What Is Copyediting?
Copyediting (sometimes spelled as two words: copy editing) is low to medium-level editing involving limited revision and correction of issues in texts.
Copyediting jobs are very hands-on. Copyeditors must understand the goals and intentions of a publication to edit it effectively, as the task often requires some rewriting or rearranging of the text for the sake of clarity or concision.
Because copyeditors have always been responsible for making changes directly to copy, the role hasn’t been significantly redefined by the digital age, as proofreading has. While editors may use some esoteric copyediting marks among each other, communication with the writer is in much more understandable, user-friendly language.
After copyediting, an editor will typically return the text to the writer for revisions. Copyediting involves many direct changes to the copy. It also includes general comments, suggestions, questions, and recommendations directed to the client. In different situations, copyediting and proofreading may be comparable. However, the extra time and attention spent on the text and communicating with the author are what make copyediting a higher-level process than proofreading, which offers no feedback or commentary and minimal revisions.
What Is Proofreading?
Proofreading is traditionally the final step of the editing process, in which the proofreader detects and marks errors in a proof.
We create and edit our documents on screens and transfer documents online. At times, never printing a single page until producing the final product — sometimes making a change directly to the text is just as easy as marking it, thus saving a step.
Since this makes job consolidation practical, much proofreading now involves detecting and either marking or correcting errors in a proof. An evolving definition like this could result in a slippery slope of the job’s duties, so I maintain as simple a delineation as possible between proofreading and copyediting:
Proofreading can also include identifying and sometimes making corrections to problem areas in a proof. This can involve catching any number of types of issues (including capitalization, grammar, or spelling), but the general rule is that a proofreader won’t spend time revising the text or proposing changes. Proofreading is simple and gets straight to the point, saying, “Here is a problem,” not “Here’s how to fix it.” The latter is copyediting.
What’s the difference between copyediting and proofreading?
A proofreader does not provide comments, feedback, critique, or anything like that. Again, that falls under the jurisdiction of a copyeditor. Proofreading is performed after the writing is finished and checks for all sorts of concerns, such as incorrectly numbered pages, alignment, and spacing errors, spelling mistakes. Also addressed are obstructive grammar or syntax errors, ambiguous writing, improper capitalization, problems with punctuation, ad infinitum.