An Introduction to the Correction of a Scientific or Academic Paper
There are Three Separate Stages of Correction in any given Document or Manuscript
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.
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.
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 always 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, as it is very confusing on the eye and the brain.
Proofreading
Proofreading comes next and this is the last stage.
It 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.
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 has American English or British English, as required).
The proofreader will then confirm that the material is ready for publication.
Copy editing and proofreading are 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,
in order to be completely satisfied that all of the revisions are perfectly correct.
In this PRS Proofreading Article today,
we are going to take a look at these 2 words
Copy Editing and Proofreading
Is there a difference? Do these two words mean the same thing?
These are two questions that PRS hears almost every day
So below are some brief explanations
of what these two words actually mean,
together with a Copy Editing & Proofreading Example
upon some Original Text
UNDERSTANDING
COPY EDITING & PROOFREADING
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
Here is an Example of the Original Text (a)
The Copy Edited Version (b)
The Final Proofread Version (c)
And The Text - Ready for the Journal (d)
COPY EDITING & PROOFREADING EXAMPLE
ORIGINAL TEXT (a)
Ahmed, et al. (2018) performed molecular dynamics to investigate the interaction between glyphosate and mineral surface surfaces. At our best knowledge this is the first molecular dynamic simulations to explore the binding mechanisms of glyphosate with goethite surfaces in the presence of water.
COPY EDITED TEXT (b)
Ahmed et al. (2018) performed molecular dynamics, in order to investigate the interactions between glyphosate and mineral surfaces. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, these were the first molecular dynamic simulations for exploring the binding mechanisms of glyphosate
with goethite surfaces in the presence of water.
SOME TIMES - THIS IS VERY CONFUSING
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT COPY EDITING AND/OR PROOFREADING
PLEASE
AND WE WILL BE VERY HAPPY TO HELP YOU
COME BACK TO THIS PAGE SOON - THERE WILL BE MORE INFORMATION
ABOUT COPY EDITING & PROOFREADING
AND GETTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT READY FOR PUBLICATION
