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What is copy editing? Depending on the person you ask, or even the country you reside in, you’re likely to receive different answers, sometimes even conflicting ones!
In this article, we’ll sort through the confusion to find a coherent copy editing definition. We’ll take a roundup of the tasks undertaken by a copy editor, and see how they differ in different industries and niche areas.
Copy editing, also called copyediting, is the process of reviewing written copy for mechanical correctness to ensure consistency and improve readability. To some, this may seem a very basic definition of copy editing, but at its core, this is precisely the service undertaken by a copy editor.
While copyediting is largely mechanical in nature, it may incorporate some additional checks depending on the document being edited. We may divide the copy editing process into two parts: substantive editing and mechanical editing.
A substantive edit under copy editing is a macro-review of the entire document for refined readability, clarity, and consistency. In this check, the copy editor goes through different sections and subsections of your document, considering it as a whole.
So, a copy editor undertaking this task will go through the structure and organization of your content to ensure clear communication between you and your reader.
This is different from developmental editing, where an editor works with you to improve the intrinsic quality of your content. Developmental editing ensures that your content is of the highest possible value to your reader, while substantive editing ensures that it is easy to read and understand.
Mechanical editing is what people popularly imagine editing to be: marking up mistakes in grammar, incorrect spelling and punctuation, awkward phrasing, and run-on sentences. It gives you an error-free document that only requires a proofread before it can be published or submitted.
So how is copy editing different from proofreading? Both copy editing and proofreading check for mechanical errors in language, but copy editing is far more extensive than proofreading.
Mechanical editing under copyediting goes beyond simple language correction. It ensures that the document follows a stipulated tone and has stylistic consistency. It also improves the readability of your text by ensuring proper flow in your sentences and paragraphs.
In this way, copy editing is responsible for ensuring that your document reads as a coherent whole.
Here’s a list of things copyediting checks for in a document:
While we’ve given you a tentative copyediting definition, not all copy editors undertake the same level of editing. This is because different documents require different kinds of reviews.
The scope of copyediting differs with the vocation you’re in. We can isolate at least four distinct varieties of copy editing based on the field in which a copy editor works.
Copy-editing for journalistic documents such as newspapers or magazines, called sub-editing in the UK, entails a broader range of work. A copy editor for newspapers needs to understand not only the mechanics of language but also news design and pagination.
While reviewing such copy, the editor performs the following tasks:
The word “copy” in terms of online publication refers to a block of text that appears on web pages. Copy may be long or short, so the scope of copy editing here changes with the type of copy they’re working on.
Website copyediting requires an understanding of the product or service you’re trying to sell. So, a copy editor here should have some experience with copywriting and marketing.
Copy editing for online platforms such as blogs constitutes more or less the mechanical edit:
Academic copy editing is directed toward removing language and formatting errors from an academic document such as an essay, research paper, or dissertation. Here, the copy editor is mostly focused on ensuring that the author’s ideas are communicated without confusion or ambiguities.
An academic copy editor undertakes the following responsibilities:
Under book publishing, copyediting is one of five editing steps. It comes after developmental editing (or optionally, line editing) and before proofreading. While working with writers, a copy editor has to resolve language errors in the book while preserving its unique writing style.
A book copy editor performs the following checks:
Often, a copy editor for books also handles line editing. If you’d like to read more about how different steps unfold under book editing, visit this page.
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