It seems like I’m putting my hands up a lot these days, but I have only recently realised that copyediting and proofreading are two quite different things. What? You thought they were the same thing too? Then read on…
In November 2021, I was having a Teams chat with a classmate about our PhD project progress generally when the topic of proofreading came up. It wasn’t something I had given much thought to, so decided I had better have a look to see what was entailed. The University has a web page dedicated to proofreading and while it does not provide a proofreading service itself it did offer some useful guidelines to follow. In the months that followed I wondered how might such a service benefit my writing, and what might be the time and cost implications? The first step though was to figure out what I would like a proofreader to actually do. I write reasonably well, was always top of my primary school classes in spelling, my grammar and punctuation is reasonable and my academic vocabulary has been improving over the years of the PhD programme. I consider my writing to be for the lay reader though, and avoid using academic jargon for the sake of it. So, getting back to the question, what could a proofreader help me with? Well, I have a habit of writing as quickly as I speak – I have stuff in my head that I have to get out so it’s like writing without taking a breath. Surely this is something I should be able to do for myself with the aid of Daniel, Microsoft’s Read Aloud voice for UK English?
My friend Connie, from Austin, Texas, was visiting for a few weeks in March 2022 and we were chatting about the services of a proofreader. She enlisted some expert advice from a family member who directed us to the website of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP). In its FAQ page it makes reference to editing and copyediting. Hmmm, okay, perhaps a proofreader when undertaking a piece of work will suggest changes to be made, hence the reference to editing? Well, not exactly, and the FAQ section didn’t help me a whole lot either. Nonetheless, it seemed to me that editing my work is something I should and would be doing myself, guided by my supervisor. With this in mind I decided I would not require the services of a copyeditor. But what about proofreading? My supervisor’s settings for MS Word come in very useful with suggestions for grammar and punctuation that are spot on for the most part. He assured our class in 2020 when he convened one of our modules, that he didn’t do this manually, it was a system setting (and no doubt colleagues continue to benefit from this)! I think I may have decided that I had neither the time nor finances to spare for a proofreading service that I should at least attempt myself. Also, since the opening section asked, What? I should pay for fixing typos? I reckoned I should have a look to see what was involved.
The public library network in Ireland subscribes to an online course platform called universalclass.com with a slogan, Learn Anything – Learn Anytime – Learn Anywhere. With hundreds of courses available, I regularly see some in my social media feed that I would like to take whenever I might get time. One course called Proofreading and Copyediting 101 grabbed my attention and so I bookmarked it, ready to take as soon as a window of opportunity opened. The opening came in January 2023, having submitted my ‘near-final’ draft (convincing myself that by calling it ‘near-final’, it will indeed come true but my supervisor may have different ideas). There were 14 lessons in total, each requiring a short written assignment and a quiz. Over two evenings I attempted the first six on my iPad, and it was clear from the outset that the roles of Copyeditor and Proofreader were very different from one another. I admit that I did not put in too much effort, thinking it would be like other MOOCs I have taken over the years. When I checked the message inbox I was astounded to see feedback from an instructor with a photograph and an Irish name, advising me to ‘look at the question and lesson again’ in the case of lesson 3; for lesson 4 whether I have a sample style sheet; and for lesson 6: ‘Please redo this. I know you can do better. Take your time with it.’ Fair enough I thought, took my time, resubmitted the assignments and took the rest of the course very seriously indeed.
What have I learned from taking this course? Absolutely that copyediting and proofreading are not the same thing. I hope the instructor agrees with my submission for lesson 13:
The roles of proofreader and copyeditor are not one and the same.
A proofreader is someone who focuses on the preparation of the final text (received from the copyeditor) for publication. This includes spelling, grammar and punctuation checks, along with layout of the text. A style sheet will be passed along from the copyeditor to be used by the proofreader.
A copyeditor is someone whose work precedes that of the proofreader. It can involve light, medium or heavy editing depending on the client’s requirement. The draft the copyeditor works on is guided by the 5 C’s: clarity, correctness, conciseness, comprehension and consistency, with all of these to be achieved in the updated text to be passed to the proofreader.
Lesson 13 submission
Whether or not I pass (but my current report card looks like I will) this course has been really useful, and I have learned enough to be confident of my newly acquired copyediting and proofreading skills, at least for my own manuscript!
Edit: It is less than 24 hours since I completed the course and published this blog post. The instructor has marked my assignments and I have scored full points on pretty much all of them. Clearly, my renewed focus yesterday yielded results and saving them in MS Word means I can access then at any time. For now, to wrap up this post I will share my lesson 9 assignment to which the instructor commented ‘I like your response!’ And when our PhD Study Day academic lead asks me to explain to colleagues the difference between copyediting and proofreading I will also be able to explain the different levels of copyediting!
The levels of copyediting are light, medium, and heavy with the tasks in each level building on the lower one.
Light copyediting involves reviewing for correctness and consistency of spelling, grammar and punctuation. The review includes words that are incorrectly used; references are verified; lists are in order. References to any figures and tables should be noted. No rewriting of text to improve readability and flow is included.
Medium copyediting includes the tasks of light copyediting above. It also involves reviewing and making suggestions for improved structure in sentences; noting any incorrect statements; checking for consistency in writing tone and for matching any summaries such as an abstract to the content.
Heavy copyediting includes the tasks of light and medium copyediting above. The tasks go further since changes may be suggested in addition to noting problem areas such as sentence structure. The overall structure should be reviewed for example, adding heading levels and rearranging sentences to improve readability and flow.
Lesson 9 submission
Having looked at the course first in January 2022 (goodness, was it really that long ago?) I am glad that I managed to allocate the time to complete it, albeit a year later. And here is my final report card and certificate:
Until next time, Sandra
References:
Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading. (2020). Proofreading or editing? CIEP. Retrieved 4 February 2023 from https://www.ciep.uk/assets/files/download/CIEP-Proofreading-or-Editing-free-ebook.pdf
Smith, B. (2003). Proofreading, revising & editing skills success in 20 minutes a day. LearningExpress.
Sandra Flynn 