What Is Proofreading?

New Hart’s Rules states that a proof is ‘a trial impression of typeset text, which is checked for errors before final printing’. To proofread is to ‘read proofs, mark any errors, and make a final check of the material’.

That means that when you ask me to proofread your document, I will check spelling, punctuation and grammar. I will also ensure that:

•    Your house style is applied
•    Inelegant or confusing word, column and page breaks are avoided
•    Capitals and hyphens are correctly and consistently used
•    Illustrations, figures and tables appear in the correct place and with the correct caption
•    Bibliographies and reference lists are correctly ordered and the titles are correctly formatted
•    Page numbering, cross-references and chapter titles correspond with the table of contents
•    Formatting, layout, headings, running heads and page numbers are consistent
•    Relevant queries are raised with you

What Is Proof-Editing?

New Hart’s Rules states that proof-editing ‘is a process whereby unedited material that is laid out in pages is corrected’.

What Is The Difference Between Proofreading and Proof-Editing?

There is significant crossover between proof-editing and proofreading, but as the name suggests, proof-editing involves ‘unedited material’, so a greater number of changes will be made to the text. The key difference is that a document will be proof-edited when it is mostly complete but is still being worked on. The final version will be proofread right before the document is published or printed.