ESSENTIAL TASKS
When it comes to copyediting, copyeditors focus on six essential tasks* to assist authors with publishing a final written product.
- Mechanical editing: spelling, punctuation, capitalization, hyphenation, abbreviations, etc.
- Correlation of parts: cross-checking references, lists, footnotes/endnotes, headings, etc.
- Language editing: correct errors in grammar, syntax, and usage; suggest revisions as needed.
- Content editing: verify content, facts, fix gaps in logic, fix faulty organization of content.
- Permissions: ensure source and credit lines are applied and copyright laws are followed.
- Markup: identify special features (e.g., titles, captions) of the manuscript other than text.
Any or all of these tasks fall on a continuum of manuscript editing that professional associations of editors describe in terms of levels, i.e., light, medium, and heavy copyediting.
*From The Copyeditors Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications. 4th ed. Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2019.