using profession-related email lists for editorial - Copyediting.com

12 Pages·2013·1.49 MB·English

Copyediting
August—September 2013
Language in the DigitaL age www.copyediting.com
03 06 07 08 09 10
in Depth grammar on ask the resourCes Currents teChniCaLLy
the eDge eDitor speaking
Working with ESL Six Time Management Editing Biased or
Authors The Curious Case Tips Offensive Terms Copyediting the Web
of Who
The Business of Copyediting
eDitoriaL ConsuLts
by Katharine O’Moore-Klopf, ELS
M
any freelance editors work in their own offices, equipment you’re considering fit your needs? You can save time,
without office mates sitting at nearby desks. money, and sometimes your sanity by reaching out to colleagues
Seclusion can be beneficial; it’s easier to concen- on profession-related email lists.
trate when there’s no one to chat with. But what If you haven’t explored the world of email lists, you may
do you do when your reference works don’t provide guidance be surprised by how many there are and by the specificity of
on a tricky editing issue? Where do you get a second opinion on their niches. Here are just a few of the lists you can consult for
navigating an editor-client relationship? Will the piece of office information and advice:
Organization or List Name List Details
Affiliated with an organization based in the US for editors, journal managers, and others concerned with
Association of
publication in the earth sciences.
Earth Science Editors
For members only.
Association of Affiliated with an organization based in the US for health care writers and editors.
Health Care Journalists For members only.
Affiliated with an organization based in the US for medical writers and editors.
American Medical Writers
At press time, the organization was revamping its communication channels, switching from email lists for
Association
members only to forums for members only; plans are for the lists’ archives to remain available to members.
Affiliated with an organization based in the US for both freelance and in-house editors working in a variety
Bay Area Editors’ Forum of publication settings, most of whom live in the San Francisco Bay Area.
For members only.
Affiliated with an organization based in Canada for independent media workers, including freelance editors.
Canadian Freelance Union
For members only.
Public list for copyeditors and other defenders of the English language. Topics include sticky style issues,
Copyediting-L editing philosophy, various types of specialized editing, reference books, client relations, Internet resources,
electronic editing and software, and freelance issues.
Affiliated with an organization based in the US for freelance editors, writers, indexers, proofreaders,
Editorial Freelancers Association researchers, desktop publishers, translators, and others who offer a broad range of skills and specialties.
For members only.
Editors’ Association of Canada/
Affiliated with an organization based in Canada for both salaried and freelance editors.
Association canadienne des
For members only.
réviseurs
Public list for publishing industry freelancers. Topics include publisher comparisons, job searches, types of
Freelance (a.k.a., Publishing
work, compensation rates, payment and nonpayment issues, insurance and taxes, and home offices and
Industry Freelancers)
equipment. Topics do not include grammar, syntax, authorial voice, etc.
Public list for publishing professionals. Discussion list of issues related to publishing; subscribers include
Publish-L midsize independent publishers and their staff members, self-publishers, writers, editors, reviewers,
publicists, printers, coaches, and designers.
Society for Editors and Affiliated with an organization based in the UK for editors and proofreaders.
Proofreaders For members only.
Visit the Networking page of the Copyeditors’ Knowledge Base for links to plenty of other profession-related organizations,
many of which have their own email lists. n
WWWWWW..CCOOPPYYEEDDIITTIINNGG..CCOOMM CopyeditCinogp |y Aeduigtiunsgt –|S Jeupntee–mJbuelyr 22001133 11
in styLe
Editor’S LEttEr
New Sources of Editing Work Initial Reaction
by Erin Brenner
by Paul R. Martin
When I tell people I edit for a liv-
ing, many of them assume I edit You’ve heard of the SPEBSQSA, right? à la SPEBSQSA, but some major stylebooks
books or newspapers. It’s easy to see Well, if you’re of a certain age and call for uppercasing just the first letter of
why: those publishers have traditionally a fan of a cappella singing, you know it proper-noun acronyms of more than four
employed large editing staffs to get all stands for the Society for the Preservation letters (more than six letters in the case of
the work done. and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quar- The Associated Press Stylebook).
But with the emergence of digital tet Singing in America (now Barbershop The Office of Federal Housing
media, these employers have cut or Harmony Society). Enterprise Oversight, or OFHEO, had
eliminated large staffs, leaving only a It dates from 1938, and its name was gained status as an acronym because it
few editors to do the work of many or intended as a spoof on the alphabet-soup was pronounced off-HAY-oh inside the
relying on freelancers, who are cheaper agency names arising in the New Deal Beltway. But it was recently replaced by
and easier to dismiss later. To stay era. But is it an acronym, an abbreviation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, or
employed, copyeditors have to think or what? the FHFA, an initialism, not an acronym.
beyond traditional publishers. This Strictly speaking, an acronym is an Note that the definite article is usually
issue will help you do that. abbreviation that is pronounceable as a used with agency initialisms, like the FBI
Our In Depth feature, by returning word, like radar for “radio detection and and the CIA, but not with acronyms, like
guest contributor Geoff Hart, guides ranging.” Aficionados have tried but failed UNICEF and NATO.
you through finding work with authors to work out a pronunciation for SPEBS- Then we have the US Anti-Doping
whose second language is English and QSA, so it qualifies broadly as an abbrevia- Agency, which controls the anti-doping
offers strategies for working with them. tion and more narrowly as an initialism, programs for US Olympics sports. It is
In Technically Speaking, I review with just the initial letters of the name usually rendered as USADA and pro-
some of the basics of editing for the pronounced individually. nounced you-SAH-dah.
web, including tips on editing copy, The heydays of barbershop singing OMG (oh my gosh), as they say,
using a content management system, and the New Deal may be long gone, but euphemistically, in today’s ubiquitous
and fulfilling search engine optimization the issue of how to treat such names never Internet shorthand. This may be TMI
duties. ends, as government agencies keep prolifer- (too much information). So I’ll sign off
Other topics we cover in this issue ating. Initialisms are invariably capitalized, and TTYL (talk to you later). n
include how to deal with offensive
language in copy, how to manage your
time more efficiently, and how to choose
between which and that. iNSidE JoKE by Sage Stossel
Changes in publishing may mean
fewer copyeditors are working for tradi-
tional publishers, but they don’t mean
there isn’t work for us. We just have to
educate ourselves on the opportunities
out there. n
ContaCt us
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WWW.COPYEDITING.COM Copyediting | August–September 2013 02
in Depth
Working with Authors Who Speak English as a Second Language
by Geoff Hart
F
or 25 years, I’ve had an intel- When authors contacted me, I My authors are experts in science, not
lectually and financially reward- clarified our mutual responsibilities via a in writing or Word, so I provide resources
ing career working with authors concise document that you can down- that make writing easier. For example:
who speak English as their load and modify to meet your needs. It
second language (ESL authors). In this explains that I can fix the language and 33 Revision tracking in Word 2007,
article, I’ll share my experience so that suggest improvements in content or logic 2008, and 2011
you can seek the same rewards. I’ll build but can’t make bad science publishable. 33Older Word versions
on Katharine O’Moore-Klopf’s Decem- The author is responsible for ensuring 33Mac keyboard shortcuts
ber 2011 article through additional per- that my edits are correct and requesting 33Windows shortcuts
spectives and tricks of the trade. Though clarification if they are unsure. Although 33 A journal template (Word
I’ll focus on editing for peer-reviewed formal contracts permit legal action if download)
science journals, the advice applies to all problems arise, your goal should be to 33 Advice on grammar: Beijing
types of ESL editing. eliminate misunderstandings that might lectures 1, 2, and 3
lead to legal action.
Finding Work Feel free to modify these documents
I launched my career by contacting editors My Experience to meet your needs, but please retain the
of science journals published by Springer, Most of my clients are Japanese or Chi- attribution.
Elsevier, and Sage. Contact informa- nese, but I have clients in more than a
tion is generally available online, and the dozen other countries. The specific prob- Strategies
same approach would work for magazines, lems you’ll face depend on the differences Working in another language is intimidat-
books, and websites. Colleagues and between the conventions of English and ing; harsh feedback is demotivating. Thus,
librarians can suggest sources for other those of the other language and culture. make your comments as gentle and consid-
subjects. I created an intimidating list, but For example, Chinese doesn’t use erate as possible. Overuse please, particu-
contacting 10 journals a day for several articles, subject-verb accord, or (usually) larly for imperative statements. Focus your
months made the task manageable. pronouns. Investing time to understand wording on the problem (e.g., “in English,
Persuading publishers to work with your authors’ cultures increases the we do [description]”) rather than on the
you is—surprisingly—not about your skills likelihood of productive working relation- author. Be patient, even when you’re ready
and experience. What they really want to ships, and sometimes even friendships. to shoot your computer. It’s tempting to
know is what problems you’ll solve for To understand Chinese culture, I studied believe that someone who writes poorly is
them. In my case, the problem was that Scott Seligman’s Chinese Business Eti- stupid or careless, but many exceptionally
journal editors often received articles so quette and Greg Bissky’s Wearing Chinese smart people never learn to write well.
poorly written they couldn’t tell whether Glasses. I’ve learned enough Chinese to Most ESL authors understand techni-
they were worth reviewing. I offered to craft polite emails and to communicate cal English better than everyday English
solve this problem by dealing directly with occasionally about non-business matters because they’ve read so many English
the authors to produce a clear manuscript (e.g., wishes for a happy lunar new year). manuscripts. Thus, when you review your
so that the reviewers were free to focus on This kind of respect weakens the adver- comments and queries, simplify your
the science rather than the English. Only sarial feeling many Asian authors have for wording as much as possible without
after stating my solution did I present my clueless Westerners. creating telegraphic phrases or sentence
credentials. I also provided a PDF that Nonetheless, there are more similari- fragments. Words that seem superfluous,
explained my services and pointed to my ties than differences among authors who such as articles, provide important clues to
website; journal editors often forwarded it must write in an unfamiliar language. understanding. Make objects or subjects
to authors. Chinese and Japanese cultures discourage explicit, since pronouns are problematic
direct criticism, for example, but editing for many authors. Never report the exis-
is inherently adversarial in any culture: tence of a problem (“I don’t understand”)
each edit implies the author is wrong. if you can describe the problem (“does
To diminish the sting of my edits in it represent the experiment or the study
TIP:
Publishers consider editing
Chinese and Japanese manuscripts, I site?”). Use precise words, even if authors
an annoying, unproductive ex-
revise my comments to focus on the will have to consult a dictionary, whenever
pense and rarely pay well. You’ll
language problem, not on the author’s simpler words would be unclear or have
earn much more working directly
error—an approach that works well with multiple plausible interpretations.
for authors.
all authors. ContinueD on page 4
WWW.COPYEDITING.COM Copyediting | August–September 2013 03
ContinueD From page 3
flagged as spam. I have two primary email you can’t guess the right word, look for
Explain redundantly. An author who addresses, and I periodically remind my false cognates and phonetic misspellings.
can’t understand one explanation may authors to contact me via the second Some recent examples:
understand the other or the combina- address if they receive no reply from the
tion. For example, visual descriptions first. Similarly, I warn clients when I’ll 33 Chinese manuscripts: showed affection
strengthen verbal descriptions: “In this be away from the office, and I check my for instead of showed the effects of; seces-
graph, please use white circles (o) for Chi- email while I travel. Authors with other sion instead of cessation
nese data and black circles (•) for global priorities sometimes forget we’re away. 33 Japanese manuscripts: L vs. R substitutes
data.” Avoid using terms like asterisk or Offer to intervene on a client’s behalf (glassland for grassland) and phonetic
dagger if you can type the symbols. by talking to a journal’s editor. Papers misspellings (evolve instead of involve,
Other tricks include coloring the are often rejected for language reasons offensive odders instead of odors)
names of colors (e.g., red, green), apply- without ever being read. Always edit
ing formatting (e.g., italicize, boldface, letters to the journal, since some journals Some misused words are near synonyms
or underline words that require these will reject the edited manuscript unread for the correct word, and a thesaurus may
formats), and using numbers instead if the letter is gibberish. Ask authors to reveal the correct word. If you speak the
of words for numerical concepts (e.g., include your name and contact infor- author’s native language, you may know of
“change 10 to 11”). If you have graph- mation in the letter so the journal can words that changed meaning through lin-
ics software, annotate graphics directly contact you with questions. guistic evolution. For example, the French
instead of describing problems. assister means “participate,” not “assist.”
When you describe solutions, provide If you work with authors frequently,
phrases the author can emulate. Don’t you’ll start seeing patterns in how they
TIP:
Rename the files authors
explain obscure grammatical issues; pro- construct sentences. Familiarity with those
send to follow your own naming
vide solutions. For example: patterns leads to standard solutions you
system. This makes it difficult for
can apply for each type of problem.
them to confuse their original file
33 Do you mean “high pan evaporation” with the edited file.
or “high potential evapotranspira- Clear Communication
tion”? In each case, please provide the Authors who can’t understand you can’t
actual value. Watch for plagiarism. In communal review your edits. To communicate clearly:
33 Do you mean “the value is” (only 1 cultures such as China, authors often mis-
value) or “the values are” (2 or more understand Western concepts of intellec- 33 Avoid phrasal verbs and passive voice,
values)? tual property and copy text directly from though to be is an acceptable auxiliary
published works. They believe citing the verb. Choose stronger verbs that con-
Don’t overwhelm authors with too source is sufficient, but Western conven- vey the meaning: “Did you receive my
many choices. Even native English speak- tion is to paraphrase unless direct quotes message?” not “Did my message make
ers expect you to provide your best guess, are essential. Journals use software to it through?”
not all possibilities. detect such plagiarism, which can blacken 33 Avoid contractions (e.g., use cannot
Optimal communication methods an author’s reputation. rather than can’t). Skilled writers under-
vary among cultures, but more among Such plagiarism isn’t always obvious, stand them; less-skilled writers won’t.
individuals within a culture. Many of my but two clues help: unusually lucid writ- 33 Avoid idioms, particularly ones that
Chinese authors are uncomfortable with ing amidst confusion and radical stylistic rely on ellipsis that only native speak-
spoken English and prefer email because changes. Googling suspect phrases often ers will know.
they can carefully revise their words; how- reveals the source. When I spot such 33 Simplify sentence structures. Nested
ever, a colleague’s Chinese authors prefer problems, I highlight the copied text and clauses, complex punctuation, multiple
phone calls because this establishes a more paraphrase it for the author in case they semicolons, and parenthetical structures
personal relationship. can’t find their own wording. are challenging even for native speakers.
Misunderstandings are common, so If necessary, use a numbered list.
attribute problems to misunderstandings Deciphering the Meaning
before malice. For example, never assume Understanding the subject makes guessing Reminders Required
that authors receive your email; spam the meaning of incomprehensible phrases Working with ESL authors requires
filters block email, and computer failures easier. A phrase that makes no sense at first patience. People who aren’t professional
delay messages. Ask authors to confirm glance often becomes clearer if you read writers (e.g., most scientists) write too
that they have received your message. If to the end of the paragraph before trying infrequently to learn from their mistakes.
there’s no reply, try again from a second to solve the problem. When the logical When this leads to repeated revisions of the
address so that nobody misses a deadline sequence must be from A to B and then same phrase, it creates revision fatigue, and
or thinks you’re ignoring them. from B to C, and you can only understand authors stop paying close attention to your
Sometimes their messages to us are A and C, asking what B must mean to edits. This can lead to serious errors when,
blocked. My wife once edited a Nigerian complete this chain of logic solves many inevitably, you misinterpret something.
banker’s book, and all his messages were problems. If a word is clearly wrong but ContinueD on page 5
WWW.COPYEDITING.COM Copyediting | August–September 2013 04
ContinueD From page 4
From @Copyediting
Periodically remind authors to check guarantee you’ll spot all the problems.
your revisions. I do this several times Peer reviewers often spot subtle errors
per manuscript, particularly for obscure most editors can’t detect. I know CMS is in favor of hyphenat-
points, using wording such as “please If you earn an author’s loyalty, beware ing “a three-year-old,” but I don’t see
confirm that I did not change your mean- the snowball effect. Authors will introduce the point. “A three year old” works
ing.” Encourage collaboration. I remind you to their friends, who will introduce for me.
authors at least once per manuscript that if you to their friends. Your workload can
my revision appears incorrect, they should increase exponentially, particularly in Tip of the Week: Stop and think
when you find a “since” that means
describe their meaning in different words highly networked cultures like China. I
“because” in a manuscript. On the
so that I can try again. didn’t know this and ended up with more
blog: ow.ly/mLNpN.
Remind authors that you can only clients than time to work with them. Build
guarantee the manuscript’s language. If a network of colleagues who can help out
the content is weak, you can’t guarantee when you’re overwhelmed. Good col-
Join the conversation!
acceptance; however, as you gain experi- leagues will reciprocate. n
ence with a type of editing, you can help Follow us on Twitter: @Copyediting
authors avoid common pitfalls that lead Geoff Hart dearly loves working with and friend us on Facebook.
to rejection. If you have expertise or an his ESL authors, even when they keep him
advanced degree in a subject, critique working late into the night. Visit Hart
their logic and assumptions, but don’t online at www.geoff-hart.com.
People
Recently we added two new bloggers to our roster. Read about them here, and then check out their posts
on the blog.
Adrienne Mark Allen
Montgomerie Mark will be writing
Adrienne will write some of our regular
our new blog topic, blog topics in
Canadian, Eh?, which partnership with
will focus on topics Dawn McIlvain Stahl,
specific to Canadian including How To,
copyeditors. Since Error of the Week,
1997, educational Vocab Builder, and
materials and In the News. He spent
knowledge transfer 25 years reporting
have been her editing and editing at
specialty while working for Canada’s largest newspapers in Michigan and Ohio and has been
educational publishers and with her colleagues freelancing for five years. Current clients include a
at dameditors.ca. She is certified as a copyeditor financial services corporation, an early-childhood
through the Editors’ Association of Canada (EAC) education website, and the author of a history book.
but does mostly developmental and substantive
edits. Her title credits range from aircraft build
specs to sea-kayaking guides and from geophysics
to Aboriginal knowledge. Next up, she’s developing
an iOS phonics app for children.
You can find the biographies for all our regular contributors on our About Us page.
WWW.COPYEDITING.COM Copyediting | August–September 2013 05
grammar on the eDge
The Curious Case of Who
by Jonathon Owen
Most readers of this newsletter prob- he is calling, and when we swap in the who to. In a sentence like Give this to whoever
ably know that whom is in decline. and move it to the beginning of the sen- answers the door, whoever seems to be
It’s been suffering death throes for centu- tence, we get Who shall I say is calling? the object of the preposition to and the
ries, and it will probably be centuries more What trips people up about this par- subject of the verb answers. The normal
before it finally dies, if it ever does. But ticular construction is that there are two substitution test doesn’t work here; both
as it decreases in use, speakers and writers verb phrases, shall say and is calling, so Give this to he answers the door and Give
lose their ear for what sounds right, lead- it may not be immediately clear whether this to him answers the door are ungram-
ing to hypercorrect forms, such as Whom who(m) is the object of shall say or the matical. For a proper substitution, we
shall I say is calling? Getting the right subject of is calling. But if you can parse need two words to fill both roles: Give
form isn’t very difficult, but it sometimes the sentence or put it back in a normal this to him who answers the door.
takes a little analysis. declarative order with he or him in place of But this still doesn’t help us decide the
Along with the personal pronouns who(m), it should become apparent what case of who(m)ever; if it’s both a sub-
(I, you, he, she, and so on), who is one of the case of who(m) should be. ject and an object, which one wins? The
the few words in the English language Things can get trickier when dealing usual analysis is that who(m)ever serves
that still take different subject and object with who(m)ever. In an old episode of a role in its subordinate clause, and that
forms; you can see the same pattern in he/ The Office (as discussed on Neal Whit- entire subordinate clause fills a role in the
him and they/them. A handy way to see man’s blog), several of the characters main clause. In our example, whoever is
whether it should be who or whom is to argue about whether whoever or whomever the subject of answers the door, and the
use one of those pronouns in its place. is correct, with various characters saying, whole clause whoever answers the door is
However, because who(m) is an inter- “Whomever is never actually right,” “It’s the object of to. Clauses aren’t marked for
rogative and relative pronoun, it often a made-up word used to trick students,” case, so it stays whoever.
moves from its default position to the and “Actually, whomever is the formal The truth is, though, that you may
beginning of a clause or sentence. This is version of the word.” Pam notes that “it’s not necessarily want to use whom or
called a transformation. To put he/him or whom when it’s the object of a sentence, whomever, even when they’re technically
they/them in its place, we need to undo and who when it’s the subject,” but that correct. As who becomes more acceptable
the transformation. The default order of doesn’t actually help here: whoever can as an object, whom sounds more formal
a declarative clause would have I shall say appear to be both simultaneously. It’s and even stilted. When in doubt, it’s usu-
who is calling, which sounds decidedly odd, called a fused or nominal relative because ally safer to err on the side of the more
but he fits perfectly in its place: I shall say it serves as both a relative pronoun and casual who than to use a hypercorrect
he is calling. He is the subject of the clause the noun phrase that the relative refers whom. n
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33Writer/Editor, Society for Neuroscience
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QQ
ask the eDitor with Erin Brenner
My office’s work product is written in a reporting style requir- That’s what most people understand. What’s less understood is
ing the frequent use of the subordinating conjunction that: that AP has exceptions, which are meant to help the reader under-
We found that the staples had jammed. As a result, that is in almost stand the series. We are to use the serial comma:
every sentence of a 70-page report. 33 In a complex series. In other words, the items are long, as
In editing the last report, I changed up text by using which for with a series of independent clauses, or already have punc-
things in a restrictive relative clause. I explained this edit change to tuation in them. An example from the stylebook: The main
the authors, but the change threw some of them off because they points to consider are whether the athletes are skillful enough to
didn’t know how to judge whether the sentence needed commas. compete, whether they have the stamina to endure the training,
When would I use which for things? How do I know for and whether they have the proper mental attitude. Given the
sure that eliminating that in a restrictive clause will make sense to length of each item in the series, the serial comma lets read-
every reader? ers know the last item in the series is coming up.
33 When one of the items in the series already has a conjunc-
Margaret Campbell
tion. The serial comma tells readers which items are grouped
It seems that you understand which can be used for restrictive together, as with this AP example: I had orange juice, toast,
clauses and that limiting it to nonrestrictive clauses (preceded by and ham and eggs for breakfast. Without the serial comma,
a comma) is just a style rule with no basis in grammar, no matter ham and eggs could be one item or two. When such a ques-
how closely it’s followed here in the US. Getting writers to accept tion would change the meaning of the sentence, AP wants us
it, however, is tougher. to use the serial comma.
There are cases in which you can eliminate that from a sen- As to why the rule is so misunderstood, I think it’s just
tence. When the clause’s subject is different from the word that how humans are wired. We look for shortcuts to make our
the clause is referring to, you can drop that. For example, you work easier, and it’s easy to memorize “Don’t use the serial
can write the article I was editing instead of the article that I was comma.” It’s harder to remember the finer details. If the
editing. The subject of the clause is I, but the clause is referring writers and editors using the stylebook don’t look up the
to the article. rule, they won’t be reminded of the exceptions. This is espe-
You can also eliminate that when it introduces a subordinate cially understandable when you’re as overworked as so many
clause. Here’s an example from The American Heritage Dictionary journalists are.
(AHD): I think we should try again instead of I think that we should
try again. I’m increasingly having to swat away CAPEX from a lot of copy
Be careful, though, not to eliminate that when it would cause I’ve been editing. In my view, this is a crude and needless abbre-
a miscue. This can happen when that follows words like argue, viation for “capital expenditure” with no place in formal writing.
acknowledge, ask, believe, claim, doubt, and said. Another example But have I become out of step on this? AHD lists it, but I haven’t
from AHD: The book argues that eventually the housing supply will found much other guidance, which I’ve taken to mean that it
increase. Without the that, we could read eventually as modifying shouldn’t be used.
argues rather than will increase. Moving eventually closer to the
Joseph Priest
verb it’s meant to modify would help, as well.
Corporate Writer
Syniverse Technologies
I’m hoping you can shed some light on a subject that’s been con-
fusing me for some time: AP style and the use of the serial comma. As crude and needless as CAPEX may seem, it is a standard abbre-
My confusion was reinforced by the AP line of the chart you’ve viation for “capital expenditure.” But context matters.
shown in “Copyediting Hot Buttons: The Serial Comma.” AHD seems to be the exception among the major general dic-
The way I’m interpreting it, the foundational rule is to use the tionaries in listing CAPEX. The term is listed frequently, however,
comma, and the exception is to not use the comma in what The AP in business dictionaries and glossaries, such as Webster’s New World
Stylebook terms a “simple series.” Finance and Investment Dictionary, the Bloomberg Financial
Can you please expound more fully on why the chart you Glossary, and Investopedia.
included states “No” to using commas when following AP style? A search in Google Books returns 726 results (at least the
And maybe you could also speak to why the generally universal first three pages of which are all business books), while the
understanding of AP style seems to contradict what is stated in Corpus of Contemporary American English returns just two,
The AP Stylebook? one from American Spectator and one from Shape magazine (this
Capex is a shampoo).
Renee Nelson
Given this, I’d relegate CAPEX to business copy only, and
The AP Stylebook’s rule is to use commas to separate elements in a then I’d try to keep it just to financial topics. It’s clearly used for a
series but not to include the serial comma in a simple series: I like general audience only sparingly, if at all. The AP Stylebook advises
cake, ice cream and pie. using it only in direct quotes in business stories. n
WWW.COPYEDITING.COM Copyediting | August–September 2013 07
resourCes
Six Time Management Tips That Copyeditors Need
by Brian Spero
For copyeditors, time is forever running You should also analyze how your your time is important, you’ll find that
short. It seems to be swallowed up typical workday unfolds. Consider when people will show more respect when ask-
whole, leaving us fighting to stay orga- you are most and least productive, arrang- ing you to share that valuable commodity
nized and on deadline. If you struggle ing your schedule in a way that optimizes with them.
to keep pace with your demanding work your time. If you typically need an hour
schedule, no matter how many extra hours in the morning to clear your head before Use Technology
you put in, consider these strategies to editing, make the morning your time to Adopt applications and platforms designed
reinvent your time management system. return emails and calls or perform clerical to improve organization and project man-
tasks. During the part of the day when agement. A system such as Basecamp can
Keep a Calendar you are most prolific, hang the “Do Not provide the structure needed for work-
Your first step toward better time man- Disturb” sign up, put your head down, ing with a remote staff. It’s one of many
agement is to keep a composite calendar and let the creative juices flow. software platforms designed to help track
of your weekly and monthly events and projects, discussions, files, and events in a
activities, including anything that affects Delegate single space.
your availability. Many copyeditors respond to pressure by For nearly every task, there’s afford-
Use a cloud-based organizer, such as taking on more tasks. Whether you work able software that improves efficiency.
Google Calendar, that you can access on as part of a team or you lead one, capital- If keeping tabs on aspects of a social
any device with Internet access. The easy- ize on the skills, strengths, and support of media campaign falls to you, something
to-use format will help you break through your group. Strive to surround yourself like HootSuite will help you manage
those first few weeks of implementing this with people you can count on to respond multiple networks, review content, and
strategy while establishing a rhythm that appropriately to periods of demand, as schedule postings.
will soon keep productivity humming. well as to criticism. For organized accounting and invoic-
Don’t fall into to the trap of doing ing, look to a provider such as Fresh-
Create a Daily Plan people’s work for them. You already Books, which offers basic free services for
In addition to creating a master calendar, have enough to do without doing other up to three clients and a 30-day trial. It
make a list of things that require atten- people’s work as well. By making it policy also has a widget that helps you track and
tion. Keep it handy, adding and crossing to rectify recurring issues, you’ll save time analyze the time you spend on individual
off items as they come up or are accom- and develop more-productive relationships projects.
plished, always moving tasks with the with your colleagues. Create a clear and There are even apps dedicated specifi-
highest priority to the top. meticulous set of rules and hold everyone cally to time management, like Rescue-
At the end of the day, reassess your list accountable to them. Time. It’s designed to spot inefficiencies
to make the appropriate adjustments and in your day, reveal how you spend time on
leave it in full view for the next morning. Keep Contact Brief the computer, and identify ways to make
Greet it each day with purpose and enthu- Contact with colleagues and clients is improvements.
siasm. Often, the biggest enemy of time necessary but can become your biggest
management is procrastination; a clear time management issue. In the age of Final Thoughts
battle plan staring you in the face should never-ending meetings, you must empha- Time management is an essential attri-
give you the direction and inspiration you size strict schedules and time limits, invit- bute to a more successful career and
need to dive into your day’s work. ing only those people who are necessary rewarding lifestyle. By bringing structure
to the meeting. By doing so, you create and organization to your work schedule,
Organize Your Time and Space a culture of action, in which individu- valuing your time, delegating respon-
Thoughtfully organizing your workspace als understand that they are expected to sibility, and using modern efficiency
for optimal efficiency can save you lots of ensure their agendas are addressed before tools, you can vanquish the enemies of
time otherwise spent on searching and the allotted time expires. time while becoming a more productive
dealing with distractions. Whether you In addition to running brief meet- copyeditor.
are in a home office or on a floor full ings, make all of your communications
of cubicles, arrange everything you need efficient, whether it’s a phone call, an Brian Spero is an editor and contribu-
within arm’s reach. Use digital tools to email, or even a pop-up chat session. tor for the finance and business blog Money
ensure that all of your contacts, communi- Set the tone by getting right to the Crashers Personal Finance. In his spare
cations, resources, and files are only a click point, giving incoming queries a prompt time, whenever he can make it, he enjoys
away (see “Use Technology,” below). response. By sending the message that traveling, surfing, and trying new foods. n
WWW.COPYEDITING.COM Copyediting | August–September 2013 08
Currents
Editing Material That Uses Biased or Offensive Terms
by Mark Farrell
Some years ago, I did seasonal work based on people’s feelings about the thing other hand, if my duties on a particular
as a production editor for a research the word stands for,” Batchelder wrote in document are limited to a quality-control
journal. I had read an article in the an email to me. “Deciding, for example, read or a light proofread, then I query the
Washington Post regarding a trend toward that manic-depressive is pejorative and issue and suggest alternatives.”
using the term Latino in place of His- should be replaced with bipolar does noth- The issue can extend to editors of
panic. In a weekly meeting with the ing to change people’s underlying attitudes authors writing in other eras. “Scholars
journal’s production staff, I brought up toward mental illness; once everyone starts steeped in historical material may inadver-
the possibility of changing the in-house using bipolar, it will have just the same tently use language in a way that is consid-
style guide to reflect this recent trend to pejorative effect as the original term.” ered offensive by contemporary standards.
keep the publication’s image in step with Batchelder was quick to point out that It’s the editor’s job to at least query it,”
changing usage. My idea was shot down, his doubts about the effectiveness of chang- wrote Batchelder. 
misconstrued as being overly sensitive and ing terms doesn’t mean that he ignores Using the find-and-replace function
politically correct. sensitive material while wearing his editor’s when searching for potentially offensive
Most style guides strive to keep up with hat. For example, when one client, a medi- terms has its hazards, as Batchelder dis-
the times, but in light of the often-rapid cal software firm, was prone to identifying covered when the term African American
changes in sensitive terminology, what doctors with male pronouns and nurses began to win favor over black. “I picked
should we copyeditors do when we come with female pronouns in its computer up my local newspaper in Boston and read
across a term that might be considered manuals, he “rewrote and changed all gen- about a business that was, after several
offensive or inappropriate? der references so they were neutral, with no years of running in the red, now running
One option is to query the author. objection from the company.” successfully in the African American,”
Anne Ketchen, a freelance editor from James Libbey, an editor from Frederick, Batchelder wrote.
Carlisle, Massachusetts, wrote in an email Maryland, who works with federal govern- And there isn’t a one-size-fits-all
to me that the query should suggest an ment contract proposals, is sensitive to any- solution, as Joe Gawel, an editor from St.
alternative way of wording the passage. thing that could be considered offensive. Augustine, Florida, notes. He recently left
Edward Batchelder, an editor living in “I always either change the material in the term blacks in a British research paper
Athens, Greece, questioned whether chang- question or query it,” Libbey wrote in an he was editing. He couldn’t use African
ing the terms used has an effect on the way email to me. “If I’m working with a federal American, but he also wasn’t aware of any
people think about a particular subject. client that is familiar with my editing, then suitable replacements, such as African Brits.
“I saw this very clearly in graduate I’ll go ahead and just change the text as The best solution, then, is to add a
school—the absolute conviction that by necessary to be more politically correct or global query for all potentially offensive
changing language you could change less offensive. If the word or phrase seems terms and let the author correct them
people’s consciousness, rather than a to be pervasive in its use throughout a individually. By so doing, you have fulfilled
common-sense understanding that words document, then I point out the fact that your responsibility as an editor without
have positive or negative connotations I changed it and the reason why. On the introducing any complications. n
Copyeditor by the Numbers
This newsletter and The Chicago of Manual of Style notwithstanding, copy editor is still the more popular term.
copyeditor 100
ALL
copy editor 354
UNiteD 52
StAteS 168
23
CANADA
52
11
GreAt BritAiN
31
Source: Global Web-Based English Corpus
WWW.COPYEDITING.COM Copyediting | August–September 2013 09
teChniCaLLy speaking
Best Practices for Copyediting the Web
by Erin Brenner
When I started editing web copy, the web was new, and
there wasn’t a lot of guidance for copyeditors to follow.
TIP:
We pretty much made it up as we went along, with a little help Check out The Yahoo! Style Guide for a thorough
from the likes of Wired Style. explanation of how to write for the web.
Today there’s so much information on writing and editing for
the web that it’s difficult to know what to trust or where to start. Eye-scanning studies and other measures have shown that we
In many situations, a copyeditor has three main tasks to complete: skim and scan online text. Reading online is notoriously hard on
edit the copy, enter it into the publishing system, and help pro- our eyes. Often, we’re just looking for information and want to
mote the copy through search engine optimization (SEO). What move on quickly; though there are exceptions to that generality,
follows are best practices for new and veteran web copyeditors. the exceptions are not usually text-heavy pages. And the competi-
tion is fierce. An alternative site is only a click away.
Edit the Web Copy All this leads to techniques like front-loading the informa-
Good web copy starts with good writing. When working on copy tion; breaking the information down into smaller chunks, such as
for the web, employ all your usual copyediting skills. Grammar, shorter paragraphs and bulleted lists; and giving readers guide-
usage, and spelling still count. posts like subheads throughout longer articles, which is common
But just as the principles for good academic writing are not in other media as well.
the same as those for good fiction writing, web writing has its Many sites have a broader audience than they would in print,
own principles for you to follow. They’re based on how we read and they can try to meet that broader audience’s needs. But not all
online and the potential for a worldwide audience. do. Determine with your supervisor or author who the audience is
Here are a handful of tips to get you started: and what their online reading habits are, at least for your site.
Though there is much more to web writing style, if you keep
33Use short sentences and paragraphs. Yahoo’s three basic principles in mind, you’ll be well on your way:
33Put the most important information up front.
33 Use headers, lists, and graphics to guide readers through 33Keep it short.
the story. 33Front-load your content.
33Eliminate unnecessary words. 33Keep it simple.
33Focus on visual appeal as much as content. ContinueD on page 11
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