Editing or proofreading: what do you need?

23 Nov 2015 | No Comments | posted by admin_eng | in Editing / Proofreading

Editing and proofreading are two terms that are often confused, people wrongly assuming that both are the same thing. There are subtle differences between both processes, in spite of having the same objective.   Let’s take a look at some of these differences:

Editing

In simple terms, editing refers to revising a document in order to improve the overall structure and quality of writing. One of the main responsibilities of an editor is to improve the overall readability of text.

From academic and technical writing to fiction, a good editor ensures that all types of documents and articles are free of errors. This includes grammatical and spelling errors.

At the same time, an editor has the liberty to rewrite entire sentences or paragraphs. They manage sentence length and strengthen its grammatical structure. Along with clarity and consistency of thoughts, they look for concreteness in writing.

In a nutshell, editors are hired for an extensive review of documents. Each of them has their individual style in a particular subject area. While editing documents, they use their experience and expertise to make sure that a document makes sense.

Proofreading

Proofreading is reviewing the final draft of an article or text. It takes place after a document has been edited. The main purpose of proofreading is to make sure that the document is free of spelling, punctuation, formatting, and similar errors.

However, there is more to proofreading than just checking for spelling mistakes. A proofreader must ensure that a document follows standard language set, that is to say British or American English. Equally important is to check that a document contains terms specific to its industry or field. For example, a business article will have technical terms rather than generic phrasing. Furthermore, proofreading can be done electronically by using track changes in Microsoft Word. Similarly, formatting can be done on Word as well.

What should you choose?

This clearly depends on your needs. If you want a professional to have a final look at your document, then you should commission the services of a proofreader. Otherwise, go for an editor if you want someone to check the structure and flow of content, style of writing and citations.

Remember, editing is a more comprehensive technique of improving the quality of text. As compared to proofreading, it takes more time. Having said that, proofreading is critical to make sure that a document is flawless.

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