Sherry Hinman
Certification Steering Committee
Editors’ Association of Canada
EAC 2015 Conference—Editing Goes Global
June 14, 2015
Outline
 About the certification program
 Before you register
 Are you experienced?
 Professional Editorial Standards
 Exercise 1
 Test format
 Upcoming tests
 Preparing for the tests
 Study materials
 Study methods
 Study schedule
 Choose your resources
 Practise, practise, practise
Outline (cont’d)
 Ready to go
 Get it together
 Pack your bags
 Tips from certified editors: Before test day
 Test day—writing the test
 Budget your time
 Tips from certified editors: Test day
 Exercise 2
 RDMs
 Exercise 3
 Appendix 1: Sample work-back schedule
 Appendix 2: Create a style sheet
The certification program
 Certification is the gold standard of editing
 EAC certification credentials give editors official recognition of
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the excellence of their knowledge and skills
This landmark program gives editors a marketing advantage
As Canada’s national association of editors, EAC is well qualified
to acknowledge editing excellence
EAC’s certification program is for editors of written material who
work in English
The program is open to EAC members and non-members
To earn a credential, candidates must pass a test
With the 2011 tests, a credential maintenance component was
added to the program
Why certify?
 Proof of excellence to yourself, your peers or your
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employer/clients
A way to identify your strengths and any gaps in your
knowledge and skills
A way to set yourself apart from the competition when
bidding for editing contracts
A professional credential attesting to your knowledge
and skill in editing after a change in career
A way to promote and maintain high professional
standards of editing, develop professionally and
participate in enhancing the status of editing as a
profession in Canada
Are you experienced?
 Am I ready?
 No formal prerequisites for certification tests
 EAC strongly recommends a minimum of five years’
experience
 Doesn’t have to mean 5 years full time in a publishing
house
 Everyone’s situation is different:
 Full time or part time as an editor?
 Breadth of experience?
 Breadth of medium—magazine publishing, books, websites,
corporate and government documents?
 Becoming certified is valuable for both freelance and staff
editors
Do you live outside of Canada?
 All are welcome to take the EAC certification tests
 Benefits of EAC certification are recognized worldwide
 Must travel to one of the Canadian cities where the tests are
offered
 Program designed to test the skills of editors working
within Canada
 Many standards underlying tests are common to editorial
practices in other countries, but tests do require some
familiarity with Canadian practices, resources and issues
 Do not need to be a member of EAC to take the tests, though
members do pay lower test fees
My experience
Take a few minutes to write down a few things that
make you qualified to be a certified editor. (See
handout, p. 2.)
Professional Editorial Standards (PES)
 EAC document based on years of research, review and
consultation with editors and professionals in
publishing to answer the question, “What do editors
do?”
 Think of PES as a checklist; standards outline
knowledge and skills editors must have to edit at a
professional level with minimal supervision; they
apply to editing in all media
Professional Editing Standards
(PES) (cont’d)
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Which standards describe your strengths?
Which ones interest you most?
Which ones describe skills you’d like to develop?
If you’re a freelancer, which standards describe the services
you want to offer?
 Most importantly, certification exams are developed to test
these standards
 If your goal is certification, become familiar with PES (if you
aren’t already) and know how you measure up against them
 The PES document is available at no charge on the EAC
website, here:
www.editors.ca/resources/eac_publications/pes/index.html
Which standard(s) is/are being tested?
Exercise 1
(See handout pp. 2-3.)
Test format
 Building on the foundation of PES, there are four
certification exams:
 Structural editing
 Stylistic editing
 Copy editing
 Proofreading
Test format (cont’d)
 All tests have the same format
 All tests are three hours
 Tests are open-book
 Candidates allowed to bring one dictionary, Editing Canadian
English and up to three style guides to the tests
 Candidates receive list of approved resources after registering
 Editors may be certified in one or more of these types of
editing
 To earn the designation of certified professional editor (CPE),
you must pass all four tests
Test format (cont’d)
 Part A
 In each exam, part A consists of short-answer and multiple-choice
questions
 Tests your knowledge in the fundamentals of editing (section A of
PES)
 Worth about one-third of the marks for the exam
 Part B
 In each exam, part B is a scenario and test passage
 Assesses knowledge and skills in the standards for the specific area
of editing being tested—structural editing, stylistic editing, copy
editing or proofreading (sections B, C, D or E of PES)
 Worth about two-thirds of the marks for the exam
 Involves hard copy markup and may include other tasks, such as
writing a letter to the author(s) or developing a style sheet
Upcoming tests
 Saturday, November 14, 2015
 Copy editing 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
 Stylistic editing 2:30 to 5:30 p.m.
 November 2016 (date to be determined)
 Proofreading
 Structural Editing
 Demand and resources permitting, tests offered each
November in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon,
Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax
 Registration opens in July
Study materials
 Start with an in-depth review of the standards that will
be tested, assessing your ability to apply them
 The two best materials for doing this are:
 PES
 Certification Study Guides
PES
 Refer to PES to determine standards that will be tested in
the exam you have registered to write
 Which ones do you need to learn?
 Which ones do you need to practise?
 Example: EAC copy editing exam
 You’re confident in your copy editing abilities, and you’ve
determined that you meet PES for correctness (D1–D4),
accuracy and completeness (D11–D15) and communication
(D16–D18) for copy editing
 What about the PES for consistency (D5–D10)? Do you know
the differences between Canadian, American and British
style? Do you know how to develop a style sheet?
PES (cont’d)
 Two areas to study in PES when preparing to write a
certification exam:
 Part A: The fundamentals of editing: the basic
knowledge and practices a professional editor should
know, including all types of publications (print and
electronic)
 Part B, C, D, or E (the relevant skill area for the test you
are taking)
Certification Study Guides
 Suggested way to use the guide:
 Review beginning of guide up to Practice Test
 Write practice test within the allotted time; important to
time yourself so you know you can complete the actual
test within the time limit
 Compare your answers and markup to the answer key
 Review sample responses and marker assessments
 Determine your areas of weakness and focus on them in
your studying
 Later in your study period, redo the Study Guide test
Other study materials/resources
 Meeting Professional Editorial Standards (MPES):
 Four-volume set of self-tests that covers the four core areas of
the standards
 Work through exercises and compare your answers and
markup to the samples provided
 Later in your study period, redo the exercises
 Take an EAC branch seminar or college or university
course; check the EAC website for upcoming seminars near
you
 Study books about grammar, punctuation, usage,
proofreading, editing and publishing
 For suggested books, visit
http://www.editors.ca/certification/preparation.html
Other study materials/resources
(cont’d)
 Review all books you plan to use during the test, and
study at least one of the style guides in depth
 Refresh your test-taking skills
 If it’s been a long time since you’ve written a test, look
for information on test-taking skills, including tips for
preparing mentally
 If you edit on computer, review markup symbols for
editing and proofreading on paper
For more information on how to prepare, visit
www.editors.ca/certification/preparation.html
Study methods
 Advantages of studying alone
 During the actual test, there’s no collaboration, so time
spent studying and practising alone will help prepare
you for the real setting
 When studying alone, can devote the bulk of your time
to honing skills in your personal areas of weakness
 No scheduling conflicts
Study methods (cont’d)
 Advantages of studying with others
 Study partners can help keep one another motivated and
on track
 Can swap practice work with a partner for review/
marking
 Can share ideas and strategies with others
 Can share perspectives and knowledge related to
different fields of editing
Study methods (cont’d)
 Finding study partners
 Post message to the EAC groups on LinkedIn and/or
Facebook
 Send message out on the EAC listserv
 Attend branch speaker nights and network
 Look around the room! You’re all here because you’re
interested in taking the exams; exchange contact
information so you can get in touch
Study schedule
 Amount of time needed to dedicate to studying is quite
individual, but across the board, certified editors agree that
“cramming” will not prepare you
 Whether you need six months or a few weeks to prepare,
studying a little bit every day gives adequate time to read,
practise and review without putting unreasonable or
unrealistic demands on time
 Create a “work-back” schedule from the date of the exam
(see handout, p. 7, for an example). Estimate time it will
take you to complete various exam prep tasks, and schedule
your time accordingly; stick to that schedule
My study plan
Take a few minutes to write down some things you will
want to review/practise as you prepare for the exam.
(See handout, p. 3.)
Choose your resources
 Dictionaries
 Canadian Oxford Dictionary
 Nelson Canadian Dictionary
 Gage Canadian Dictionary
 Style guides
 Chicago Manual of Style
 Canadian Press Stylebook and Caps & Spelling (counts as
one)
 The Canadian Style
Choose your resources (cont’d)
 Practice
 Meeting Professional Editorial Standards (MPES)
 EAC Certification Study Guides
 Mark My Words
 The Copyeditor’s Handbook
 Other useful resources
 Editing Canadian English
 Course handouts/material from professional
development seminars
Practice, practice, practice
 Remember: Part B of exam—the scenario and test
passage—worth approximately two-thirds of the marks
 To be successful, it is crucial to be able to apply your
knowledge of editing effectively
 If editing experience concentrated in one particular
subject, step outside comfort zone and practise editing
less familiar subject matter; practising with a variety of
subjects can help you remain calm in the exam setting
Practice, practice, practice (cont’d)
 When practising a test passage, time yourself; in the exam
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setting, editing speed is crucial
Work on increasing your editing speed as you practise
Note areas that give you the most trouble so you can spend
extra time reviewing them
Exams are written on paper, so practise writing/
printing neatly
In addition to completing test passage, may be asked to
produce other material, e.g., letter to author explaining
changes/concerns or document style sheet; good idea to
practise these tasks
Get it together
 Time to psych yourself up and get it together
 What do you need to do to minimize your stress on
exam day?
 If you have trouble getting organized and getting out
the door, prepare everything ahead of time
 If biggest problem is anxiety, consider relaxation or
breathing techniques to help keep you calm
Pack your bags
 You’ll be allowed pens, pencils, an eraser, a simple
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calculator, and rulers (no coloured pens or pencils, as tests
will be copied in black and white)
Some like to bring a pica ruler, magnifying glass, earplugs,
seat and/or back cushion or bottled drinking water
For resources, a Canadian dictionary, Editing Canadian
English and up to three more style guides
Allowed to add tabs to reference books, but no additional
pages or attached extensive notes
If need to bring anything else, must check with EAC office
at least 15 business days ahead
Tips from certified editors:
Before test
 Dress in layers; being too hot or too cold can affect
your concentration
 Prior to exam day, look up address where the exam will
take place, and find out how to get there
 If building layout is complicated, know ahead of time
how to find room
 If driving, find parking lot and determine how you'll
pay (e.g., cash, credit), and allow lots of time to get to
exam site and find parking
Tips from certified editors:
Before test day (cont’d)
 Pack everything ahead of time and leave by the door or in
the car
 Use document flags to help find key information in
resources more quickly; a flagged Chicago Manual of Style
is a lifesaver!
 Practise editing and writing with pen/pencil; if you haven’t
done this in a while, you need to get used to it again. Like
any skill, it requires muscle memory and endurance; avoid
having your hand cramp up during the test!
 Make sure you know standard copy editing/proofreading
marks; flag appropriate page in Chicago Manual of Style for
easy reference
Budget your time
 In work situations, you can always work overtime or
work through your lunch, but not so in an exam
 “Pencils down” after three hours, finished or not
 Tips to help you make the most of your time on exam
day
 DON’T do more than what is being asked of you
 Don’t waste precious time struggling on a question that
isn’t worth a lot of marks
 Test passage portion of the exam (Part B) is worth about
twice as much as Part A; don’t spend more than 45
minutes to an hour on Part A
Tips from certified editors:
Test day
 Practise deep breathing or use guided imagery to prepare
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mentally
Eat something nutritious right before the exam
If you can, plan NOT to need to use the bathroom during
the exam—you’ll lose time
If stuck on a question and need to move on, write a
reminder on scrap paper so you don’t forget to come back
Quickly read through test before you begin; may notice
something in one section that will help you with another
Scan through test to see how many marks are allotted to
each question and plan time accordingly
Don't use liquid correction fluid (takes too long to dry);
use tape dispenser kind instead
How many questions
in 15 minutes?
Exercise 2
(See handout, pp. 4-6.)
RDMs*
 *RDMs are “really dumb mistakes” (Thanks, Wendy
Carroll, for the acronym!) Here are a few examples:
 Not following the instructions
 Using copy editing marks on proofreading exam or vice versa
 Introducing errors
 Marking up manuscript rather than appropriate exam pages
 Making a style decision and recording it on style sheet . . . and
then not following that style in the test passage
 Being rude or snarky in your communications with authors
(e.g., when writing a query or letter to the author)
 Ambiguous markup (e.g., failing to indicate clearly where
deletions, insertions or other corrections should occur)
Style sheet
Exercise 3
(See Appendix 2, pp. 8 and 9.)
For more info
For more information on EAC’s certification program
Visit
www.editors.ca
and click on
Certification