Copy_editing

For copy editing on Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:How to copy-edit.

Copy editing (also copy-editing and copyediting) is the editorial work that an editor does to make formatting changes and improvements to a manuscript; copy (as a noun) refers to written or typewritten text for typesetting, printing, or publication. An editor who does this is a copy editor; an organization\'s highest-ranking copy editor, or the supervising editor of a group of copy editors, may be known as the copy chief.

There is no universal form for the job, or for the job title; it is often written as one word (copyediting), or with a hyphen (copy-editing); the hyphenated form is especially common in Britain. Similarly, the term copy editor may be spelled either as one word, two words, or as a hyphenated compound term.

Generally, in British newspaper and magazine publishing (but not book publishing), the job is called sub-editing or revise editing (The Times).

Overview

The “Five Cs” summarise the copy editor\'s job: (i) make the copy clear, (ii) correct, (iii) concise, (iv) comprehensible, and (v) consistent; that is: make it say what it means, and mean what it says. Typically, via the publisher\'s house style, copy editing is correct spelling, consistently used terminology, accurate punctuation, and correcting infelicities of style, i.e. grammatical and semantic errors, and formatting the text with the house style headers, footers, headlines, et cetera.

The copy editor renders the text to flow sensibly, fairly, and accurately so that it will provoke no legal problems (plagiarism, misstatements, etc.) for the publisher. Newspaper copy editors are sometimes responsible for selecting which news service wire copy the newspaper will use, and for rewriting it to house style. Often, the copy editor is the only person, other than the author, to read an entire text before publication. Newspaper managing editors regard copy editors as the newspaper\'s last line of accurate defense.

A copy editor might abridge a text, by cutting and trimming the length of a novel or an article, either to fit broadcasting or publishing limits or to clarify its meaning. This usually requires omitting text and rewriting (abridging) the uncut text to bridge gap created by deleting details and plot; some abridgements are only slightly shorter than the originals, but others are much abridged, especially when a classic literary work is abridged for children readers.

Changes in the profession

Traditionally, the copy editor would read a printed or written manuscript, manually marking it with editor\'s correction marks. Often, the manuscript is read on a computer display and corrections are entered directly.

The rise of desktop publishing means that many copy editors do design and layout work that once was the province of design production crews in print publications. As a result, the skills needed for editing copy have shifted; technical knowledge is sometimes considered as important as writing ability, though this is more true in journalism than it is in book publishing.

Traits, skills, and training

Besides excellent command of the language, copy editors need broad general knowledge of the world in spotting factual errors, good critical-thinking skill (to recognize inconsistencies), diplomacy for dealing with writers, and a thick skin for when editorial diplomacy fails. Also, they must establish priorities — balancing a striving for perfection and the necessity to follow deadlines.

Many copy editors have a college degree, often in journalism, English, or communications. In the United States, copy editing often is taught as a college journalism course, though its name varies; news design and pagination also are taught.

In the United States, The Dow Jones Newspaper Fund sponsors internships that include two weeks of training. Also, the American Press Institute, the Poynter Institute, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and conferences of the American Copy Editors Society offer mid-career training for newspaper copy editors and news editors (news copy desk supervisors).

Most U.S. newspapers and publishers give copy-editing job candidates an editing test or a tryout. These vary widely and often include general items such as acronyms, current events, simple mathematics, and punctuation, and skills such as Associated Press style, headline writing, infographics editing, and journalism ethics.

In the U.K., training may be on the job or through publishing courses, privately run seminars, and correspondence courses of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders.

See also

• Proofreading
• Fact-checking
• House style
• American copy editors
• AP Stylebook
• Obelism
• Controlled language

References

• The Art of Editing, by Floyd K. Baskette, Jack Z. Sissors, and Brian S. Brooks.
• Butcher\'s Copy-Editing: the Cambridge Handbook for Editors, Copy-editors and Proofreaders. 4th edition, by Judith Butcher, Caroline Drake and Maureen Leach. Cambridge University Press, 2006.

External links

Look up Copy editing in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

General

• Sub-editing style and directory
• Advice on freelance proofreading and copy-editing (UK)
• Copy Editor newsletter (USA)
• Proofreading practice at Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders
• Copyeditors\' Knowledge Base

Organizations

• American Copy Editors Society
• Society for Editors and Proofreaders (UK)
• Editors\' Association of Canada
• Editorial Freelancers Association (USA)

Newspaper copy editing

• Test examples for Dow Jones Newspaper Fund internships
• Test question examples, compiled by the American Copy Editors Society
• The Slot, includes What exactly is a copy editor? and How a copy desk works, by Bill Walsh of The Washington Post
• Testy Copy Editors Newspaper copy editors and their fans talk shop

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia