Editorial Style Sheet
Project:
Author:
Editor: Frank Azevedo
Job number:
ABCDAnd: Non sequiturs were corrected. (See Bryson’s Dictionary of Troublesome Words, p. 142.)
Are: Wordy constructions with forms of the verb “to be” are tightened. See also “is,” “was,” and “were.”
Assure, ensure, insure: Use these words correctly: You must assure him that you will ensure that your car is insured. (See insure/ensure/assure in The Copyeditor’s Handbook, pp. 349–350.)
Both: Deleted when more than two things followed.
Both … and: Correlative conjunctions require grammatical equivalents after each component of the conjunction.
cf.: Misused? Means compare. Used to direct readers to compare (not simply to “see” or “see also”) a source that presents an alternative interpretation or point of view: Cf. Ludi, Rights and Privileges, p. 35. (See cf.in The Copyeditor’s Handbook, p. 225.)
Colon: The colon (not the semicolon or the en dash) is normally used to separate subtitle from title.
Compared to: Incorrect comparisons (IC) were corrected.
Concision: See comments section below.
Convince, Persuade: “You convince someone that he should believe but persuade him to act. It is possible to persuade a person to do something without convincing him of the correctness or necessity of doing it. A separate distinction is that persuade may be followed by an infinitive, but convince may not.” (See Bryson’s Dictionary of Troublesome Words pp. 47–48.)
(DM): Dangling modifiers: Several dangling modifiers were corrected.
Different: Often unnecessary as in, “There are many different kinds of sauces”; “I have seven different kinds of teas.” Frequently can be deleted. / EFGH
Each: Each day, each week, each month, each year can be written daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly, respectively, thus saving a word each time.
Each and every: a wordy redundancy. Choose one.
Ed.: editor
Eds.: editors
e.g.,: Written out (for example,) in running text; abbreviated (e.g.,) in parentheticals.
Either … or: Correlative conjunctions require grammatical equivalents after each component of the conjunction.
et al.: Should not be italicized.
etc.: Traditionally both preceded and followed by a comma when it is the final item in a series. Equivalents such as and so forth, and the like, are usually treated the same way.
(FC): Several faulty complements were corrected.
Fewer: For things that can be counted; for example, I have fewer books than Bill does. (See fewer, less in Bryson’s Dictionary of Troublesome Words, p. 77; fewer vs. less in The Copyeditor’s Handbook, p. 338, pp. 371–372.)
FP: Several cases of faulty parallelism were corrected.
He: Does the journal require that you avoid the generic he? (See The Copyeditor’s Handbook, pp. 412–414.)
Hyphenation: Incorrect hyphenation was revised.
Hyphens:Hyphens were changed to the longer en dash in number spans, for example, 22-25 was changed to 22–25.
IJKL
(IC):Incorrect comparisons were corrected.
i.e.,: Written out (that is,) in running text; abbreviated (i.e.,) in parentheticals.
In order to: In order can usually be deleted. In order toTo revise well you must read for meaning.
Include/ including/includes: If you include in a list or series all the items to be mentioned, you should not use any of these terms.
Is: Wordy constructions with forms of the verb “to be” are tightened. See also “are,” “was,” and “were.”
Is: Faulty complements (FC) were corrected.
It: Vague pronoun references (VPR) were corrected.
It is: Wordy expletive constructions were revised; for example, “It is clear that he is sick” would be revised to “Clearly, he is sick.”
Italics: Are italics used such that readers might be confused? See also “so-called” and “scare quotes.”
Journal’s style guide: Journal’s style guide not followed concerning:
Less: For things that cannot be counted; for example, I have less gasoline than Bill does. (See fewer, less in Bryson’s Dictionary of Troublesome Words, p. 77; fewer vs. less in The Copyeditor’s Handbook, p. 338, pp. 371–372.) / MNOP
More: Is it used unambiguously?
Neither … nor: Correlative conjunctions require grammatical equivalents after each component of the conjunction.
No and Not: Generally, positively worded statements are easier for readers to understand correctly than are negatively worded statements. Other search words to ensure you untangle negatives: fail, disappear, decrease, poorly, inappropriate, ill-considered, unless, without, absent. (See negative constructions in The Copyeditor’s Handbook, pp. 397–398.)
Not only … but also: Correlative conjunctions require grammatical equivalents after each component of the conjunction.
Numbers: Never start a sentence with a number written as a number.
Numbers: Inconsistency in writing numbers; for example, sometimes 20 is used and sometimes twenty is used.
Only: Relocated.
Percent / per cent / %: In US English written percent. In UK English written per cent. When the sign (%) is used, no space should separate it from the numeral (wrong: 5 %) (right: 5%). Inconsistency issues were addressed.
Possessive before gerund:
Possessive forms:
Punctuation:
Colons, semicolons, question marks and exclamation points follow closing quotation marks unless a question mark or an exclamation point belongs within quoted matter. (See Chicago Manual of Style.)
Periods and commas precede closing quotation marks, whether double or single. (See Chicago Manual of Stylefor an explanation of an alternative system and for details concerning its usage.)
Punctuating interrupters:
QRST
Quotation marks: Initial mark faces the wrong way (”).
Quotation marks: Doubles (“doubles”) are used in US English; singles (‘singles’) are used in UK English.
Scare quotes: Is this device overused?
Semicolon: Semicolons misused.
So-called: A word or phrase preceded by this term should not be enclosed in quotation marks.
Space between sentences: One space, not two, follows any mark of punctuation that ends a sentence.
Specter (means ghost or apparition): Do you mean spectrum (range)? Wrong: His friend’s political ideas cover a broad specter. Notice that WORD does not catch that usage error. Right: His friend’s political ideas cover a broad spectrum.
(SVA): Subject-verb (faulty agreement) problems were corrected.
Than:Are the comparisons you make correct? See number 14 at (
Did you write then when you meant than,or vice versa?
That: Use subjunctive mood in that clauses; for example, “I insist that you be on time,” not “I insist that you are on time.” (See subjunctive mood in The Copyeditor’s Handbook, pp. 352–356.)
There is / There are: Wordy expletive constructions were revised; for example, “There are no students coming to the workshop” would be revised to “No students are coming to the workshop.”
This: Vague pronoun references (VPR) were corrected. / UVWXYZ
UK/US English: Inconsistent spellings are used.
VPR: Vague pronoun references (it, this, which, etc.) were corrected.
Was / Were: Wordy constructions with forms of the verb “to be” are tightened. See also “are” and “is.”
What: At the beginning of a sentence, what often indicates a statement in need of revision. (See Bryson’s Dictionary of Troublesome Words, p. 211.)
Whether or not: Or not should be dropped when whether is equivalent to if. (See Bryson’s Dictionary of Troublesome Words, p. 212.)
Which: Vague pronoun references (VPR) were corrected.
WORD’s underlining: See underlining by WORD’s spelling and grammar checker.
Wordiness: See comments section below.
Comments:
Concision/Wordiness: In short and medium-length English-language sentences, the greatest point of emphasis is at the start. Therefore, start your sentences fast and make every word count. For example, here is a wordy sentence: In spite of the fact that they are in great need of a solution to the problem, they are not in possession of the will necessary to solve it. (29 words)
And here a revision for concision: In spite of the fact thatAlthough they are in great need of a solution to the problem, they are do not in possession ofhave the will necessary to solve it. (15 words)
And here is another revision for concision:They must solve the problem, but they lack the will to do so. (13 words)
And another one: Although they need to solve the problem, they lack the necessary will. (12 words)
And another: They must solve the problem, but they lack the will. (10 words)
Here is a wordy sentence that begins with an expletive construction: It is clear that he is sick. (7 words)
And here is a revision for concision: It is cClearly,that he is sick. (4 words)
And another one: It is clear that hHe is clearly sick. (4 words)
Principle: To write concisely, avoid using weak verbs (is, are, was, and were), small words (in, of, the, a, and an), nominalization (turning verbs into nouns), and prepositional phrases.Make every word count.