The Copyeditor's Handbook Glossary of Copyediting Terms

linespacing

"white pace" between successive lines of text; usually called leading

cleanup

(1) File cleanup, standardization of formatting and keyboarding, usually with the use of macros, to prepare computer files for editing and the subsequent production process. (2) Manuscript cleanup, incorporation of an author's responses to the copyediting into the final hard copy or computer files.

callout

(1) Placement callout, a notation on hard copy usually in the left margin) or in a manuscript file (following the publisher's convention) to indicate the placement of an image or table or to signal a cross-reference (2) Image callout, a label identifying an item in an illustration

styling

(1) editorial changes in a manuscript to ensure conformity to an editorial style; see mechanical editing (2) formatting of the elements of a manuscript by using the style and template features of a word processor; compare markup

incorrection

(1) replacement of a correct variant, falsely believed to be erroneous, by some other (possibly less satisfactory) correct variant (2) replacement of a correct variant by an incorrect one

clipping

(1) shortened form of a word usually created by pruning syllables from the front, middle, or back of a longer word: exam for examination (2) Abbreviation formed by clipping off the end of a word: Rev., Prof.

flag

(1) to call to someone's attention (Flag all math symbols") (2) Gummed slip of paper, attached to hard copy, on which a copyeditor writes a query; also called query slip

built-up fraction

A fraction typeset as separate numbers with a solidus (slash) between them: 1/2, 3/4, 7/8. Compare case fraction

hyphen

A horizontal bar character used to indicate a split or incomplete word.

full caps

ALL CAPITALS

compound

Adjective, adverb, conjunction, noun, or preposition composed of two or more words. A compound form may be open (written as several words but treated as a unit), hyphenated (written as two or more words connected by hyphens), or solid (also called closed; written as one word). Compound forms are also described as permanent (a fixed form listed in a dictionary) or temporary ( a form determined by a style manual's hyphenation rules and affected by the use and position of the word in a sentence).

headnote style

Brief introductory or explanatory material that follows a part, chapter, or section title and preceds the running text

epigraph

Brief quotation conveying the theme of a work or a division of a work, placed in the front matter of a book, on the part title page of a section, or on the opening page of a chapter

credit line

Brief statement of the source of an illustration, often placed at the end of the legend

intercap

Capital letter that appears in the middle of a word, as in a company or product name (FedEx, PowerPoint, Ebay) also called midcap or camel cap

acute accent

Diacritic mark

on-screen editing

Editing that is performed on a document's computer files rather than on hard copy; also called online editing or electronic manuscript (EMS) editing

APA style

Editorial preferences specified in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association

PDF [Portable Document Format]

Electronic file format that preserves the font, page layout, and images of the original file independent of a computer's operating system or software

all cap

FULL CAPITALS

A-head

First-level heading within a chapter (or comparable section of a document); also 1-head

interrobang

Fusion of the question mark and exclamation point, once proposed (but never widely adopted) as an addition tot he standard list of punctuation marks in English

line editing

In traditional publishing, revision focusing on literary style at the sentence and paragraph levels. Today often used interchangeably with the term copyediting

indie author

Independent author. Performs the tasks normally undertaken by a traditional publisher, hires services to do this work, or collaborates with other independent publishing professionals (editors, designers, production specialists, distributors) and commercial publishing platforms to self-publish a work

Unicode

International coding system that enables keyboarders to produce over one hundred thousand linguistic, mathematical, and scientific characters

stet

Latin for "let it stand" used to reinstate text that had been marked for deletion or change

hair-line rule

Lightest (or thinnest) horizontal line available

fraction slash

Name of the character used to construct case fractions. Not found on a standard QWERTY keyboard or in Microsoft Word's Symbol Browser. In Unicode this glyph is U+2044

editorial coordinator

Person who supervises an in-house copyeditor or who assigns work to a freelance copyeditor. In book publishing, often called managing editor, chief copyeditor, production editor, or project editor; in other industries, may be titled communications or pubs (short for publication) manager, editor, or specialist

flush

Positioned at the margin of the text page, either flush left or flush right.

curly quotes

Rounded marks used for quotations and apostrophes.

dot leaders

Row of periods between horizontal entries in a table or list; for example: Annual turnover...............93.4%

initial cap only

See sentence style

UC

Short for uppercase (capital letters)

flush and hang

Style of setting indexes and lists. The first line of each entry or paragraph is set flush left, and the remaining lines of the entry are indented.

eggcorn

The erroneous transformation of a stock expression into a new one, often based on an incorrect assumption about the etymology of the original. The linguist Geoffrey Pullum named this type of error, from the mangled saying "Mighty oaks from little eggcorns [acorns] grow"

b/b

The short for from baseline to baseline. The notation 16 pts. b/b asks for 16 points (of vertical space) between the baselines of two successive lines of text. See also leading; linespacing

editorial style

The sum of editorial decisions ensuring consistency in matters of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, punctuation, treatment of numbers and numerals, treatment of quotations, use of abbreviations, use of italics and bold type, treatment of special elements (headings, lists, tables, charts, graphs), and format of footnotes or endnotes and other documentation

half-title page

The very first page (p. i) in a printed book, normally showing only the main title and omitting subtitle, author's name, publisher, edition, and other copy. Sometimes called bastard title

frontispiece

Unnumbered illustration facing the title page of a book

square brackets

[ ]

alt text

[Alternative text] Special markup of tables and illustrations in electronic format to work with text-to-speech (TTS) and other accessibility tools.

ASCII

[American Standard Code for Information Interchange; pronounced "ASS-key."] Set of 128 alphanumeric and nonprinting characters (e.g., wordspace, tab, hard return) used in converting word processing files from one format to another. When files are converted into ASCII, all typeface formatting (e.g., italics, bold), diacritics, and other non-ASCII characters are lost.

DOI

[Digital Object Identifier] Permanent, unique alphanumeric identifier assigned to an online document by the International DOI Foundation and the document's publisher

ESL

[English as a Second Language] the term for nonnative use of English in countries where it is the primary language

EFL

[English as a foreign language] the term for nonnative use of English in countries where it is not the native language

FPO

[For position (or placement) only] Initialism stamped or watermarked on low-resolution images used as placeholders in a layout until the final images are supplied

ISBN

[International Standard Book Number] Thirteen-digit number assigned by a publisher to uniquely identify a book. Before January 2007, ten-digit ISBNs were used

OCR

[Optical character recognition; optical character reader] technology or device that scans printed text, character by character, and translates the character images into character codes, such as ASCII, that can be used in data processing or editing

SI

[Systeme international d'unites] system of measurement based on the metric system and used by scientists around the world. SI has seven base units; meter (length), kilogram (mass), second (time), ampere (electric current), kelvin (temperature), mole (amount of substance), and candela (luminosity)

CIP data

[cataloguing-in-publication] Block of publishing information about a book supplied to the publisher, upon request, by the Library of Congress. The CIP block is usually printed on the copyright page

MS

[plural MSS] short for manuscript

corpus

[plural: corpora] a collection of written and spoken language used in linguistic study and lexicography

leading

[pronounced "ledding"] vertical spacing between the baselines of two successive lines of text, measured in points. the word derives from the lead once used to create space between lines in hot-metal typesetting. see also b/b; linespacing

grave accent

a diacritic mark (') placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation

cedilla

a diacritical mark (,) placed below the letter c to indicate that it is pronounced as an s

widow

a first line of type on a printed page that runs less than full measure; specifically, the short last line of a paragraph carried over fromt he preceding page

case fraction

a fraction typeset as one glyph: ½; also called a piece fraction; see also fraction slash

typeface

a named group of fonts—consisting of different type sizes and including roman, italic, bold, etc— in a given design eg Times Roman

tearsheet

a page "torn" from a printed document for use in the production of a new document

drop folio

a page number placed at the bottom of a page

comment

a remark or query for the author; may be shown in balloons or the review pane in a Microsoft Word document. see also bubble; embedded query; query list; query slip

bulleted list

a type of vertical list in which each item is introduced by a bullet or other graphic character

mark-revisions feature

a way of showing deletions and insertions in a document on-screen

short title

abbreviated title of a book or article used in a note or in-text citation after the full title has been cited on its first occurrence in the chapter or document

acronym

abbreviation formed by the first letters of the words in a phrase and pronounced as a word (NASA, FEMA); often used interchangeably with initialism, but some house styles treat these differently

initialism

abbreviation formed by the first letters of the words in a phrase and pronounced as separate letters (FBI, NSA)

contraction

abridgment of a syllable, word, or phrase by omitting some portion (e'er, they'll, Dr., Sr.) compare clipping

justification

alignment of left and right margins in typeset text. most book pages are justified left and right, but some documents are justified only at the left margin (also called ragged right)

blind folio

also called suppressed folio, is not printed, although the page is counted in the numbering of the pages

wordspacing

amount of space between printed words

Cupertino

an erroneous auto-correction on an electronic device. So named after the tendency of an early spell-checker to miscorrect the unhyphenated spelling of cooperation to Cupertino (Apple's California headquarters)

type page

area on a printed page defined by the top, bottom, left, and right margins. includes the running heads and running feet, folios, and sidebars

text page

area on a printed page in which the body of the text appears

table

arrangement of words or numbers in columns and row

manuscript editing

as defined by the CMS, synonymous with copyediting or line editing and encompassing tasks that range from simple mechanical corrections to substantial remedial work improving style and clarity, restructuring disorganized passages, tightening baggy prose, and the like

spine

backbone of a book that connects the front and back covers. spine copy usually includes the book title, the author's surname, the publisher's name, and the publisher's logo

boilerplate

block of text that is reused, without change, in various documents

trade books

books intended for general readers, as distinguished from books intended for professionals, scholars, or students

pull quote

brief, striking excerpt copied, or "pulled," from the main text of a dicument and treated as a graphic element

CRC

camera-ready copy

small caps

capital letter slightly shorter and squatter than full caps

sentence style

capitalization style for heads, display lines, and title of works in which all words are lowercased except those that would be capitalized in a sentence (ie the first word, proper nouns, proper adjectives, and the word I) also called initial cap only.

headline style

capitalization style for heads, display lines, and titles of works in which all words are capitalized except interior articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions. Alternatively, prepositions shorter than for or five letters are lowercased, and longer prepositions are capitalized. Also called UC/lc.

font

characters in a given size and style of a typeface (10-point Courier roman)

entity

character—especially a character with a diacritic, a non-Latin alphabetic character, an ideogram, or a symbol or other glyph— that is not available on a standard QWERTY keyboard

art log

chart used to inventory and track all art in a manuscript; also called art inventory

diction

choice of words and phrases

serial comma

comma preceding and or or in a list of items (a, b, and c; d, e, f, or g). also called Harvard comma or Oxford comma

spousal commas

commas setting of a phrase used as a short appositive of relationship (eg, "Harvey, my husband..."), sometimes omitted ("my father Ralph) as an exception to the customary practice of setting off nonrestrictive interrupters with commas

ligature

compound typographic character: æ

syntax

construction of phrases, clauses, and sentences in a language

runover

continuation of a lengthy head, displayed equation, line of poetry, and the like onto a second line; also called turnover or turned line

nondisclosure agreement (NDA)

contract in which the parties agree not to disclose proprietary and other sensitive information that they share while doing business together

metadata

data about data. in publishing, information about an article, book, or other publication—eg title, subtitle, author, author biography, contributors, edition, publisher, publication date, ISBN, price, description of content, formats, subject categories, language, and page count. prepared in a structural digital format by publisher and indie authors, with some details supplied by outside sources such as the Library of Congress, metadata auto-fills the product pages and databases of publishers, distributes, vendors, libraries and content aggregators. Metadata underlies the contemporary system for cataloging, distributing, and selling books and supports online search and discovery

unlaut

diacritic mark placed over a vowel to change the pronunciation, especially in German. Usually omitted when words are Englished (uber becomes the ride-sharing service Uber) but often retained in proper names (Goering). compare diaeresis

tilde

diacritic mark ~

circumflex accent

diacritic mark: ^

trim size

dimensions of a page of a book

balloons

display option for showing comments and changes in a Microsoft Word document. Compare review pane

sink

distance from the top of a printed page to the baseline of a particular element on that page (e.g. a chapter title)

developmental editing

editing to develop an idea or proposal into a publishable manuscript, restructure a draft, identify gaps in subject coverage, devise strategies for more effective communication of the content, and create features to enhance the final product and make it more competitive in the marketplace

copyediting

editing to impose mechanical consistency; correlate parts of a manuscript; correct infelicities of grammar, usage, and diction; query internal inconsistencies and structural or organizational problems; flag content requiring permission; and provide markup or styling of elements.

mechanical editing

editorial interventions in a manuscript made to ensure conformity to an editorial style

CSE style

editorial preferences specified in Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers. Called CBE style until 2000, when the Council of Biology Editors changed to Council of Science Editors

AP style

editorial preferences specified in The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law

Chicago style

editorial preferences specified in The Chicago Manual of Style

GPO style

editorial preferences specified in the GPO style manual: An Official Guide to the Form and Style of Federal Government Publishing (GPO originally "Government Printing Office" now "Government Publication Office")

house style

editorial style preferences expressed by a publisher

peer en dash

en dash used in place of a hyphen to join equivalently weighted terms in two-word compound adjectives. Recommended in the style manuals for Cambridge, Oxford, the ACS, the CSE, and APA

castoff

estimate of the typeset or printed length of a manuscript

signposting

excessive cross-referencing of topics preciously discussed and to be discussed ("The court's decision, as we saw in chapter 2 and 3, was controversial but firmly grounded in precedent. we will examine the legacy of this controversy in chapter 5 after we have reviewed the major precedents for the decision")

substantive

extensive revision of an author's text for literary style and sometimes engagement with content (revision with the latter focus is also called content editing)

track changes

feature in Microsoft Word that allows a user to show deletions and insertions in a document; generally described as a mark-revisions feature. see also redline

character attributes

features that apply to typed characters: boldface, italics, small capitals, subscripts, superscripts.

kerning

fine-tuned adjustments to the spacing between particular characters in a font to improve readability and appearance. see letterspacing

first ref

first appearance of a proper name ("Identify all characters on first ref) or of a source in reference notes (give a full citation on first ref")

orphan

first line of a paragraph that is stranded at the bottom of a printed page, separated from the remainder of the paragraph by a page break. Sometimes the last line of any paragraph that contains only the last part of a hyphenated word or the last syllable of the hyphenated word if that syllable is less than four letters long

galleys

first printed version (proof) of a document; so called because these proofs were once printed on long, unnumbered sheets of paper, rather than in page form. Today, galley proofs may be requested for some lengthy, complex books but are likely to take the form of loosely paginated proofs, also called rough pages, without final positioning of illustrations or fine-tuning of page maekup

style sheet

form filled in by the copyeditor as a record of editorial choices

global English

form of written English optimized for global communication, especially among speakers of regional dialects of English and nonnative English speakers. sometimes called international English style

back matter

general term for material that comes at the end of a book or book-length document: appendixes, endnotes, glossary, bibliography, index

front matter

general term for material that comes at the front of a book, before the first chapter: half-title page, title page, copyright page, dedication, epigraph, table of contents, list of illustrations or tables, foreword, preface, acknowledgments, introduction. Also called prelims

garden-path sentences

grammatically correct sentence that leads readers astray ("down the garden path") because of incorrect parsing

sidebar

graphically separate but related text placed alongside the running text in an article, on a webpage, or in a book

en

half an em

penalty copy

hard-copy manuscript that is difficult to typeset (heavily corrected, replete with math symbols or foreign-language text) for which a compositor charges a premium

cut-in head

head that cuts across the columns of a table

spanner

head that extends across two or more columns in a table

caption

heading or title of an illustration-distinct from the more discursive legend; but caption is often used to refer to all explanatory text that accompanies a piece of art

bullet

heavy, vertically centered dot used as an ornament or as a marker in a vertical list. Bullets are solid or open; square bullets are solid or open

rule

horizontal or vertical line. the thickness (or weight) of a rule is measured in points or inches

end-line hyphen

hyphen that falls at the end of a line of text

art

illustration (e.g., drawing, photograph, map, graph); also used to refer to all illustrations in a work

figure

illustration printed as part of the running text

line art

illustration that contains only blacks and whites, no gray tones

baseline

imaginary line on which printed character sit

swung dash

in math, a symbol that denotes "approximately", in logic, negation; over an equals sign, "approximately equal to"

dead copy

in the production process, a superseded version of copy; manuscript that has been typeset and proofread. see also foul copy

foul copy

in the production process, the previous iteration of a manuscript or proof with corrections indicated thereon; sometimes referred to when checking corrections in the current ("live") version. see also dead copy

bad break

incorrect division of a word that falls across two lines of type (bad word break). Unpleasing division of a paragraph that falls across two pages (bad page break). see also orphan, widow

hang

indented lines

hard hyphen

is always retained no matter where the word falls

soft hyphen

is dropped in the final copy if the hyphenated word falls on one line

display type

large, sometimes ornamented or otherwise distinctive type, used to set off, or display, part titles, chapter titles, headings, and the like.

verso

left-hand page of a book, magazine, or brochure. compare recto

stub

leftmost column of a table, which lists the categories or variable

equal variant

legitimate alternative spelling of a word that occurs with equal or near-equal frequency; usually connected to the headword in a dictionary listing by or

secondary variant

legitimate alternative spelling of a word that occurs with less frequency than the primary spelling; usually connected to the headword in a dictionary listing by also. compare equal variant; primary variant

variant spelling

legitimate alternative spelling of a word. see also equal variant; primary variant; secondary variant

register

level of formality in the grammar, usage, and diction of written or spoken communication, as determined by the specific social context and purpose of the communication, e.g., formal, informal, intimate

up style

liberal capitalization of nouns and adjectives, a style favored by some newspapers and magazines

continued line

line of text, usually set in italics [Continued on next page] placed at the foot or top of a page when an element such as a table extends over two or more pages.

pica

linear measurement: 1 pica = 12 points

point

linear measurement: 1 point = 0.0138 inches; 12 points = 1 pica = 0.1656 inches (rule of thumb: 6 picas = 1 inch); 72.464 points = 1 inch (rule of thumb: 72 point = 1 inch)

vertical list

list that displays items vertically on separate lines below the introductory text; also called displayed list or set-off list

diaeresis

mark resembling an umlaut but having a different function: it is placed over a vowel to indicate that the vowel is pronounced (naïve) omitted in many English names and words except in the pages of the New Yorker

diacritic

mark that changes the phonetic value of an alphabetical character. common diacritic marks include the acute accent, cedilla, circumflex, grave accent, tilde, and umlaut or diaeresis

markup

marking of a manuscript (hard copy or computer files_ to identify all design elements, ie, any copy that is not running text: extracts, display equations, part and chapter titles, footnotes, captions, etc. also called styling, tagging, typecoding. compare styling (2)

semantic tagging

markup of a document based on meaning rather than appearance, for example, to differentiate between italics used for emphasis, for foreign terms, and for book titles

displayed equation

mathematical expression set on its own line, compare run-in text

elegant variation

misguided stylistic refinement in which a writer substitutes different synonyms simply to avoid repeating a word

mondegreen

misunderstood text of a song or poem e.g. rendering the line "laid him on the green" as "Lady Mondegreen" in the ballad "The Bonnie Earl O'Murray"

open punctuation

modern punctuation style, characterized by a minimalist approach to the use of marks, especially commas

smart quotes

name for directional quotation marks (both single and double), also called curly quotes or typographer's quotes

dagger

name for the † character

ampersand

name of the & character

open paren

name of the ( character

close paren

name of the ) character

en dash

name of the - character. an en dash is longer than a hyphen but shorter than an em dash. In manuscripts the en dash is often typed as a hyphen

ellipsis

name of the . . . character

angle brackets

name of the < and > characters

at sign

name of the @ character

brackets

name of the [ and ] characters; also called square brackets

braces

name of the { and } characters; also called curly brackets

em dash

name of the — character. in manuscripts the em dash is sometimes typed as --

double dagger

name of the ‡ character

sidenote

note placed in a separate panel alongside the text rather than at the foot of the page or the end of the text or section of text.

cardinal number

number used for counting and specifying quantities: one, two, three

ordinal number

number used for designating position in a numerical sequence: first, second, third

superscript

numeral or character set above the baseline

subscript

numeral or character set below the baseline

redline

on-screen or hard-copy version of a manuscript that indicates which text has been added or deleted since the previous version. In the redline version, the added text is also called redline, and the deleted text is called strikeout. here, the redline text is enclosed in braces, and the strikeout text is slashed: I pledge my allegiance to {the} flag

legend

one or more sentences of explanation that accompany an illustration; often called caption, although traditional bookmaking differentiates the terms

running head

one or two lines of copy, such as a book title or chapter title, set at the top of each page of a document or book; also called header

running foot

one or two lines of copy, such as a chapter title or section title, set at the bottom of each page of a document or book; also called footer.

expressed folio

one that is printed

dingbat

ornamental character in typography

folio

page number in typeset text

plate

page of illustration, usually on special paper, that is printed separately from the regular text and is insterted between text pages during production

decked heads

pair of heads in a table consisting of a spanner atop two or more single-column heads

bubble

penciled-in circle or box in which an editor writes a comment or instruction on hard copy

compositor

person "wets" the type, either by hand or by computer, and arranges ("composes") the text in pages; also called comp or typesetter

designer

person responsible for the physical appearance of a book or document, including the typography (typeface, type size, etc), layout (margins, leading, location of running heads, etc.), and style of the art(drawings, maps, charts, etc.)

cross-reference

phrase that mentions another part of the document or text ("in chapter 5 we discussed") also called x-ref or in-text ref. see also signposting

running text

portion of a document consisting of sentences and paragraphs, rather than set-off display lines, tables, and other elements; also called general text or regular running text

primary variant

preferred spelling of a word that has variant spellings

impression

print run of a publication

monospace type

printed lettering in which characters are of equal width. also called nonproportional type

proportional type

printed lettering in which characters are of unqual width

sans serif

printed letters that do not have short cross lines (serifs) projecting from the main strokes

broadside

printed page whose top is at the left-hand side of a regular page; readers must turn the document 90 degrees clockwise to read the text. Used to accommodate wide tables and maps. In word processing programs, called landscape orientation

page proofs

printed version (proof) of a document in page form; also called pages

hard copy

printout of a computer file; by extension, any text that appears on paper

blind proofing

proofreading in which the proofreader is not supplied with an earlier version of the text against which to compare the current version. Also called cold proofing or noncomparison proofing. Compare comparison proofing

comparison proofing

proofreading in which the proofreader is supplied with an earlier version of the text and compares the typeset copy word for word against the previous iteration

query

publishing jargon for "question"; used as a verb or a noun. often called a comment in Microsoft Word and other word processors

embedded query

query placed within the text of the electronic manuscript, usually set off with curly braces or other unique delimiters. see also comment

scare quotes

quotation marks used to convey that a word or phrase is unusual, dubious, ironic, or overly colloquial; equivalent to so-called and therefore rarely used with that expression, except to direct special attention to a part of the whole phrase being held at arm's length: my so-called "safety" net. Sometimes called shudder quotes or sneer quotes

pass

read-through of a manuscript by a copyeditor

proofreading

reading typeset copy to correct errors introduced during the typesetting, formatting, or file conversion of the final document and to identify any serious errors not caught during copyediting

redundonym

redundant expression consisting of an acronym or initialism followed by a word that is part of the abbreviation: ATM machine

key phrase endnotes

reference notes without any note indicators in the text, placed at the end of the document and keyed to the text by page number and a relevant phrase from the text. sometimes referred to as incipit notes

endnote

reference or explanatory note that appears at the end of a book or document, in a section titled "Notes"; also called backnote

hypercorrection

replacement of a correct usage, falsely believed to be erroneous, by an incorrect one

recto

right-hand page of a book, magazine, or brochure. compare verso

grammar

rules governing the system and structure of a language, usually understood to comprise syntax and morphology (the forms of words)

global search

search of one or more computer files to locate all instances of a word or words, either to doubl-check their styling (capitalization, hyphenation, etc) or to replace them with a specified substitute (global search and replace or global change)

B-head

second-level heading within a chapter (or comparable section of a document); also called 2-head. Compare A-head

name-year

see author-date: system for providing references for works quoted, paraphrased, or cited as evidence in a document, in which the surname of the author and the year of publication of the work are given in the text, along with any specific page numbers.

cold proofing

see blind proofing -> proofreading in which the proofreader is not supplied with an earlier version of the text against which to compare the current version

noncomparison proofing

see blindproofing: proofreading in which the proofreader is not supplied with an earlier version of the text against which to compare the current version

landscape orientation

see broadside; word processing page whose top is at the left-hand side of a regular page; readers must turn the document 90 degrees clockwise to read the text.

piece fraction

see case fractions

manuscript cleanup

see cleanup (2): Manuscript cleanup, incorporation of an author's responses to the copyediting into the final hard copy or computer files.

typesetter

see compositor

in-text ref

see cross-reference; phrase that mentions another part of the document or text

leaders

see dot leaders; Row of periods between horizontal entries in a table or list; for example: Annual turnover...............93.4%

communications manager

see editorial coordinator

production editor

see editorial coordinator

project editor

see editorial coordinator

managing editor

see editorial coordinator: Person who supervises an in-house copyeditor or who assigns work to a freelance copyeditor. In book publishing, often called managing edito

soft hyphen

see end-line hyphen

backnote

see endnote

block quote

see extract

prelims

see front matter

rough pages

see galleys: form of loosely paginated proofs

international English style

see global English

bastard title

see half-title page

nonbreaking space

see hard space: special word processing character that produces a wordspace but does not permit a line to break at that space.

midcap

see intercap: Capital letter that appears in the middle of a word

camel cap

see intercap: capital letter that appears in the middle of a word

incipit notes

see key phrase endnotes

modern figures

see lining figures: typographical style of numerals in which all digits sit on the baseline

coding

see markup

tagging

see markup

typecoding

see markup

nonproportional type

see monospace type: printed lettering which characters are of equal width

humanistic style

see nontechnical style

electronic manuscript (EMS) editing

see on-screen editing

online editing

see on-screen editing: Editing that is performed on a document's computer files rather than on hard copy

sticky note

see query slip

query tag

see query slip: small slip of paper with an adhesive edge that can be attached to the sides of a hard-copy manuscript page; used for writing queries

strikeout

see redline

footer

see running foot

header

see running head

general text

see running text

regular running text

see running text

turnover

see runover

shudder quotes

see scare quotes; quotation marks used to convey that a word or phrase is unusual, dubious, ironic, or overly colloquial

sneer quotes

see scare quotes; quotation marks used to convey that a word or phrase is unusual, dubious, ironic, or overly colloquial

Oxford comma

see serial comma

harvard comma

see serial comma

straight quotes

see smart quotes

typographer's quotes

see smart quotes

closed compound

see solid compound

forward slash

see solidus

slant

see solidus

slash

see solidus

virgule

see solidus

content editing

see substantive editing

displayed list

see vertical list

set-off list

see vertical list

query list

separate sheet of paper interleaved with a hard-copy manuscript and bearing queries keyed to the manuscript by page and paragraph number, query number, or other means

asterisk-dagger sequence

sequence of symbols used for nonnumbered reference notes: asterisk (*), dagger (†), double-dagger (‡), section mark (§), parallels (∥), number sign (#)

macro

series of computer keystrokes, commands, and operations that are stored as a unit so that the entire routine plays out when the user invokes the macro

suspended compound

set of compound adjectives or nouns in which an element common to all members is not repeated. for example: fourth-, fifth-, and sixth graders

nontechnical style

set of conventions for the treatment of numbers in nontechnical writing. Also called humanistic style

technical style

set of conventions for the treatment of numbers in technical and scientific writing and in other documents containing many numbers and quantities, including statistical and financial material. also called scientific style

serif

short cross line that projects from the main stroke of a printed letter

x-ref

short cross-reference

apos

short for apostrophe

AA

short for author's alteration; used to indicate changes made by an author on a set of proofs

AU

short for author; used in queries ("AU: Revision OK?")

bold

short for boldface. These words are boldface

caps

short for capital letters

XML

short for extensible markup language. system for coding the elements in a digital document that reduces or eliminates the need for recoding when the document is produced on a new platform (eg., print, web, e-reader, computer tablet)

ital

short for italics

mult

short for multiplication sign, distinct from a lowercase x

N

short for number; used in statistical tables to indicate the size of the sample; often set as a small cap

PE

short for printer's error; used to indicate an error made by the compositor on a set of proofs

Q (or QY)

short for query; used in queries (Q: where is table 3?")

T of C

short for table of contents

TK

short for to come, a placeholder derived from "to kum", signifying that additional materials will be added (analog printing has long used deliberate misspellings—"lede" for "lead"—to prevent inadvertent typesetting of instructions and prompts to the compositor

typo

short for typographical error; a misprint

UC/lc

short for uppercase and lowercase; used to indicate that display text is to be capitalized according to headline style—as distinct from text to be set sentence style

squib

short parenthetical indicator placed after a table title to identify an element that pertains to the table as a whole

abbreviation

shortened form of a word or phrase; a general term that encompasses these methods of abridgment

cell

single entry or location in the body of a table

query slip

small slip of paper with an adhesive edge that can be attached to the sides of a hard-copy manuscript page; used for writing queries. sometimes called query tag, flag, or sticky note, or referred to by the trademarked named Post-it

ragged right

sometimes called rag right. Text aligned at the left margin but not at the right margin

descriptivist

somewhat misleading term applied to a language expert who seeks to document how language is used without prescribing "correct" usage or making value judgments about usage

prescriptivist

somewhat misleading term applied to a language expert who seeks to prescribe "correct" usage or to make value judgments about usage

letterspacing

space between the letters of a word. tight and loose letterspacing are used to enhance the appearance of letters set in display type

thin space

space that is narrower than a regular wordspace but wider than a hair space, approximately 1/4 to 1/6 of an em. sometimes used between personal initials: a.b. jones

down style

sparse use of capitalization, a style generally favored in book publishing and exemplified in The Chicago Manual of Style

hard space

special word processing character that produces a wordspace but does not permit a line to break at that space. Also called nonbreaking space

element

specially configured feature of a manuscript other than regular running text: a part or chapter number, title, or subtitle; a heading or subheading; a list, extract, or displayed equation; a table number, title, source line, or footnote; a figure number or figure caption

review pane

split-screen display option for showing comments and changes in a Microsoft Word document. compare balloons; bubble; embedded query

solidus

standard character / on the QWERTY keyboard, used in constructing fractions, URLs, and other expressions: 1/2, 1/3. also called forward slash, slant, slash, and virgule

CN

standard coding for a chapter number. see markup

CO

standard coding for a chapter opening. see markup

CT

standard coding for a chapter title, see markup

FN

standard coding for a footnote

PO

standard coding for a part opening

EX

standard coding for an extract

QWERTY

standard typewriter or computer keyboard layout for the Latin alphabet. The first six letters on the top row of alphabet keys, from left to right, spell QWERTY

file cleanup

standardization of formatting and keyboarding, usually with the use of macros, to prepare computer files for editing and the subsequent production process.

plain language

style of communication using simple vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure that is readily accessible to readers. Several English-speaking countries now mandate the use of so-called plain language, or plain English, in government communications with the public; advocates in the Plain Language Movement promote a wider use of plain language

vetting

substantive review of a manuscript by an expert in the subject matter; similarly, the checking of a translation by someone who is proficient in both languages

reference note system

system for providing references for works quoted, paraphrased, or cited as evidence in a document, in which sources are placed in notes keyed to the running text by superscript numerals or symbols. The notes appear at the bottom of the page or at the end of the section or document. compare author-date system; citation-sequence system

author-date system

system for providing references for works quoted, paraphrased, or cited as evidence in a document, in which the surname of the author and the year of publication of the work are given in the text, along with any specific page numbers. Full bibliographical information is supplied in an alphabetized reference list at the end of the document. Also called name-year. Compare with citation-sequence system; reference note system

citation-sequence system

system for providing references for works quoted, paraphrased, or cited as evidence in a document. On first mention, each work is assigned a number, in sequence, which is used in all subsequent references to that work. These numbers appear in the text, usually as superscripts, and complete bibliographical information is supplied in a numbered list at the end of the document.

scientific style

technical style

hyphenated compound

term consisting of component words joined by a hyphen: cross-reference

open compound

term consisting of component words separated by a space (e.g. high school)

solid compound

term consisting of component words spelled as a single word. also called closed compound

temporary compound

term consisting of component words whose form (open, hyphenated, or solid) varies according to grammatical function and position in a sentence

permanent compound

term consisting of component words whose form is established in the dictionary

stylistic editing

term used by the organization Editors Canada and some other practitioners to describe line-by-line editing for literary style. compare line editing

levels of edit

term used in a 1976 publication by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to describe a management tool for specifying how much and what kind of copyediting to provide for a given manuscript. Other organizations have devised similar schemes

camera-ready copy

text and art positioned in their final printed format, ready to be shot (filmed) by the printer; in this now-outdated production technology, printing plates were made from the film. Also called CRC

jacket copy

text that appears on the protective paper wrapper of a clothbound book or on the cover and inward folding flaps of a paperback book

run-in text

text that is not set off on its own line.

singular they

the pronoun they (them, their, theirs, themselves or themself) used as an epicene, or gender-neutral, singular pronoun

usage

the way a word or phrase is habitually used by native speakers of a language

horizontal rule

thin horizontal line

vertical rule

thin vertical line

head

title that indicates the start of a section or subsection of a document or book chapter. heads are given distinctive typographic treatment *type size and weight; capitalization; set off or run in) see also running head

clear for 10s

to align numerals on the last digit *rather than the first digit) in a numbered vertical list.

close up

to delete unwanted horizontal or vertical space

kill

to order the deletion of text or an illustration

pick up

to reuse previously printed text or illustrations

close punctuation

traditional style of punctuation, characterized by liberal use of marks, especially commas

flopped

transposed; used to describe an illustration that is inadvertently (or sometimes intentionally) printed as a mirror image of the original

stacked heads

two or more heads with no text intervening

specs

type specifications created by a designer to indicate typeface, point size, vertical and horizontal spacing, margins, and the like

roman

type style used most often in printed materials—as distinct from italic, gothic, script

em

typesetting measurement whose value depends on the size of the type: in 10-point type, an em space is 10 points wide; in 18-point type, an em space is 18 points wise.

lining figures

typographical style of numerals in which all digits sit on the baseline: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0: compare with old-style figures

old-style figures

typographical style of numerals in which some digits have ascenders or descenders. sometimes abbreviated as o.s. or OS

double numeration

use of two numerals (separated by a period, hyphen, or other character) in the numbering of pages, figures, tables, or other materials. For example, the pages in chapter 1 of a book might be numbered 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc; the pages in chapter 2, 2.1, 2.2, etc;

numbered list

vertical list in which each item is introduced by a numeral

unnumbered list

vertical list in which items carry neither numbering nor bullets

midpoint

vertically centered dot, smaller than a bullet

change bar

very thick vertical rule placed in the outer margin of a technical manual to indicate a paragraph that has been revised since the previous edition; see also redline

hair space

very thin nonbreaking space sometimes inserted between typeset characters that are touching, as when italic and roman characters crash

measure

width of a line of printed text. running text is set full measure (from margin to margin); extracts and lists may be set on a narrower measuer

full measure

width of a text page (the width of a page from margin to margin)

paraindent

with of the indention of the first line of a paragraph, usually specified in picas or em spaces

homophones

words that sound alike or nearly alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings: principle, principal

ghostwriting

writing content to be published under someone else's name

leading zero

zero placed before a decimal point to improve comprehension: 0.25 acres.

curly brackets

{}