Differences between copyediting & proofreading and their value in scholarly papers.

Copyediting and proofreading are essential steps that go into creating the perfect piece of writing, but it can be hard to tell where one stops and the other begins. What are the differences between them and what do they mean for your research paper? How can they help you prepare it for publication? This article will answer all of these questions.

Copyediting, Definition

Copyediting is an in-depth editing process whose aim is to ensure that the ideas discussed are presented in an accurate, easy to follow, fit for purpose manner. It also guarantees that the content of a text is free of errors, omissions, inconsistencies, and repetitions.

Key characteristics

A trained and professional copyeditor checks for and corrects:

• Errors in grammar, spelling, syntax, and punctuation.
• Technical consistency in spelling, capitalization, font usage, numerals, hyphenation. For example, is it “post-operative” on page 1 and “postoperative” on page 4? Or do you use both British and American English spelling variations interchangeably, such as “realise” vs. “realize”?
• Citations, cross-references when appropriate.
• Readability of the document to ensure that readers can grasp the writer’s ideas. A revision of the text could be deemed necessary to optimize its word choice and improve its flow and structure.

Also, this in-depth editing process usually defers to a style guide and a specified dictionary.

I usually follow the Chicago style(17th edition) and the Merriam-Webster dictionary unless otherwise requested.

Proofreading, Definition

Proofreading constitutes the mechanical aspect of copyediting, evaluating a text for its mechanical correctness (grammar, punctuation, misspellings, omitted or repeated words, spacing and formatting, and typographical errors).

Its goal is not to edit but to scrutinize all the components of a text to track down any remaining errors in the text or formatting, ensuring a publication-ready final document.

For instance, proofreading detects subtle errors (i.e., loose for lose), identifies errors in interchanging small words such as: of/off/on, and/an/as, or it/is/if, and verifies whether:

• footnotes and endnotes match the references.
• abbreviations are used properly.
• illustrations are placed in the right locations and make sure that their captions correspond to an illustration.

Copyediting & its value for scholarly papers

Vultee, via his research on “Audience perceptions of Editing Quality” indicated a positive impact of editing on audience perception of news articles. Precisely, by exposing participants to edited and unedited texts, Vultee proved that copyediting texts were ranked higher in relation to their professionalism, organization, writing, and value.

Of course, the content of the research, its methodology, and results are the primary elements of a scholarly paper to be considered for acceptance to a conference or journal. However, the intervention of a copyeditor refining and polishing a paper can increase its chances of acceptance.

Peer-reviewers encountering fewer issues in a paper, spend less time pointing them out—a win-win situation for everyone in the review process.

Recap

Although copyediting and proofreading are overlapping terms, copyediting as an in-depth editing process aims to refine a text in terms of accuracy, flow, coherence, and structure, whereas proofreading deals with the mechanical aspect of copyediting tracking down errors in spelling and formatting.

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