Vocabulary, Revised Copy, and Short
and Long Lines
Vocabulary, Revised Copy, and Short
and Long Lines
When writers write about a topic, they usually use specialized vocabulary that comes along with that topic. In many cases, that specialized vocab, or jargon, isn't very complicated or unfamiliar to the reader (like in the picture to your right). But in other cases, jargon can be extremely convoluted and unfamiliar to most readers who are uninformed about whatever topic the paper covers.
In these cases, some writers try to "dumb it down" so that any reader can understand the topic whether they know the jargon or not, while other writers use jargon and just expect the readers to understand it. While proofreaders learn certain types of jargon from proofreading documents with topics related to business, science, medicine, and social science, it is almost impossible to know all the jargon. When foreign, medical, and technical words are used in a document, there are a few things that proofreaders should take into consideration.
Your first order of business in every case should be to ensure that the terms you are using are being used correctly and consistently. When you get a document that has words you have never seen before and you are unsure of their meaning, take the time to do a quick search using a major search engine. Generally speaking, this will provide a wide range of information regarding the term or terms you are seeking information about. However, there are times when you will run into language so technical or industry-specific that a simple Google or Yahoo search won't be enough.
Some terminology, specifically scientific terminology, can be extremely difficult to correctly define. You are no doubt aware by this point in the training that there are many ordinary, everyday words that are spelled differently in the US than they are in Great Britain, Australia, and Canada. The same is the case with scientific terminology. Because of these differences and because of the similarities between scientific words, ensuring you are using the correct word can be a challenge.
In these cases, Google Scholar can be your best friend. Google Scholar has an incredible number of scientific, technical, and medical articles (as well as articles in other academic fields) that can prove very useful when trying to determine if an author is using and spelling a word or term correctly. But Google Scholar will help you with more than just the spelling and usage of a particular word. There will be times when it won't just be a word that an editor or proofreader is unfamiliar with, it will be an entire topic. Google Scholar can provide context for topics and discussions that most of the public is unfamiliar with.
Typically, spelling is one of the last things that an editor or proofreader should look at. After all, there's no sense in correcting the spelling in a document if major revisions still have to occur. However, when proofreading specialized, technical language that is used in scientific or scholarly writing, proofreaders can find themselves in a difficult position. You can't be sure that the author is using the correct word if it is spelled incorrectly, but you can't be sure that a word is spelled correctly unless you are using the correct word.
The first thing a proofreader should do is verify the spelling of a word. This will greatly aid the proofreader in trying to determine if the correct word has indeed been used.
Let's look at a couple of examples of commonly confused medical terms. The word chorionic refers to the membrane surrounding the embryo of birds, reptiles, and mammals. The word chronic refers to a condition that is pervasive and lasts for a long period of time, if not a person's entire life. Now, based upon the context of a document, it would be rather difficult to confuse these two words, or so one would think. However, the human eye has a knack for overlooking minor spelling errors. That one little i and extra o in the middle of the word can be "autocorrected" by the human eye on first, second, and even third passes of a document. Even the most experienced proofreaders occasionally miss words like their, there, and they're. How much easier would it be to miss words that are used so much less frequently?
Meiosis is a type of cell division. Myosis has to do with the way the pupil in the eye contracts. Obviously, these two words have virtually nothing to do with each other. But if a proofreader comes to a document in which a word has been misspelled once, or maybe twice, and if that proofreader doesn't take time to investigate the word to determine if it is spelled correctly and used properly, problems could quickly arise. If the intended word was meiosis and the writer used myosis the first few times, the proofreader might be tempted to change all successive spellings to myosis. This would, of course, change the meaning of the entire document.
Once you know the accurate spelling and the meaning of the word, go back to the document and make sure that the client is using the word properly in all cases. Writers often spell a word correctly but use it improperly. This happens often with word pairs and sets like the following:
effect and affect
further and farther
accept and except
are and our
they're, their, and there
desert and dessert
principal and principle
then and than
your and you're
to, too, and two
However, it can also happen with more complex words, such as the pairs we pointed out in the previous slide. If the writer means myosis, and the author uses meiosis, the document will obviously have to be altered. Spelling myosis correctly won't change the meaning of the word.
In academic work in particular, but in other areas as well, it's very important not to make assumptions about how terms and phrases are used.
For example, a word or phrase might have a certain definition if used in psychology, but a totally different one if used in sociology. Reviewing a list of homonyms should familiarize you with many of these words, but lists of medical terms that are homonyms are not readily available. You may need to look in a specialized dictionary to get the information you need.
Consider the word affect. In almost every case, this word operates as a verb. Generally speaking, it means to cause a change or difference in. However, in psychology, this word can operate as a noun meaning disposition or emotional state that influences one's actions. Changing the verb would change the meaning whether you check the meaning or not.
It is also the case that academics sometimes use phrases that come across as grammatical clunkers but are, in fact, widely accepted and commonly used. Rather than making an assumption, take a few minutes to consult a few papers on Google Scholar.
If you are unsure of the spelling or meaning of the word, write a comment stating that the client should check to make sure that the word is spelled correctly or to make sure that they check the meaning of the word. If you believe that the writer is using the word inaccurately, highlight the word and make a comment asking if they meant to use an alternative word, and suggest the word you think they intended to use. If you have any questions about the client's choice of words, always notify them. You can notify them either through the comments made in the margins of the document or a note when you return the document to the client.
When proofreading, you may find errors tucked away in all kinds of places. Two of these places are short and long lines. A short line does not necessarily mean that the sentence is a fragment, but it is a definite possibility. Look over the line to also ensure that correct punctuation is used. Longer lines are a bit trickier; there is no rule that says a sentence cannot be over a certain number of words, and a long sentence in and of itself is not an error. Be alert, however! A long sentence can quickly become rambling and confusing. When you come across a long sentence, see if it can't be broken up into several shorter sentences or see if a well-placed comma will help clarify matters.
Think of short and long lines as being similar to headlines, headings, subheadings, and captions. These are places that errors love to hide because they are extremely easy for readers to gloss over. Because they are so obvious, proofreaders tend to be a little too confident when checking these areas. The nice thing about these problem spots is that they don't take very long to doublecheck. So go ahead! Give them another pass.
It is extremely common to find introduced errors in revised copy. These errors occur for many of the same reasons authors introduce them, including simple typos and seeing what you mean (rather than what is really there). Many of the errors made in revised copy when proofreading on screen are simply spacing or double punctuation errors, which is why it is important to do a final pass of your document with Track Changes on but in Final View (if you are working in Microsoft Word). This will allow you to see your work in its final form, rather than seeing it filled with red changes. Doing this will let you see where you've only partially deleted a word, where a deletion led to double commas, or where you inserted the right word in the wrong spot.
Along with doing a final pass in Final View, use Word's tools to your advantage. Use the Search function to look for extra spaces or double periods or commas. You can also use the Search function to ensure that particular style issues (such as spelling or punctuation of terms/phrases) were consistently applied throughout the document. Finally, before you finish, do one last spell check using the Spelling and Grammar tool; it's not perfect, but it will catch some of the typos you may have introduced.
Vocabulary can get even the best of us down. Remember that writers often don't notice when they are using vocabulary that is too specific for the intended audience of the document. After all, they are used to the terminology and jargon; they've been working with it in order to write the document. For terminology that is appropriate for the document, ensure that it is used accurately and consistently. Make notes where terminology might be over the readers' heads and ask the author to reconsider using these terms.
You might think your proofreading of trouble spots ends when you finish looking over headlines, headings, subheadings, and captions; it doesn't. Look at short and long lines of text, and check and double-check that no errors have been introduced into the document.
Last Updated: 09/09/2022