Use the Proofing Marks

Most copyeditors use a standard set of proofing marks, and follow certain conventions in their use. The goals are these:

• Indicate where there are problems in the document.

• Indicate the type of each problem.

• Indicate what to do to fix each problem.

• Make those indications as visible as possible.

• Take up as little of the page’s limited space as possible when doing all of these things.

Each textual problem usually has two marks associated with it: a small mark that is placed within the text and an associated mark that is placed next to the line in the margin.

The purpose of the margin marks is to alert you to the problem, its general location, and its type. The purpose of the mark in the text is to show exactly where the problem is and to help indicate the solution.

Figure 49 shows a copyedited page with proofreading marks; notice how much easier it is to spot the margin marks than those in the text.

PDFpen’s Library has a rich assortment of proofreading marks. You can use these marks when you edit a text.

To access PDFpen’s proofreading marks, do the following:

1. Choose Window > Library or click Library in the document window toolbar.

2. In the Library window, click the Proofreading icon (Figure 50).

When you want to add a mark to a page, drag it from the Library to the page with the Edit tool. When it’s on the page, you can adjust its size if necessary by dragging the mark’s handles with the Edit tool.

Most of the proofreading marks in the Library have three forms, as you can see in Figure 50, above. From left to right the forms are:

• Editing marks: You place these in the text itself when you copyedit a draft document. Drafts are commonly double-spaced (as in Figure 49, a page or so back) and have more room for markup. Therefore, editing marks tend to be slightly larger than proofreading marks (described next).

• Proofreading marks: You place these in the text itself during a final proofreading pass. These marks tend to require less space than editing marks, and space is at a premium for material that is typeset in (nearly) final form.

• Margin marks: You place these in the margin to call attention to the editing or proofreading marks that you’ve placed in text. Not all editing or proofreading marks have margin mark equivalents.

Learn the Copyediting Best Practices

While I’m not about to teach you all of the fine points of copyediting (folks, there are whole books about this stuff!), here’s a short list of best practices that cover some basics:

• Use the editing/proofreading marks within the text to indicate requested changes and corrections, and place the associated margin marks in the margin.

• When adding text, place a comment box containing the text above an insertion mark in the margin, and use an insertion mark within the text to mark the new text’s location (Figure 49, a few pages back, shows several examples).

• Use a deletion mark in the margin to indicate deletions, and use the Strikethrough line highlight in the text to indicate deletions of more than one character; for a single character deletion, use a deletion mark in the text instead of a strikethrough line.

• Use the Underline highlight to indicate italics within the text, and a margin mark to indicate it in the margin.

• Use the Squiggle line highlight to indicate bold within the text, and a margin mark to indicate it in the margin.

• Use comment boxes in the margin to indicate brief suggestions, but make them a different color than any comment boxes used for inserted text.

• Place note icons in the margin for queries to the writer or the editor; write the query in the note window, and make sure to close the window when you finish writing to avoid clutter.

Choose How to Circulate a Document

How you circulate a document for review depends on the number of people involved, the need for confidentiality, and the schedule. There are two common circulation methods:

• Star review: Copies of the document are sent from the editor to all reviewers at once (like the rays emanating from a star). Each reviewer supplies her own notes and returns the copy to the editor. This method is quick, and ensures that each reviewer’s notes are confidential, since only the reviewer and editor see them. However, a star review requires more work on the editor’s part to integrate the notes and suggestions, and can result in many redundant notes.

• Round-robin review: The document is sent to each reviewer in sequence, accruing notes as it circulates. This allows later reviewers to see the notes of previous reviewers and can eliminate redundant notes. However, a round-robin review takes more time than the star method, since only one reviewer at a time works on the document. It might also lead to instances of “false consensus” if later reviewers are influenced or intimidated by notes from earlier reviews.

Follow Best Review Practices

Finally, here are some best practices to follow when participating in a review:

• Be polite: Even if the review is confidential, there is no guarantee that the author might not see your notes, even if your name isn’t on them. Rants and derogatory terms are never appropriate.

• Question or suggest, don’t dictate: This goes along with being polite—unless you are the editor, you don’t have final say (and most good editors tend to question or suggest rather than wield the Awesome Hammer of Authority).

• Be brief: Even if a scrolling note window gives you ample room to expand upon your thoughts, be succinct. The editor and the writer both must deal with comments from many reviewers, and, as a manuscript nears completion, time is a precious commodity.

• Stay on topic: Don’t get sidetracked by copyediting or proofreading issues; that’s usually not what a review is for. Focus on the issues on which the editor or author has asked you to comment.

  Which leads to this last best practice….

• (For the review organizer) Give clear instructions: Let the reviewers know what they should be concentrating on as they review the document, and let them know what they can ignore. If you have specific requirements for the form of the comments (for example, use notes rather than comment boxes, recommended highlight colors), state them explicitly. Make sure that all reviewers know the date by which the review must be completed.