (also written as proof-reading or proof reading)
means reading a proof copy of a text, in order to detect and correct any errors.
A proof copy is a manuscript that has been typeset after the copy editing.
Proof typescripts often contain typographical errors that are introduced by
mistyping (hence the word typo to refer to misplaced, missing or incorrect characters).
Proofreading consists of reviewing any text, either a hard copy on paper,
or an electronic copy on a computer,
and checking for typos, formatting, and grammar errors,
together with syntax, clear meanings and understandings.
