Presented by John Barnett
Co-Editor, Pennsylvania Libraries: Research & Practice
PALRAP COPYEDITOR TRAINING
TRAINING GOALS
Who is the editorial team?
 The importance of copyediting
 Types of editing
 Using Open Journal Systems, the PaLRaP
platform
 Copyediting tools and guidelines

EDITORIAL TEAM

Editors






John Barnett
Anne Behler
Tom Reinsfelder
News Editors

Linda Neyer
Vacant
Copyeditors





Clinton Baugess
Carol Howe
Stephanie Gillespie
Jordana Shane
Layout Editors




Stephanie Gillespie
Jessica Howard
Lauren Kime
Marketing Coordinator

Christina Steffy
VISUALLY SPEAKING
Editors
News
Editors
Copyeditors
Peer
Reviewers
Layout
Editors
Marketing
PARTNERS AND PLAYERS
Sponsor: College and Research Division,
Pennsylvania Library Association
 Publisher: University Library System E-Journal
Publishing at the University of Pittsburgh
 Peer reviewers
 Authors

ORGANIZATIONALLY SPEAKING
CRD-PaLA
ULS EJournal
Publishing
Peer
Reviewers
Authors
PaLRaP
LIFE CYCLE OF A PALRAP ARTICLE
Solicit manuscripts (ongoing)
 Author submits manuscripts (ongoing)
 Editors read/evaluate submission (<2-3 days)
 Secure peer reviewers (<1 week)
 Peer review (3-4 weeks)
 Communicate decision to author (<2-3 days)
 Author revises manuscript (1-4 weeks)

LIFE CYCLE, CONTINUED
Initial copyedit (2 weeks)
 Editors review copyediting (<1 week)
 Author reviews copyediting (1 week)
 Final copyedit (<1 week)
 Layout performed; galley created (1 week)
 Editors review galley (2-3 days)
 Author reviews galley & proofreads (1 week)

LIFE CYCLE, CONTINUED
Corrections made to galley (1 week)
 Editors proofread galley and metadata (1 week)
 Publish (1 week)


Approximate total time from start to finish—
16 to 22 weeks per article (under ideal
conditions)
WHAT’S SO IMPORTANT ABOUT COPYEDITING?
Improves how the message is communicated
 Avoids vagueness and confusion in meaning
and appearance
 Reflects well on the editorial team, the
publisher, and our sponsor
 Makes our authors look knowledgeable,
intelligent, with a focus on detail and accuracy
 Makes our journal more reliable and reputable

COPYEDITING (ACCORDING TO CHICAGO)

Copyediting (aka manuscript editing)
 Attention
to every word, punctuation mark
 Thorough knowledge of style to be followed
 Ability to make quick, logical, and defensible
decisions
Includes mechanical and substantive editing
 Does not include developmental editing, which
occurs before the manuscript is accepted

TYPES OF EDITING: MECHANICAL
Consistent application of a particular style to a
work
 Text, documentation, tables, illustrations
 Capitalization, spelling, hyphenation,
punctuation, abbreviations, etc.
 Grammar, syntax, and usage

TYPES OF EDITING: SUBSTANTIVE
Organization and presentation of content
 (Some) rewriting to improve style or eliminate
ambiguity
 Reorganizing and tightening
 Not as thorough as developmental editing

A BALANCED APPROACH
Significant editing should be undertaken in
consultation with the editors; editors will consult
with authors as needed
 Use a light to moderate editorial hand
 Suggest changes rather than change outright
 Respect the author’s style, “whether flamboyant or
pedestrian”
 Copyediting should improve how the message is
communicated; it should not change the message

THE PALRAP PLATFORM
OJS, Open Journal Systems, an open source
system developed by the Public Knowledge
Project
 Not always intuitive but a well-regarded
platform for open access journals
 Support from Pitt E-Journal Publishing

COPYEDITING IN 3 STEPS
Step 1: Initial copyedit
 Step 2: Author copyedit
 Step 3: Final copyedit

1 - EDITORS ASSIGN MANUSCRIPT
1 - LOG IN TO SEE YOUR ASSIGNMENTS
1 – BEGIN COPYEDITING
1- INITIAL COPYEDITING PROCESS



Open file and save to your computer
Review copyediting instructions
Edit in Word




Review > Track Changes
Review > New Comment to make suggestions/ask questions
Option: Add additional comments and save via PaLRaP
site (don’t email to author); comments can be seen by
author)
Option: Upload additional Word document with
comments (don’t email to author); comments can be
seen by author
1 – COPYEDIT INSTRUCTIONS
1 – MORE COPYEDIT INSTRUCTIONS
1 – COMMENTS ENTERED VIA SITE
1 – UPLOADED FILE WITH COMMENTS
1 – MARK AS COMPLETE
1 – NOTIFY EDITORS OF COMPLETION
Either send e-mail, remembering to remove the
author from the “to” field
 Or replace author’s e-mail with
palrap@mail.pitt.edu (listserv address)

 If
you select “skip e-mail,” no e-mail is sent, and
you’ll have to contact the editors outside of OJS

Keep communication in OJS as much as
possible
1 – SEND OR SKIP E-MAIL
STEP 2- AUTHOR COPYEDIT
Editors notify author that manuscript is ready
for review
 Author log ins, reviews changes,
accepts/rejects/changes
 Author uploads new version and completes
author copyedit
 Editors review and send manuscript back to
copyeditor for final copyedit

STEP 3 – FINAL COPYEDIT
Editors notify you that manuscript is ready for
final copyedit
 Log in, open author-edited version of
manuscript, and save to your computer
 Review and make any final edits
 Upload new version of manuscript
 Mark as complete and notify editors via e-mail
 Editors will review, assign to layout editor

3 – FINAL COPYEDIT
3 – FINAL COPYEDIT
3 – AND YOU’RE DONE!
COPYEDITING TOOLS: APA STYLE
Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association, Sixth Edition (2010)
(aka APA Style Guide)
 Online assistance: Austin Community College
guide to APA documentation

 http://library.austincc.edu/help/APA/
APA STYLE PARTICULARS
Chapter 4, The Mechanics of Style
 Table 4.1., Guide to Hyphenating Terms
 4.31-4.33, Numbers and Numerals
 Chapter 6, Crediting Sources (citing)
 Table 6.1., Basic Citation Styles
 Chapter 7, Reference Examples

THE MECHANICS OF STYLE (CHAPTER 4)
Space after punctuation marks
 Oxford commas (a, b, and c)
 Dashes
 Quotation marks
 Capitalization
 Numbers and numerals
 See also PaLRaP in-house copyediting guide

GUIDE TO HYPHENATING TERMS (TABLE 4.1.)



"E-mail," "e-book," etc.
"Nonprofit," not "non-profit." "Not-for-profit," however.
Properly hyphenate adjective-and-noun compound terms.





BUT



“problem solving” vs. “problem-solving skills”
“twentieth century” vs. “twentieth-century librarianship"
"the full text of an article" vs. "a full-text article"
"statistics gathering" vs. "statistics-gathering methods"
"high school" and "high school teaching"
"service learning" and "service learning assignments"
In the latter case, "service learning" and "high school" are
considered two-word nouns
NUMBERS AND NUMERALS (4.31-4.33)



In general, use numerals to express numbers 10 and
above and to represent time, dates, ages, scores and
points on a scale, and exact sums of money (4.31)
Use words to express numbers when a number begins a
sentence, title, or text heading; for common fractions
("one fifth of the class . . ."); and for universally accepted
usage (e.g., "the Twelve Apostles") (4.32)
Sometimes you will need to combine numerals and
words to express numbers. For example, "2 two-way
intersections" or "ten 7-point scales.“ (4.33)
CREDITING SOURCES (CHAPTER 6)

When to cite (p. 169)
 “Cite
the work of those individuals whose ideas,
theories, or research have directly influenced your
own work”
 “In addition . . . Provide documentation for all facts
and figures that are not common knowledge”
BASIC CITATION STYLES (TABLE 6.1.)

Four categories
 First
citation in text
 Bradley,
Ramirez, and Soo (1999)
 Subsequent
 Bradley
citations in text
et al. (1999)
 Parenthetical
 (Bradley,
Ramirez, & Soo, 1999)
 Parenthetical
 (Bradley
format, first citation in text
format, subsequent citations in text
et al., 1999)
MULTIPLE SOURCES

Multiple sources
 List
alphabetically, not by date
 “Adams
(2004), Brown (1999), and Connor and Jones
(2010) observed that . . .”
 (Adams, 2004; Brown, 1999; Connor & Jones, 2010)
REFERENCE EXAMPLES (CHAPTER 7)


Check both citation and reference list for style
Check that author cited the work in the text and listed
it in the reference list



Verify references (title, date, volume, number, page
numbers, etc.)



Often authors forget to do so, including it in one but not the other
It needs to be in both places
Use a library database or a publisher’s website to verify
Often there are errors
Test URLs and DOIs
DOIS AND URLS

Include a DOI (digital object identifier) for reference list items



If no DOI is available




For DOIs, there should be no space between “doi:” and the actual DOI
doi:10.1016./j.acalib.2010.06.002
There should be no period after the DOI either
For a website or web document/report, cite the URL
For an electronic version of a print publication that is accessed in a database, no
URL is needed. Just cite as if you were using the print version
For an electronic-only journal (such as PaLRaP), most of the articles should use
a DOI. If not, include the URL to the article.
For URLs



Drop http:// when citing a URL in the text
But do use http:// to indicate URLs in reference lists
Use phrase “Retrieved from http://www.abc.edu” to list URLs in reference lists

Note that there is no period at the end of the URL in reference lists
SEE ALSO

Past issues of PaLRaP for guidance on style,
citations, reference lists, etc.
 We
have probably been inconsistent as well—but
we’ve tried hard not to be
COMMON ISSUES
Misspellings
 Lack of subject-verb agreement
 Run-on or incomplete sentences
 Incomplete or inaccurate citations and
references
 Transitions between paragraphs or sections
 Contractions

MORE COMMON ISSUES
No Oxford comma
 Too many/too few commas
 Mixed punctuation between in-text and
parenthetical citations and in the reference list
 Forgetting to spell out first reference to an
abbreviation
 Double blank space after period
 No space between abbreviated initials in a name

TOOLS: APA STYLE BLOG
Official APA style resource
 Answers a lot of pesky questions that don’t get
addressed in the publication manual
 http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/

TOOLS: PALRAP COPYEDITOR’S GUIDE

PaLRaP in-house style guide
 http://www.palrap.org/ojs/index.php/palrap/pages
/view/copyeditguide
Doesn’t cover everything but highlights style
unique to PaLRaP and key points in APA style to
know
 Updated periodically; send us your suggestions

TOOLS: MERRIAM-WEBSTER DICTIONARY
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary,
Eleventh Edition (2012)
 Online: http://www.merriam-webster.com/
 Helpful for word usage and spelling
 What if something’s not listed? APA may help or
contact PaLRaP editors

TOOLS: CHICAGO STYLE

The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition
(2010)
 Much
more detailed than APA
 Use only as a supplement, when you can’t find what
you need in APA
 If you make a copyediting decision based on
Chicago, let us know (comment feature in Word or
style sheet)
TOOLS: STRUNK & WHITE

Strunk, W., Jr., and White, E. B. The Elements of
Style, Fourth Edition (1999)
 Useful
for understanding, interpreting, and
improving
 Grammar
 Punctuation
 Writing
style
MAKE YOUR OWN STYLE SHEET

Use paper or a document to keep track of the
style decisions you make as you copyedit
 Punctuation
 Capitalization
 Word
usage
 Optional: Note page number of occurrence
Helps with consistency
 Helps you follow up on concerns

QUIZ QUESTION 1

If you were copyediting the following, what
would catch your attention?
 “In
his study, Henderson, et al. (2009) questioned
the assumptions about digital libraries made by
recent graduates of MLIS programs.”
“His”? How do we know?
 Agreement (“his” vs. “Henderson et al.”)
 No comma between “Henderson” and “et al.”
 Do you need to spell out “MLIS”?

QUIZ QUESTION 2

What would you change about this reference list
item?

Barnett, John and Tom Reinsfelder. (2013) “Palrap, Act
II.” Pennsylvania Libraries Research and Practice 1 (2),
pp. 1-5. DOI: 10.5195/palrap.2013.51.
No full names in APA; wrong order
 Period after date
 “Palrap”? Check also the journal title
 No quotation marks around title; italicize volume
 Page numbers, capitalization of “doi,” space
between colon and actual doi, no period after doi

WHAT THE ITEM SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Barnett, J., & Reinsfelder, T. (2013). PaLRaP, act II.
Pennsylvania Libraries: Research & Practice 1(2), 1-5.
doi:10.5195/palrap.2013.51
QUIZ QUESTION 3

What would you change about this passage?
 “PaLRaP
is 1st and foremost a peer reviewed
journal for the research out put and best practices
of PA’s library community and we hope to maintain
the strong presence of scholarly content in this
journal. We may always have more news articles
than research. But the majority of content remain
research, practice and commentaries articles.
News articles are short, research and practice are
long.”
YOUR TURN
CREDITS AND SOURCES
Prepared by John Barnett, Scholarly
Communications Librarian; 28 January 2014;
jhb23@pitt.edu or palrap@mail.pitt.edu
 Revised by John Barnett, 9 March 2015
 CC BY-SA 4.0
 Content for slides 10 through 13 derived from The
Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition (2010), pp.
70-71
 Additional content derived from the Publication
Manual of the American Psychological
Association, Sixth Edition (2010)
