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1087:. These are common in high-quality publications and should not be "fixed" without considering the consequences. For example, changing even one passive sentence to make it active can easily alter the meaning of an entire paragraph. Attempts to improve any passage must be based on tone, clarity, and consistency, rather than blind adherence to a rule.
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The good copyeditor is a rare creature: an intelligent reader and a tactful and sensitive critic; someone who cares enough about the perfection of detail to spend time checking small points of consistency in someone else's work but has the good judgement not to waste time or antagonize the author by
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If you think the article does not need further basic copyediting, click Edit again and remove the "copy edit" template at the top of the article, which is what flags it as needing improvement. The template typically is a markup that looks like
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for "copy edit" is "ce", which is better than nothing, but it is more helpful to include one or more words or phrases such as "capitalization", "subject-verb agreement", "fixed dangling modifier", "logical quotes", or whatever describes your
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753:
Titles of works of art (paintings, sculpture), plays and operas, television series, films, novels and nonfiction books, song cycles, and long poems should be italicized rather than put in quotation marks, e.g.,
614:
Please be careful when using these and other tools; they are not infallible. You should manually check the output of online tools and spelling checkers for factual accuracy, grammar, spelling and the
534:
Scan the article for errors or ways in which it can be improved. The entire article or particular sections may be tagged as needing a copyedit. There is a list of common mistakes below.
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550:. Be helpful to the editors who follow you by giving a summary of what you have done. Simple "Copy edit" is fine, but "Edited for tone" is even better. The most commonly used
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in making changes, but if you find your work has been undone by another editor, visit the talk page of the article and start a discussion before reinstating it. According to
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Quotations should not be changed, except for trivial spelling and typographic errors. Otherwise, obvious errors and censorship in the original can be marked with
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515:. Copyediting involves the "five Cs": making the article clear, correct, concise, comprehensible, and consistent. The following is a guide for new copyeditors.
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counts characters and sentences, and makes other measurements. It can also help improve grammar, word choice, and writing style, as well as detect plagiarism.
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Avoid affected, pompous or excessive language, e.g., "due to the fact that" for "because", "ascertain the location of" for "find", and (in
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in articles. Spell out the words in full, i.e., write "do not" instead of "don't"; write "cannot" instead of "can't"; etc.
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style of writing dates requires a comma after the year, e.g., "On
September 15, 1947, she began her first year at Harvard."
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The talk page may have a banner indicating which variety is already established, or the article may have a template like
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Check articles for unnecessary words and redundant phrases. Vigorous, effective writing is clear and concise. See
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Most web browsers have built-in spellchecking. You can use external websites or software to check for errors.
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Be careful to use the correct variety of
English (e.g., American or British), which affects spelling (e.g.,
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Edit the page by clicking the "Edit" or "Edit source" tab near the top of it or one of the section links.
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Titles of songs, short stories, individual episodes of television series, and brief poems, e.g., "
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has a free plugin for popular web browsers that checks spelling, grammar, usage, and punctuation.
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1177:. A list of such articles can be found in a few places. The easiest places to get started are:
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has extensive guidance on how to choose correctly and how to write clearly for all readers.
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If you have questions about
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It explains concepts or processes used by the
Knowledge (XXG) community. It is not one of
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Otherwise, the first variety used by any given editor is retained by succeeding editors.
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Words defined, described, or referenced as words should be italicized, e.g., "The term
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Remember that
Knowledge (XXG) is a collaborative, consensus-based environment.
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If you want to meet other
Knowledge (XXG) copyeditors and help out, check out
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Articles in need of basic copyediting may be tagged with templates, such as
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923:. Articles, books, and websites used as sources are listed separately in a
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771:", should be in quotation marks. Italics, however, are required for a
511:! Thousands of articles need simple improvements you can make without
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606:, have built-in spelling and grammar checkers; for instructions, see
32:"Knowledge (XXG):Copyeditor" redirects here. Not to be confused with
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Some style guides advise against grammatical constructions, such as
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Articles about a given region use that region's variety of
English.
903:. Use bulleted lists for more than a few elements, for readability.
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Knowledge (XXG) article headings should generally be noun phrases (
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If you want to focus only on misspellings, these tools are handy:
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How-to guide explaining copyediting of articles on
Knowledge (XXG)
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for complete advice on how to do this well; the main points are:
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Knowledge (XXG):Manual of Style § National varieties of
English
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With the exception of direct quotations and names, do not use
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Knowledge (XXG):Spellchecking § Using word-processor software
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Make sure apostrophes are used correctly, and watch out for
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Headings begin with a single capital letter, i.e., they use
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to-do list, which has many kinds of tasks, updated hourly.
1270:
Butcher, Judith; Drake, Caroline; Leach, Maureen (2006).
823:
Decade names should not include an apostrophe before the
39:"Knowledge (XXG):CE" redirects here. For other uses, see
1184:, a list of articles tagged with copy editing templates.
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These are some common errors you may find in articles:
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Common Errors in
English Usage – Professor Paul Brians
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Knowledge (XXG):Make technical articles understandable
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does not prefer a single national variety of English
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915:belong at the end of an article under the heading
1218:Knowledge (XXG):WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors
1146:Knowledge (XXG):WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors
34:Knowledge (XXG):WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors
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1182:Category:All articles needing copy edit
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41:Knowledge (XXG):CE (disambiguation)
546:Make your changes and fill out an
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951:Correct spelling mistakes and
513:being an expert in the subject
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519:How to do basic copyediting
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1381:Comprehensive style guide
1363:A checklist of components
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844:greengrocers' apostrophes
765:Strawberry Fields Forever
794:Buffy the Vampire Slayer
789:Welcome to the Hellmouth
1421:Knowledge (XXG) editing
1386:Writing better articles
733:About the history of...
630:Commonly confused words
415:Directories and indexes
144:Policies and guidelines
1411:Knowledge (XXG) how-to
1390:A collection of advice
1273:Butcher's Copy-editing
1121:
1112:Butcher's Copy-editing
860:) "utilize" for "use".
622:Common mistakes to fix
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1058:Further information:
194:About Knowledge (XXG)
687:(and their tenses);
564:Step five (optional)
58:This help page is a
1368:Article development
1359:The perfect article
1341:Starting an article
1208:Template:Not a typo
1013:Use British English
323:Article development
241:Starting an article
231:Creating an account
174:Simple style manual
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164:Dispute resolution
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393:Task Center
388:Maintenance
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298:Style tips
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82:Shortcuts
72:consensus
1202:See also
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