This is copyediting

A suspenseful sojourn in the copyediting jungle – danger lurks behind every word. Checklist included!

The aim of copyediting is to achieve clarity in the meaning of a document (with ‘document’ in this post meaning any publication type or other form of written content) and consistency in its presentation. The editor works for writers, helping them refine and communicate their thoughts and ideas, but also for readers, making sure information is conveyed to them without confusion or distractions.

During a copyedit, an editor zooms in from the page to the paragraph and right down to the line level, carefully inspecting the mechanics of the text – including things that readers shouldn’t notice when a document is running smoothly. Grammar, spelling and punctuation are corrected. Style rules are applied. Conventions for the subject matter and content type are followed. Word choice is adjusted and awkward phrasing cleaned up to convey meaning more accurately.

But copyediting isn’t just about fixing errors – the editor has scope to enhance language and expression, thus improving readability. And while copyediting is fundamentally a rules-based process, the editor needs to exercise discretion in applying those rules and find a balance between prescriptive and descriptive grammar. They also must use their judgement (based on logic rather than personal preference) in language and stylistic matters for which there is no clear right or wrong.

A large part of an editor’s work revolves around style. Style in the editing context has three aspects: visual, mechanical and writing. Visual style relates to the layout of a document (e.g. typography, arrangement of artwork and use of colour). It’s largely the domain of designers and typesetters, though editors play a part in structuring and formatting a document (e.g. by applying a heading hierarchy). Mechanical style covers almost everything, that is, almost everything in written content is governed by a particular style rule (e.g. numbers, units of measure, capitalisation, and use of italics). For anything that isn’t, consistency is key – inconsistency in the presentation of content at the least jars readers and at the worst confuses them. The third component of style relates to the writer’s use of language.

An editor’s toolbox includes dictionaries, thesauruses and specialist reference works. It also contains three sources of style rules and conventions:

• Style manuals. These are books providing detailed guidelines for a country’s or region’s English, a sector or a subject area. As well as style rules and conventions, most style manuals contain general information on writing, editing and publishing. Examples are the Chicago Manual of Style for American English, the Style Manual for Australian Government publications (extending to academia and education), the United Nations Editorial Manual for use by United Nations agencies, and Scientific Style and Format for best practices in scientific content.

• Style guides. These guides set out the ‘house style’ of publishers and other organisations that publish many documents or that want to keep the presentation of their content consistent. Style guides include details on and preferences for subject areas in which these organisations work that may be missing from style manuals. Most style guides have a spelling and hyphenation list. They may also contain information on preparing organisation-specific document types and on branding (e.g. logo use).

• Style sheets. These are brief (sometimes just one page) documents intended for a single publication. Most books, journals and large reports have one to record the particularities of their content. Style sheets are the last bastion for protecting the internal consistency of any text. Most editors will build a style sheet as they work if the client doesn’t provide one. In it they’ll note the decisions they made during the edit on issues for which there is no rule, the rule has various interpretations, or deviations to the rule are allowed. The style sheet is passed on to the proofreader.

Editors check basic facts and figures that they can quickly verify using online sources. Depending on the document, this could involve simply checking the spelling of names of individuals, cities and organisations, and checking the chronology of historical events. Or it could involve checking that a system is described correctly or that the sequence of a process is presented in the right order. Fact-checking for fiction also involves checking timeline continuity and logic; for example, looking out for the mention of current everyday objects in historical works. Related to fact-checking is ensuring that source material (e.g. quotations and bibliographical details) is transcribed accurately.

Making big picture revisions falls outside the scope of copyediting. A copyeditor won’t assess whether a document’s overall approach is suited to its purpose or go searching for the crux of the document when it isn’t apparent. And, while the editor will check that language is appropriate for the audience and a consistent writing style has been used, they won’t have time to undertake extensive rewriting to remedy any problem areas. Copyediting is for final drafts. If the document is still under development, it’s not ready for this level of edit – substantive editing (or for fiction, its counterpart, known as developmental editing or structural editing) is more appropriate.

Nevertheless, copyeditors often flag for writers the significant problems they notice in structure and content and fix the straightforward ones. They might, for example, rearrange sentences in a paragraph to improve the focus or continuity of the argument, reword headings so they more clearly reflect the contents of their sections, and eliminate repetition and redundancy that is clouding the key messages.

Copyediting is usually done in Microsoft Word using its track changes function so that edits are visible. This is because, in most cases, changes are subject to the approval of the client (the author, or publisher or other organisation), who takes final responsibility for the content. The editor uses the commenting function in Word to suggest or explain complicated changes, point out sources used for correcting errors of fact, and query the author for clarification where the text is unclear. The author may prefer that the editor incorporates their responses to these queries and checks any changes made to the text after editing, in which case a second round needs to be incorporated into the editing schedule. For large or complex documents, the editor might send the author a list of document-level queries after an initial read-through. For fiction, the editor and author may wish to discuss major or sensitive changes before they are made.

Copyediting is detailed, intensive and time-consuming work. The checklist below aims to give writers an indication of what would be covered in a copyedit of their work, but each document is unique in the specifics of what the editor would need to do. The list is focused on non-fiction content. Many of the items apply to fiction too, but not all – editors of fiction don’t often have to deal with, for example, subheadings, abbreviations, tables and references. The list is also based on content that’s destined for printing; purely digital content may need other checks.

Copyediting checklist

Language

Grammar

Areas in which errors are commonly found:
• Subject–verb agreement
• Pronoun–antecedent agreement
• Verb tense and mood (incorrect or inconsistent)
• Modifiers (misplaced, dangling)
• Use of restrictive versus non-restrictive clauses
• Use of articles (‘a’, ‘an’, ‘the’)
• Use of prepositions
• Use of transitional adverbs
• Parallel construction

Spelling

Check that spelling complies with:
• The regional English in use
• The preferred dictionary
• The style guide in use
• The preferred form when there are alternatives (e.g. ‘–ize’ vs. ‘-ise’; ‘amongst’ vs. ‘among’; ‘spelt’ vs. ‘spelled’)

Punctuation

Edits are made to punctuation so that it conforms to the regional English and style in use as well as to make meaning clearer and reading easier. Some common rules relate to:
• Use of the serial comma
• Use of single or double quotation marks for dialogue, for quotations and to highlight novel words
• Placement of colons, semicolons, question marks, exclamation marks and full stops inside or outside closing quotation marks
• Use of spaced en dashes or closed up em dashes for containing parenthetical matter or setting off explanatory statements
• Use of round or square nested brackets
• Use of a capital after a colon
• Use of the solidus or dash for opposites (i.e. ‘trainer/user interface’ or ‘trainer–user interface’)
• Use of spaces and full stops with ellipses

Hyphenation

A large subset of checking spelling is checking that hyphenation is consistent with the dictionary and style in use. Style guides have many rules for and exceptions to the use of hyphens for prefixes (e.g. non-, re-, sub-, inter-) and suffixes (e.g. -like, -wide), as well as for compound words, which may be hyphenated always, never (set solid or treated as two words) or sometimes (depending on their position or function in a sentence). Other considerations related to the use of hyphens are:
• Whether to hyphenate compound adjectives only to avoid ambiguous meaning or more abundantly
• Whether multiple hyphens in a compound adjective are allowed
• Whether hyphens or en dashes are used to link words of equal association in a compound (i.e. ‘public-private partnership’ or ‘cost–benefit analysis’)
• Whether to hyphenate adverbs not ending in ‘ly’ (e.g. ‘a well-recognised location’)
• Whether the hanging/suspension hyphen is allowed (i.e. ‘above- and below-ground biomass’)
• Whether geographical indicators are hyphenated (i.e. ‘north-eastern’ or ‘northeastern’)

Capitalisation

• Apply correct and consistent capitalisation to proper nouns such as names of people, places and organisations, project names and report titles, etc.
• Apply capitalisation to compound words in title case in accordance with the style in use (e.g. the second word is also capitalised unless the first word is a prefix: ‘Capacity-Building Pre-dates the Need for Training’)
• Apply capitalisation to plural entities in accordance with the style in use (e.g. ‘Sichuan Province’ but ‘the provinces of Fujian and Yunnan’; ‘the marketing directors of the companies’ but ‘Ms X is the Marketing Director’)
• Apply capitalisation to short forms in accordance with the style in use (e.g. the Directive for the Water Framework Directive)

Presentation of words

• Treat emphasised words, keywords and novel phrases in accordance with the style in use (i.e. in bold, italics or quotation marks – at first use only), and avoid the excessive use of words treated in that way
• Treat words in other languages and transliterated words in accordance with the style in use (e.g. in italics; translation presented in parentheses)
• Treat Latin and foreign words adopted into English (e.g. ‘status quo’, ‘naïve’) in accordance with the style in use (e.g. not italicised; accents retained)
• Allow/do not allow the use of (s) to indicate a plural (e.g. ‘the report(s)’)

Word choice

• Assess whether word choice is appropriate and will match reader vocabulary
• When a document is intended for an international audience, explain regional or vernacular English or substitute it with more standard and widely understood words
• Check for words misused by the author and words with meanings that could be misunderstood by readers
• Check that ‘new’ words (e.g. those relating to technology) are used correctly
• Check that official and technical terminology is used correctly and explained where necessary, and is internally consistent in meaning and presentation
• Check that jargon is not used unnecessarily in a document intended for a general audience; if it is, replace it with clearer, more direct language
• Where necessary to avoid confusion, use the same word to mean the same thing rather than a synonym
• Avoid empty words (e.g. ‘important’)
• Check for incorrect use of ‘as well as’ for ‘and’

Writing style

• Check that the writing style is consistent across the document
• Check that the writing style is appropriate to the type of document and its purpose and audience, for example, in the level of formality (e.g. remove colloquialisms and contractions from formal writing)
• Make wordy passages more concise by reducing unnecessary or inappropriate elaboration
• Avoid repetition and redundancy (of words and passages)
• Avoid phrases that are padding and those that can be replaced by one word (e.g. ‘a sufficient number of’ = ‘enough’; ‘make a correction’ = ‘correct’)
• For stylistic devices/figures of speech, correct misuse (e.g. mixed metaphors) or overuse
• Be alert to humour that might be misconstrued or allusions that might not be understood by some readers
• Avoid nominalisation (burying verbs in their noun forms)
• Remove adjectives or adverbs that don’t enhance meaning – find strong nouns and verbs instead
• Address weak or vague modifiers
• Avoid lengthy noun strings
• In general, use positive rather than negative constructions (e.g. ‘this text is unclear’ rather than ‘this text is not clear’)
• Rewrite passive to active voice, if appropriate
• Rewrite to reported speech, if applicable (e.g. for meeting reports)

Sentence structure

• Improve syntax (the arrangement of words in a sentence) in confusing sentences
• Rewrite structurally complicated sentences to simplify them
• Break up long sentences with punctuation, including full stops to split them in two if necessary
• Aim for a variety of sentence lengths – not too many long or too many short
• Ensure sentences link logically and have a smooth flow from one to the next
• In general, place the main idea at the front of a sentence and subordinate ideas in subordinate structures

Content

• Flag unclear, confusing or ambiguous statements or information
• Flag vague statements such as those starting with ‘it’ or ‘this’ with unclear antecedents
• Flag use of ‘and/or’ when one is sufficient to convey the correct meaning
• Flag vague information such as examples not matching up with the ideas they are exemplifying, and the use of clichés to express ideas
• Flag faulty logic and inconsistency in an argument
• Check that paragraphs contain material on the same topic, whether they are introducing the following text, summing up the preceding text, elaborating on ideas, or transitioning from one aspect of the subject matter to another
• Check that sources are cited or otherwise acknowledged for information that needs referencing and for quoted material
• Check basic facts and figures and flag any apparent problems
• For events, check the accuracy of the title, date, time and location
• Check that country/member State names comply with the recommended forms in use by a particular organisation
• Check for any apparent missing information
• Flag subject matter related problems and deviations from subject matter conventions
• Check basic calculations (e.g. percentages add up to 100; list items tally to the total number given)
• Check that keywords are useful
• Check that key terms are defined in a glossary, if applicable
• Present laws, acts, decrees and regulations in accordance with the style in use or with legal conventions
• Apply subject matter specific conventions, for example, the use of italics for species names, capitalisation of geological time periods, and subscripts and symbols in chemical formulas
• Apply publication-, series- or organisation-specific items; for example, for articles in a particular journal, check whether the abstract should be block or structured style
• Check that any template text (e.g. for a series of documents) is included and is correct

Potentially problematic language or content

Editors are not responsible for providing authors with legal advice, but usually flag the need for authors to consider issues such as:
• Plagiarism
• Confidentiality
• For text about real people, privacy and potentially libellous (defamatory) language or content
• For photos of people, the need for them to be unidentifiable (e.g. for patients in a medical case study, patient information should be cropped from the photo and the person’s eyes covered with a bar)
• Gender neutrality – an editor can apply various remedies to make language gender-neutral, but gender neutrality applies to content too
• Politically sensitive language or content
• Non-inclusive, biased, discriminatory or culturally insensitive or stereotypical language or content
• Unethical, offensive or otherwise inappropriate language or content
• Misleading information or euphemisms that cover up facts
• The use of trademarks
• The need for written permission to reproduce copyright material (text or images)
• For photos of people, the need for permission (people in stock photos need to have signed a model release)

Internal consistency

• Check the accuracy of cross-references to paragraphs, sections, pages, annexes and other locations within the document
• Edit internal cross-references to the style in use (e.g. for chapter cross-references, consider the need for titles, numbers and page ranges)
• Check the alphabetical or numerical sequence of all items in the document ordered alphabetically or numerically, for example, abbreviations list, list of keywords, headings, paragraphs, names of people or countries in an in-line list, footnotes, annexes and glossary entries
• Check that information provided in two or more locations is consistent (e.g. a value reported in a table is the same as that described in the text)
• Check that information provided in two or more locations is transcribed accurately (e.g. a pull quote is the same as the text on the page it was taken from)
• Check that accurate descriptions of content are present in, for example, the preface, book, part and chapter introductions, and margin notes (because earlier drafts might have been used to prepare such items)
• Check the internal consistency of factual information (e.g. date of an event) presented in different parts of the document
• Check the internal consistency of terminology used and processes described
• Check any metadata included in the document (e.g. document number or date)
• In digital content, check the working order of links, buttons and menus

Abbreviations

Abbreviations encompass all short forms, including acronyms (read as words and rarely preceded by an article, except when used adjectivally: ‘member States of UNESCO’ but ‘the UNESCO school safety programme’) and initialisms (read as a series of letters and often preceded by an article: ‘member States of the EU’)). Abbreviations that appear in all caps usually don’t use full points (e.g. ‘CEO’) while lower case abbreviations usually do (e.g. ‘p.p.m.’).
• Ensure that the use of abbreviations complies with the system in use, whether that is defining them in parentheses after the term at first use or defining them in a list at the start of the document; if necessary, generate the list as editing proceeds
• Check for excessive or unnecessary use of abbreviations that will not assist readers
• Check that terms that have a corresponding abbreviation are not used in full
• Comply with the style in use on whether standard abbreviations that appear in a dictionary do not need to be defined (e.g. ‘R&D’, ‘HTML’)
• Comply with the style in use on whether ‘i.e.’, ‘e.g.’, ‘etc.’, ‘vs.’, ‘cf.’ and other Latin abbreviations can be used only in parentheses and whether they are used with a comma
• Comply with the style in use on whether abbreviations can be used at the start of paragraphs and sentences, and whether they can be used possessively
• Comply with the style in use on whether abbreviations are re-defined in tables, illustrations, boxes, annexes and other stand-alone elements

Numbers

Some common rules for the use of numbers that need to be followed while editing relate to:
• Whether one to nine or one to one hundred are presented as numerals or spelled out in words
• Whether commas or non-breaking/thin spaces are used for numerals (i.e. 1,800 or 1, 800 or 1 800 or 1800)
• Whether numerals are allowed at the beginning of a sentence or list entry
• Whether fractions are always hyphenated or only when used adjectivally
• Ordinal use (i.e. ‘7th meeting’, ‘39th parallel’ or ‘twenty-first century’)
• Use of en dash for ranges, and elision of ranges (i.e. ‘pp. 1345–9’)
• Presentation of units of measurement, for example, the mandatory use of and conversion to SI units, use of the negative index, and use of ‘per’ or the solidus
• Abbreviation of units (i.e. ‘5 ha’ or ‘five hectares’)
• Use of percentages (i.e. ‘7%’, ‘7 per cent’ or ‘seven per cent’ (with % allowed in tables and illustrations))
• Use of a hyphen for unit modifiers (i.e. ‘48-hour turnaround time’)
• Whether numerals can be used with days, weeks, months and years (which are not true units)
• Presentation of dates
• Presentation of time
• Presentation of currencies, namely, use ISO three-letter code (e.g. USD, EUR) or symbol (e.g. US$, €)

Structure

Titles and headings

• Check that titles and headings are used logically and effectively to create a roadmap of the document and break up the content for easy comprehension
• Check that subheading organisation is logical and that if a hierarchy is used, it reflects content moving from the general to the specific
• Check that headings indicate the topic of the section beneath them
• Check that the correct styles are applied to part and chapter titles and section headings and subheadings
• Apply the correct case (title or sentence) to titles and headings (with capital letters or not after colons)
• Check that in-line/run-on headings are not used excessively and have a consistent style (e.g. in bold; not in italics; a full stop at the end if a complete sentence or a colon if not)
• Check the numerical or alphabetical sequence of headings if a decimal or alphanumerical system is in use, and check that the correct numbering style (Arabic or Roman) is applied
• Edit headings to remove articles at start and acronyms and abbreviations within, if applicable
• Edit headings for parallel structure
• Edit headings for approximately equal length

Lists

• Check that lists, both displayed and in-line, are used effectively to present information that is amenable to them
• Check that number (Arabic or Roman), letter or bullet lists are used consistently, or with obvious logic if more than one type is used
• Check that introductory sentence punctuation is consistent (e.g. colon for displayed lists)
• Check that list items have parallel structure (e.g. the first word is a verb; the first word is a gerund; the first letter is capitalised)
• Check that list and sub-list punctuation complies with the style in use (e.g. no punctuation at the end of an item unless it is a complete sentence; semicolon at the end of every item)
• Apply the style in use to in-line lists, namely, number or letter to start and punctuation to separate each item

Footnotes and endnotes

• Check that a logical, consistent methodology has been followed in terms of what type of information is included in the text, in the reference list, at the end of pages (footnotes) and at the end of chapters (endnotes)
• Incorporate short, relevant notes into the text, if appropriate
• Combine similar notes, shorten excessively long notes and delete unnecessary notes
• Check that notes are in numerical order
• Check that superscript note ID numbers are used in the text and before the notes themselves
• Check that the information contained in a note (e.g. a URL or further information on a model) matches up with or makes sense in the context of the text at the location where it’s cited

References

A reference list can appear at the end of a document or the end of each chapter. A bibliography, usually located at the end of a document, may contain sources that were consulted by the author but are not cited at specific locations in the text and sources that are recommended for further reading.
• Check that all sources cited in the text are included in the reference list and that name, year and any other information cited matches up with the list
• Check that all entries in the reference list are cited in the text
• Apply the style in use to the short forms of sources cited in the text
• Check that the reference list and bibliography comply with the referencing system in use (e.g. Harvard)
• Apply the style in use to the reference list and bibliography (i.e. order of items, punctuation, capitalisation and italics)
• Check that entries in the reference list and bibliography are in alphabetical (and within that, chronological) or numerical (e.g. for Vancouver system) order
• Check that all bibliographical information is present (if the author used a reference management system, omissions should be minimal); if required, search online for missing information
• Check the accuracy of bibliographical information (e.g. years of publication and volume numbers) against sources, if required
• Remove from the reference list unpublished sources, personal communications and any other reference types that are better footnoted
• Apply the correct reference style to tables, illustrations, boxes and any other such elements that stand apart from the text (i.e. short form or source in full)
• Check that quoted material in the text is transcribed accurately from sources or query any apparent discrepancies
• Check the working order of hyperlinks to external URLs

See also my proofreading checklist for things to look out for when checking over a document as a whole. Though that list focuses on publications already at the layout stage, it contains information on prelims and end matter, tables of contents, pagination, and headers and footers that might need to be checked at the copyediting stage for some documents.

Non-text elements

Where ‘element’ is a table, figure (graph, chart, diagram, drawing, photo, map, infographic, etc.), box, equation or other such item that stands apart from the text.
• Check that numbering of each element type is consecutive
• Check that all elements are cited in the text in numerical sequence and in accordance with the style in use (e.g. ‘fig. 1’; ‘Figure 1’; ‘see Table 1 below’)
• Cross-check that citations and elements match (figures, in particular, might have been separated in preparation and mixed up)
• Evaluate the positioning of elements: all should appear after their first citation
• Apply the style in use for the source of the element (i.e. in parentheses at the end of the caption or on a separate line under the element; as a short form or in full)
• For elements reproduced from another source, check or apply copyright holders’ stipulations for acknowledgement, if required by the client, and apply the style in use in terms of stating, for example, ‘Reproduced from’ or ‘Adapted from’ and including the page or number of the source element
• Check italics use for variables and punctuation in equations
• Check that equations, whether in line or displayed, are part of the text before and after them in terms of grammar and punctuation
• For digital content, check that figures have alt text to describe them

Captions

Tables and boxes usually have captions located above them; figures can have captions above or legends (for complex figures in, for example, academic papers) below them.
• Cross-check that elements and their captions match (figures, in particular, might have been separated in preparation and mixed up)
• Check that captions are understandable without reference to the text, without simply repeating information in the text or suggesting any interpretation of the data
• Check that captions are succinct: move details to the notes under the table or figure or into the text
• Check that all parts of a multipart figure are described in the caption or legend and that the style in use is applied to part labels
• Check that captions throughout the document have a consistent structure and style (e.g. do not start with an article; do not include abbreviations; do not end with a full stop)

Tables

• Format tables, to the extent required by the client; for example, check the horizontal alignment of column headings, vertical alignment of column data, indentation of turnover lines, font sizes and styles of column and row headings, use and weight of vertical and horizontal lines, use of shading, use of spanner heads, and table width in relation to text width/margins
• Check that the overall structure of the table is as simple and effective as it can be within the constraints of the data it contains
• Check that table entries are arranged logically (e.g. alphabetically)
• Apply title or sentence case to column and row headings, in accordance with the style in use
• Check that there are no blank cells – these should be filled with, for example, ‘0’, ‘ND’ (no data) or a dash
• For text tables, capitalise and punctuate entries in accordance with the style in use (e.g. internal punctuation but no full stop at the end)
• For numerical tables, check that column totals or any other simple equations are correct, values are presented with the same number of decimal places (at least within each column if not the whole table), a zero precedes the decimal point for values less than 1.0, and units are not repeated for each value (they should be given in parentheses after the column or row heading instead)
• Check that letters (usually superscript and in italics) or symbols (e.g. †, ‡, §, ¶) are used for table notes in accordance with the style in use – these should not be in sequence with footnotes or endnotes used in the text, and note that they usually read across, rather than down, columns
• Check that table note IDs in the table match the corresponding note under the table
• Check that the order of notes under the table – source notes, whole table notes (Note:), asterisks for different levels of statistical significance, specific table notes, abbreviation definitions – is consistent throughout the document (this applies to figures too)
• Edit table notes, checking that abbreviations used in the table are defined in accordance with the style in use (e.g. in an abbreviations list under the table separate the abbreviation from the definition with a comma and separate each item with a semicolon; present in alphabetical order) (this applies to figures too)
• For tables that extend over more than one page, repeat the column headings and table caption, or not, in accordance with the style in use

Figures

To the extent required by the client and permissible in terms of the source (it may not be possible to alter reproduced figures), figures are edited either by marking up changes in the file or on a printed copy or by compiling a list of changes for the designer. Ideally, figures across a document have a consistent appearance.
• Flag poor figure quality, including blurry lines, fonts that are hard to read, and colour figures that won’t be able to be interpreted when printed in black and white
• Check that the size at which a figure will be reproduced is appropriate, for example for reading small size lettering in the figure
• Crop the figure to remove borders and unwanted areas
• Clean up graphs to their simplest forms; for example, remove 3D effects, remove gridlines, provide units in parentheses at the end of axis titles (e.g. (%)) rather than after each value on the axis, and for multipart figures, remove duplications of axis titles (centre them across the parts instead)
• Edit any text in the figure, including axis titles (apply the correct case)
• Check that axis titles indicate the variable followed by the unit of measurement in parentheses (e.g. ‘Time (years)’)
• Transfer any text unnecessary in the figure to the legend or notes under the figure
• Transfer symbol and fill definitions from the figure to the legend, if possible, in accordance with the style in use
• Check that error bars and asterisks for different levels of statistical significance are defined in the legend
• Check that a scale bar (located in the figure and defined at the end of the legend) or magnification (in the legend), or a compass orientation for a map, is included, if necessary
• Check that fills and patterns can be differentiated from one another and will reproduce clearly in the figure and legend
• Check that different symbols are used to distinguish different curves in a graph – the lines linking the symbols should be solid, if possible
• Check that a zero precedes the decimal point for values less than 1.0
• Check that all parts of a multipart figure are labelled in accordance with the style in use (e.g. ‘(a)’ in the top-left corner (note that parts are usually read across and then down)) and that the parts correspond to their descriptions the caption or legend
• Consider whether the parts of a multipart figure are arranged in a way that allows for easy comparison and that there is sufficient white space between the parts
• Consider whether figures presenting similar data should be combined or multipart figures presenting dissimilar data should be separated

Formatting

Cleaning up and formatting should ideally be done by the client before editing starts so that the editor can focus on the text. A few points that might be covered by an editor are included here.
• Accept tracked changes and delete comments after checking with the author that the presence of these doesn’t indicate a version problem
• Remove highlighting, fields, bookmarks and watermarks; clear tab stops; change straight to curly quotation marks and apostrophes; turn automatic hyphenation off; paste text in boxes into regular text and add a border; and set margins
• Clean up double spacing after sentences, line spaces after paragraphs and manual line breaks (soft returns)
• Apply non-breaking spaces between numbers and units, an abbreviated genus name and a species name, single and double quotation marks when they occur together, initials of names, and numerals and operational and relational signs
• Check for special character and symbol corruption and for any errors that might have arisen owing to the use of scanned material or text derived from voice-recognition software
• Attach the correct template, or in the absence of a template, create or modify styles, in particular for heading levels, body text of various types (e.g. numbered paragraphs, indented paragraphs and lists), table and figure captions, block quotations, epigraphs and references
• Undertake any required formatting to client specifications; for example, check title pages and tables against a model document
• Note any special instructions for layout for the designer or typesetter

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