The Process of Copy Editing
The process of copy editing is just one of the many stops a text will make on its way to publication. While there are many different kinds of editing, the process of copy editing involves thoroughly reading a text, determining and applying the style and audience required for that text, as well as fact checking, noting inconsistencies, and proofreading the copy until it is ready for print.
Other People Are Reading
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Initial Read-Through
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Many times for a copy editor to properly assess the needs of a text, an intial read-through will be performed. During this reading, the copy editor will abstain from making marks, notes or changes to the text in order to let the bulk of the work be read as the future reader is expected to read it. This step will provide a more accurate, in-depth perusal of the copy by the copy editor.
Style and Audience
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Determining the needs of the client and the audience are key to copy editing. There are a number of professionally accepted styles in which those texts may be written, and texts designed for any audience may require copy editing.
Popular styles include but are not limited to Chicago, Turabian (sometimes used in conjunction with each other), Associated Press (AP), Modern Language Association (MLA), and Harvard. Each style holds slightly different rules concerning numerals, capitalization and other punctuations and citation information. For example, according to J. Wood of the University of Virgina, texts written under AP guidelines will have numerals below 10 spelled out, and above 10 written as figures. Other styles may require numerals, among other things, to be written differently.
Additionally, a young adult novel will have an entirely different set of expectations than that of a college level textbook. A copy editor must read and edit a project with these expectations in mind.
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Checking for Factual Errors and Inconsistencies
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Depending on the nature and size of the project as well as the client's needs, the second step of the copy editing process is often identifying factual errors and inconsistencies within the text. Names, dates, various percentages and other statistics must be accurate, and any inconsistencies within the text must also be eliminated. For instance, a copy editor must note the statement "Columbus first sailed for the new world in 1592" as incorrect. Likewise, a copy editor must note that a character stepping out of his car at midnight cannot see a rainbow as he does so, because this is an inconsistency of time. Several readings may be required to edit all factual errors and inconsistencies.
Proofreading
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After the style of the text is known and the copy editor has perused the piece for factual errors and inconsistencies, a reading may be done focused solely on grammar, syntax, spelling, and punctuation. This step in the process is extremely detail-oriented and will be repeated until the copy editor is sure there are no unedited errors, as this is often the final step the copy undergoes before printing.
Cleaning Up
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Depending on the nature of the relationship between the writer and copy editor and the nature of the text, the copy may be sent back to the author at any point for revisions before returning to the copy editor and progressing to the next step of the editorial process. The altered version of the text sent by the author to the copy editor is known as cleanup.
According to the University of North Carolina Press, when the text is edited via computer, "this cleanup also entails the final round of changes to the disk, so the manuscript is ready for production when the cleanup is finished." Shorter pieces may only return to the author as the editing of the text nears completion, rather than periodically throughout the editorial process.
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References
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