People associate proofreading with books and journals produced by publishers, that final stage where uncorrected errors in the original manuscript or those introduced during the editorial and production processes are eliminated. But publishers are not the only ones that require and benefit from proofreading services. Below are a few instances of other people or bodies who can benefit from the attention and skill of an experienced proofreader, together with relevant links to my website for further information.
Businesses and organizations, whatever their size, produce varying types of reports, advertising literature, forms, internal and external communications, website material, etc. Many businesses cannot afford to employ a full-time, dedicated proofreader so it makes sense to outsource to a freelance proofreader to attend to their numerous needs.
No matter how many times an author, academic, or writer checks their words there are some errors that they will not spot as they are too close to the work and will read what they expect to see. A book or an article will benefit from having someone else provide an objective view to correct those missed errors or point out inconsistencies.
Schools, colleges, universities, and on-line learning institutions produce course notes, reports, etc. that need checking. Again, the authors of these documents are too close or simply do not have the time to closely proofread their output.
Students are required to write essays, dissertations, and theses, and would greatly benefit from the advice of a freelance proofreader. However, the services provided are subject to restrictions imposed by the educational bodies to ensure that the students’ work is their own. Proofreaders should not
• rewrite sentences to make them clearer
• rearrange or format paragraphs
• contribute their own material
• check or rewrite calculations, equations, and computer code
• relabel diagrams
• check references for accuracy against cited works.
The proofreader’s role here is for checking spelling, grammar, and punctuation, and to highlight formatting errors or inconsistencies, where text does not make sense, contains repeated phrases, or where words are omitted.
Enquiries or requests for further information are always welcomed at yorkproof@virginmedia.com
