Editing Note

Substantive Editing

Job of the editor here is to help writer say what she is trying to say as strongly as possible. The editor now takes the place of the reader, a close and interested reader.

Such questions and comments as:

What is the writer trying to tell me.

Is____________ this the point you are trying to make.

Would it help if this was said using a different example?

Would another example help.

This passage is not clear.

This sentence contradicts something said earlier.

I'm not sure that this logically follows that

This was already said.

This idea is complex and it needs to be expanded, with more elaboration.

This is what I take this to mean - is that what you meant to communicate?

The editor here is interested in the these ideational and substantial elements copyediting and proofreading can be done now, but it is not the primary task at this juncture in the development of a paper.

Language and copy-editing

Here the editor is interested in helping the author use the best forms of language to successfully communicate. The editor is focusing on the media (language, written language or prose for this kind of product i.e. a research paper) and less on the message (it is not possible to completely separate the two, media/message, but it is possible to distinguish between the two and improve both). For language/copyediting focus on the below elements: