Copyediting Instructions & Resources
Once the files have been cleaned up, they must be edited for copy prior to coding. See this section’s main page for an overview of the process and descriptions of the different “levels” of edits you’ll be undertaking.
As noted on the previous page, the copyediting process will seem quite slow at first. You’re essentially reading the document several times at once, simultaneously evaluating the correctness of usage, mechanics and sentence structure; the appropriateness, correctness, and ethical use of citations and statements of fact; the consistency across each essay and volume of sources, citations, facts, and specific usages; and finally, the felicity of language, the essay’s organization, the arrangement of sentences/paragraphs, and the coherence of the argument as a whole. The technical and stylistic aspects of copyediting should be prioritized, especially for RC’s purposes, while the substantive aspects of the task—e.g., evaluating the efficacy of an argument as a whole—should have lower priority and take up less of your time. If you notice large issues with an essay’s flow, organization, or overall argument, however, it is appropriate to suggest that an author undertake reorganization or minor rewrites to fix the issue. If an essay seems to you to contain major academic or ethical missteps (if, e.g., an author appears to use the legacy of a contemporary black feminist poet to launder the reputation of a dead British poet), you should bring the issue directly to the general editors for their review.
The following sections offer guidance and specific tips on how to successfully wade into the copyediting process.
Track Changes and Comments
The track changes function in MS Word should remain on throughout the copyediting process, with the exception of formatting corrections that can be made silently (as outlined in the Document Preparation Guide: enforcing correct spacing and dash use, making formatting consistent, etc.). Because all your changes will be tracked, the author will be able to identify all relevant changes in order to approve or challenge your edits. When there is more at stake than a simple correction, you should also employ MS Word’s comment function, which allows you to select text and leave a comment at that location (select text and then click “New Comment” on the Review tab).
It takes experience to feel out when it is best to enforce edits within the running text vs. when it is more appropriate to leave a comment suggesting a correction, rewording, etc. As a rule of thumb, enforce changes directly to the text when something is amiss and a clear solution is possible, whether it be a misplaced comma, a comma splice, or a dangling modifier. Leave a comment when you’re suggesting changes for clarity or when a course of action is unclear. The more specific you can be in your comments, the better; it is best to make specific suggestions and to include a sample of rewritten words/phrases/sentences in the comment itself. For specific advice, see the guidelines on comments and queries. You may also find it helpful to study the provided examples of completed copyedits in the “DOCUMENTATION” folder of the RC production sync drive.
RC House Style
Like any academic (or ac-adjacent) publisher, RC has developed a coherent house style that outlines various editorial and formatting conventions to be followed across the sections of the RC site. The RC House Style document can be found in the RC Production Sync shared drive at DOCUMENTATION / STYLE. This document should be consulted and, if appropriate, updated throughout the copyediting of each volume.
Note that the House Style document consists of two parts:
- the style document proper, which is prescriptive;
- and the “Spelling / Formatting Guide,” which is meant to be adaptive.
Do not edit the former without consulting the general editors and other RC editors; the latter, however, should be consulted and then, if necessary, updated whenever you encounter a singular usage or formatting case in the copyediting process. You’ll record individual style decisions here that both the RC House Style and the Chicago Manual of Style are silent or ambiguous on, and future copyeditors will consult this document and follow your lead for the sake of consistency across the site.
MLA and CMOS
At present, RC uses both the Modern Language Association (MLA) Handbook and the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) as our style guides. In short, the MLA issues citation guidelines for writers of research papers, while CMOS goes further to also include publishing, usage, and specific formatting guidelines.
RC Editions uses Chicago style in all matters, including notes and bibliography citation practice instead of parenthetical citation. Praxis and Pedagogies essays follow MLA citation style—parenthetical citation and Works Cited but defer to Chicago in all other matters of style and formatting. RC Unbound does not generally include citations, but the short essays should be edited to conform to Chicago’s guidelines.
When the RC House Style conflicts with these style guides, follow the House Style. If you encounter a conflict between MLA and CMOS—or any other issue that is not covered explicitly by either style guide or the House Style—you should add a bullet point to the appropriate section of the House Style document to enforce a decision (again, to enforce consistency across future RC materials).