Editorial triage in copy editing
                     EDITORIAL
TRIAGE IN COPY 
 EDITING
Sometimes a copyeditor is required to fulfil a deadline that everyone  
engaged in the project understands is unrealistic for even a light copyedit.  
In such instances, the copyeditor's first action is to request assistance from 
 the editorial coordinator in establishing priorities: which editing chores are  
most necessary for this specific project, and which niceties must be  
sacrificed? Of course, the priority list varies depending on the project; but,  
for most projects, a basic work list would include addressing those  
problems that would be most humiliating to the Journal publisher and most 
 perplexing to readers. As a result, the copyeditor would:
Rectify spelling mistakes,
Major grammatical faults (for example, incorrect subject-verb  copyright page, and
agreement), and contents page double-checks the numbering of 
Glaring punctuation flaws, investigate actual discrepancies,   footnotes, tables, and figures
ensure that all acronyms and abbreviations are described,  
identify the pages containing information that requires  
permission to reproduce carefully read the title page,
In other words, mechanical errors or differences that  do not impede  
with communication (e.g., capitalization, hyphenation, italicization, list  
format) would be overlooked, as would practically all diction, grammar,  
use, and content issues. The copyeditor, on the other hand, would  
maintain track of the permissions required (to protect the author and  
publisher from being identified in a lawsuit) and would double-check the 
 contents page and element numbering (to save readers the frustration  
of missing or out-of-sequence items). If the timetable allows, the  
following things may be added to the task list.
Long phrases and paragraphs should be broken up. 
 Examine your usage of the passive.
Remove redundancies and repetitions.
When limited in time, you may have to choose between  
completing two fast passes or one long pass and either  
skipping the second pass altogether or doing a selected  
second pass. During a second pass, you might read only  
the most crucial sections of the book or return to the  
paragraphs that caused you the most trouble on the first  
pass. The type of content, the priority list, and your  
individual work style will influence the decision between  
one or two passes.
This type of triage is complex because it goes against the nature and  
training of a copyeditor to leave improperly punctuated, confusing words 
 and paragraphs whose logic is Side-out or upside-down. When time is  
limited, however, it is more vital to have read every page than to have  
struggled over the first half of a job and then skimmed the rest. Business 
 papers are triaged. Gary Blake, the co-author of The Elements of  
Business Writing and The Elements of systematic technical Writing, offers 
 a different triage priority.
Blake contends that spelling, grammar, and punctuation problems will not 
 "drive clients out the door" unless the misspelt word is the customer's  
name, and ranks all mechanical difficulties at the bottom of his ten-point  
business priority list. Instead, at the top of the list are difficulties that  
undermine the dual goals of a business document: to enlighten and  
convince readers, as well as to portray the sponsoring organization's  
authority and experience. Blake prioritizes eliminating organizational  
problems, rewording words with the incorrect tone, and clarifying  
unnecessarily ambiguous material.
Technical documents areprioritized. Judith Tarutz recommends  
 technical copyeditors address the following questions when
constructing a list of priorities for triage in Technical Editing: The  
Practical Guide for Editors and Writers: What is essential to the readers? 
 What types of mistakes are readers likely to notice and worry about?  
What is the document's significance to the readers? What types of faults 
 are simple to correct, given the time constraints? "Sometimes you'll  
change something that's not critical but is so easy to do that it'd be  
ridiculous not to," Tarutz explains. And sometimes, you must ignore  
something that annoys you because it is acceptable to the consumers, is 
 costly to alter, and is not vital to change.
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