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Editorial Services Guide
By The Bay Area Editors' Forum

Acquisitions editing Indexing Production editing
Copyediting Information design Project editing
Developmental editing Page design Proofreading
Fact checking Permissions editing Technical editing


Definition: Copyediting

At all levels of copyediting—light, medium, and heavy—the copyeditor corrects errors, queries the author about conflicting statements, requests advice when the means of resolving a problem is unclear, and prepares a style sheet. The copyeditor may also incorporate the author's replies to queries; this work is known as cleanup editing. Before work begins, freelance editors should determine if the copyediting fee will cover cleanup editing or if cleanup editing will be performed for an additional fee.

Light Copyediting (baseline editing)

A light copyedit does not involve interventions such as smoothing transitions or changing heads or text to ensure parallel structure. The editor checks content only to detect spots where copy is missing. A light copyedit may include typemarking.

Medium Copyediting Heavy Copyediting (substantive editing)

The key differences between heavy and medium copyedits are the levels of judgment and rewriting involved. In a heavy copyedit, the editor improves the flow of text rather than simply ensuring correct usage and grammar; may suggest recasts rather than simply flagging problems; and may enforce a uniform level, tone, and focus as specified by the publisher or developmental editor.

Select a copyeditor.