Editorial triage in copy editing

1. EDITORIAL TRIAGEINCOPY EDITING

2. Sometimes a copyeditor is requiredtofulfila deadlinethateveryone engaged in the project understands is unrealistic for even a light copyedit. Insuchinstances,thecopyeditor'sfirstactionistorequestassistancefrom the editorial coordinator in establishing priorities: which editing chores are most necessary forthisspecificproject,and whichnicetiesmust be sacrificed? Of course, the priority list varies depending on the project; but, formostprojects,abasicworklistwouldincludeaddressingthose problems that would be most humiliating to the Journal publisher and most perplexingtoreaders.Asaresult,thecopyeditorwould:

3. Rectifyspellingmistakes, Major grammatical faults (for example, incorrect subject-verb agreement),and Glaring punctuationflaws,investigateactualdiscrepancies, ensurethatallacronymsandabbreviationsaredescribed, identifythepagescontaininginformationthatrequires permissiontoreproducecarefullyreadthetitlepage, copyrightpage,and contentspagedouble-checksthenumberingof footnotes,tables,andfigures

4. In other words, mechanical errors or differences that do not impede with communication (e.g., capitalization, hyphenation, italicization, list format) would be overlooked, as would practically all diction, grammar, use, and content issues. The copyeditor, on the other hand, would maintain track of the permissions required (to protect the author and publisherfrombeingidentifiedinalawsuit)andwoulddouble-checkthe contents page and element numbering (to save readers the frustration ofmissingorout-of-sequenceitems).Ifthetimetableallows,the followingthingsmaybeaddedtothetasklist. Longphrasesandparagraphsshouldbebrokenup. Examineyourusageofthepassive. Removeredundanciesandrepetitions.

5. When limited in time, you may have to choose between completing two fast passes or one long pass and either skipping the second pass altogether or doing a selected second pass. During a second pass, you might read only the most crucial sections of the book or return to the paragraphs that caused you the most trouble on the first pass. The type ofcontent,theprioritylist,and your individual work style will influence the decision between oneortwopasses.

6. This type of triage is complex because it goes against the nature and training of a copyeditor to leave improperly punctuated, confusing words and paragraphs whose logic is Side-out or upside-down. When time is limited, however, it is more vital to have read every page than to have struggled over the first half of a job and then skimmed the rest. Business papersaretriaged.GaryBlake,theco-authorofTheElementsof BusinessWritingandTheElementsofsystematictechnicalWriting,offers adifferenttriagepriority.

7. Blakecontendsthatspelling,grammar,andpunctuationproblemswillnot "drive clients out the door" unless the misspelt word is the customer's name, and ranks all mechanical difficulties at the bottom of his ten-point business priority list. Instead, at the top of the list are difficulties that undermine the dual goals of a business document: to enlighten and convince readers, as well as to portray the sponsoring organization's authorityandexperience.Blakeprioritizeseliminatingorganizational problems,rewordingwordswiththe incorrecttone,andclarifying unnecessarilyambiguousmaterial.

8. Technical technical documentsareprioritized.JudithTarutzrecommends copyeditorsaddressthefollowingquestionswhen constructingalistofprioritiesfortriageinTechnicalEditing:The Practical Guide for Editors and Writers: What is essential to the readers? What types of mistakes are readers likely to notice and worry about? Whatisthedocument'ssignificancetothereaders?Whattypesoffaults are simple to correct, given the timeconstraints? "Sometimes you'll change something that's not critical but is so easy to do that it'd be ridiculous not to," Tarutz explains. And sometimes, you must ignore somethingthatannoysyoubecauseitisacceptabletotheconsumers,is costlyto alter, andisnotvitaltochange.

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