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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
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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.
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
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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787:. Individual episode titles of television series need quotation marks, while the series name itself is italicized, e.g., "
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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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has a free plugin for popular web browsers that checks spelling, grammar, usage, and punctuation.
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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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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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It explains concepts or processes used by the
Knowledge community. It is not one of
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Articles in need of basic copyediting may be tagged with templates, such as
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Remember that
Knowledge is a collaborative, consensus-based environment.
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If you want to meet other
Knowledge copyeditors and help out, check out
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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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If you want to focus only on misspellings, these tools are handy:
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for complete advice on how to do this well; the main points are:
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32:"Knowledge:Copyeditor" redirects here. Not to be confused with
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With the exception of direct quotations and names, do not use
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Knowledge article headings should generally be noun phrases (
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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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How-to guide explaining copyediting of articles on
Knowledge
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to-do list, which has many kinds of tasks, updated hourly.
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Butcher, Judith; Drake, Caroline; Leach, Maureen (2006).
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Knowledge:Manual of Style § National varieties of
English
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Decade names should not include an apostrophe before the
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These are some common errors you may find in articles:
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Knowledge:Spellchecking § Using word-processor software
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Common Errors in
English Usage – Professor Paul Brians
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does not prefer a single national variety of English
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39:"Knowledge:CE" redirects here. For other uses, see
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1213:Knowledge:Make technical articles understandable
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1279:(4th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 4.
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636:List of commonly misused English words
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1042:Knowledge:Correct typos in one click
769:Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
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523:For general help with editing, see
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18:Knowledge:How to copy edit
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765:Strawberry Fields Forever
120:Contributing to Knowledge
1036:Knowledge:Typo Team/moss
794:Buffy the Vampire Slayer
789:Welcome to the Hellmouth
1386:Writing better articles
957:Knowledge:Spellchecking
733:About the history of...
630:Commonly confused words
415:Directories and indexes
144:Policies and guidelines
1416:Knowledge copy editing
1390:A collection of advice
1273:Butcher's Copy-editing
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860:) "utilize" for "use".
622:Common mistakes to fix
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1058:Further information:
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
1237:Armstrong, Julia.
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164:Dispute resolution
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363:Community
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993:defense
977:defence
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