Sad news from the world of publishing. When will this inter-style-guide warfare end? #copyediting #proofreading
https://theonion.com/4-copy-editors-killed-in-ongoing-ap-style-chicago-manu-1819574341/
Sometimes four short sentences are better than a single 140-word behemoth built with creaky semicolons and sticky tape.
Testimonials on my website from people whose writing I've copy-edited or proofread: https://stancarey.com/testimonials/
If this is something you're interested in getting done, I'd love to hear from you.
Publisher’s cost cutting, including the botched use of AI, pushes editors of top journal to resign
Walled Culture has noted previously the fabulous levels of profit that many academic publishers have achieved, largely through the abuse of copyright, as explained in Walled Culture the book (free digital versions). And yet those levels are apparently not enough for perhaps the most successful of the academic publishers, Elsevier. A story on the site Retraction Watch reports on the mass […]
#academicPublishing #AccessToKnowledge #accessibility #ai #apc #copyediting #editing #elsevier #journals #openAccess #production #profits #resignations #retractions #subscriptions
What does "CPD" mean to you? Today, at work, I've seen it refer to both "continuing professional development" AND "cable position device". (Separate texts!)
Is the word "desi" (upper- or lowercase) now mainstream enough that it can be used in the NYT without an explanation? I know it because I've worked with so many desis, but I assumed most non-desis had never heard it. #copyediting
I think it's brutal that the Chicago Manual of Style says split infinitives were frowned upon "from about 1890 to 1925" when I still see big newspapers and magazines (sometimes) going to great lengths to avoid them today. It usually looks clunky and pedantic. #Copyediting
@arstechnica that headline could have been one sentence. Pick one of the two. #copyediting
Edited a text that mentioned giving away "a free e-boo". It took all my willpower to correct it.
I asked the writer, who said the quote was accurate and that my instincts were right: the child's parents were from Donegal! So with her assent I added a phrase to indicate dialect, for readers' benefit, and avoided "[sic]".
Further reading, for the curious, on "be's" and related idioms in Irish English: https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2015/03/13/do-be-doing-bes-habitual-aspect-in-irish-english/
and on what Jessica Mitford called the "pedantic, censorious quality" of "[sic]": https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2014/04/29/the-pedantic-censorious-quality-of-sic/
Edited a research article that quoted a young child saying, "We be'd kind by listening".
I was unsure if this was:
1. a typo for "We'd be kind by listening"
2. variant child speech
3. dialect: it reminded me of Donegal Irish "be's"
If the quote was accurate, and from an adult, I might use "[sic]". But "[sic]" is often used as an editorial sneer, and it would be unduly harsh to apply to a child's utterance. [1/2]
We are also thankful for the new copy-editors joining our S&CE team. Their expertise will continue to ensure the highest standards of clarity, accuracy, and quality in our published research.
Get to know them, and the rest of our editorial board: https://seismica.library.mcgill.ca/about/editorialTeam
The word to measure distances in NYC was always "blocks" ("She lives two blocks from here"). In the UK they use "streets" because "blocks" means something else. But I've been seeing "streets" used in some US papers and magazines (NYT, NY'er) recently. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/12/realestate/pink-building-brooklyn-fort-greene.html #copyediting
I was not expecting this footnote in the new Chicago Manual of Style. Thank you, editors of #CMOS18, for modeling #ConsciousLanguage.
"5.255: Making Conscious Choices…Here we draw on the term 'conscious language' as used by Karen Yin, founder of the Conscious Style Guide website." 
#ICYMI: The July edition of The #ConsciousLanguage Newsletter includes:
• Why We Shouldn’t Call Trump a “Criminal”
• Stop Saying “Conservative” When You Mean Fascist
• Words Such as Racist Slurs Can Literally Hurt—Here’s the Science
Read and subscribe: https://mail.consciousstyleguide.com/p/conscious-language-newsletter-july-2024
Manmade → handmade (or hand-built, manufactured, synthetic, etc.)
Because women and nonbinary people also make things. We're still fixing this one, apparently.
help to reduce → reduce
helped improve → improved
helps alleviate → alleviates
"Help" doesn't always add anything helpful.
I'm copy-editing a nonfiction book by an Irish writer and added a note of explanation after its use of "minerals" to mean "soft drinks, esp. soda pop"
So I'm curious: Are you familiar with the usage "mineral" = "soft drink, soda pop"?
We are still accepting applications for the position of Life Sciences editor!
Are you interested in methodology, open science and metascience - especially when it is related to the biological and (bio)medical sciences? Then join our Diamond Open Access Journal as a Life Sciences editor!
Apply by March 31th: positions@trialanderror.org
This month marks my 7-year anniversary of being a full-time freelance copyeditor. I get questions about how I've scored cool jobs. A lot of it is luck and having one job lead to another.
I wrote a piece for Editorial Arts Association in Aug. 2022 where I went into more detail about how I got into editing RPGs. I hope that newer editors and those curious about getting into editing will find this article helpful.
https://editorialartsacademy.com/2022/08/29/finding-work-as-an-rpg-copyeditor/
