What is report copyediting?

Report copyediting aims to correct errors or lapses in grammar, usage and diction, while striving to preserve the report writer’s individual style or ‘authorial voice’.

What do you focus on?

Report copyediting focuses on highlighting or correcting any text in a report manuscript that is incorrect, unidiomatic, confusing, ambiguous, or inappropriate.

Does this include mechanical editing?

Yes. Mechanical editing is critical. The heart of report copyediting – mechanical editing – consists of making a report manuscript conform to the house style of the tasking agency or publisher. We ensure consistency in:

• spelling
• hyphenation
• capitalisation
• punctuation
• use of numerals
• footnotes and endnotes
• acronyms
• italics and bold type
• Treatment of special elements. These can include headings, lists, tables, and images. Images fall into two main categories: figures (including photographs, illustrations, drawings, diagrams, logos, graphs, and maps) and tables.

Do you cross-check a report manuscript?

Following the mechanical editing stage, correlating or cross-checking the different parts of the report manuscript is crucial. This includes:

• verifying any cross-references that appear in the text
• checking the numbering of footnotes, endnotes, figures (including photographs, illustrations, drawings, diagrams, logos, graphs and maps) and tables
• specifying the placement of figures and tables
• checking the content of the tables and images against the captions and against the text
• reading the list of tables and images against the captions and comparing the entries in the list to the tables and images themselves
• checking the citations and permissions of tables and images
• reading the table of contents against the headings and sub-headings in the manuscript
• reading the footnotes or endnotes against the bibliography.

Does report copyediting change the report writer’s argument or findings?

No. Copyediting should not change a report writer’s arguments or findings. As copyeditors, we will not attempt to impose our stylistic preferences or prejudices on the author.

Does report copyediting include fact-checking?

As copyeditors, we are generally not responsible for the factual correctness of a report.
However, we may spot-check some facts in the report manuscript to identify potential inaccuracies.

We may highlight any issues with the author and ask them to resolve them, especially if these random checks suggest more pervasive errors in the manuscript. Sometimes, we will ask an author to address serious internal inconsistencies, major organisational problems, or provide additional elements such as tables, maps, a glossary, or an index.

Do you provide heavy editing or rewriting?

Sometimes our copyediting reveals previously undetected problems with the manuscript. Report writers, who may not have benefited from the usual peer review process involved in academic publishing, may be keen to address these issues, especially if they are substantive.

If the budget and report submission or publication schedule allows, an author may ask us to fix these problems by performing heavy editing, substantial rewriting, or preparing supplementary content. However, these are tasks beyond a copyeditor’s usual remit. Often, we simply point out any difficulties, provide advice on what content should be added or deleted, and ask the author to resolve them.

Who is this service for?

Government agencies, NGOs, policy teams, consultancies and universities need well-written, high-quality, error-free reporting.

If you would like to know more about how Wise Directions Copyediting can benefit you, please contact us today.