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1076:. 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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742:
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.,
603:
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.
539:. 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
1099:
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
504:. 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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802:, require a comma after the second element, e.g., "He was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, after the country had gained independence."
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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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776:. Individual episode titles of television series need quotation marks, while the series name itself is italicized, e.g., "
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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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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
English grammar, punctuation, or style, please seek advice at
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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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760:", should be in quotation marks. Italics, however, are required for a
500:! Thousands of articles need simple improvements you can make without
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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.
892:. 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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824:). Generally do not refer to a decade without its century. See
21:"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
731:. The only other capital letters in headings are in
28:"Knowledge:CE" redirects here. For other uses, see
904:belong at the end of an article under the heading
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1202:Knowledge:Make technical articles understandable
1021:– for monitoring misspellings as they are added
496:the "encyclopedia that anyone can edit": it is
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1233:. University of Toronto. p. 2. Archived from
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1268:(4th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 4.
881:and overly long sentences, which can reduce
1207:Knowledge:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors
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746:Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
713:also refers to the layout of an article."
1171:Category:All articles needing copy edit
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770:or the title of a longer poem, such as
587:Most word-processing software, such as
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625:List of commonly misused English words
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1031:Knowledge:Correct typos in one click
758:Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
59:, and may reflect varying levels of
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1142:Find articles that need copyediting
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512:For general help with editing, see
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1124:Knowledge talk:WikiProject Grammar
535:Make your changes and fill out an
488:Discovering that pages need basic
57:Knowledge's policies or guidelines
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822:"She was born in the 1980's."
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30:Knowledge:CE (disambiguation)
1343:Visual structure of articles
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818:"She was born in the 1980s."
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508:How to do basic copyediting
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833:greengrocers' apostrophes
754:Strawberry Fields Forever
109:Contributing to Knowledge
1025:Knowledge:Typo Team/moss
783:Buffy the Vampire Slayer
778:Welcome to the Hellmouth
1375:Writing better articles
946:Knowledge:Spellchecking
722:About the history of...
619:Commonly confused words
404:Directories and indexes
133:Policies and guidelines
1405:Knowledge copy editing
1379:A collection of advice
1262:Butcher's Copy-editing
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1101:Butcher's Copy-editing
849:) "utilize" for "use".
611:Common mistakes to fix
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1047:Further information:
676:(and their tenses);
553:Step five (optional)
47:This help page is a
1357:Article development
1348:The perfect article
1330:Starting an article
1197:Template:Not a typo
1002:Use British English
312:Article development
230:Starting an article
220:Creating an account
163:Simple style manual
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153:Dispute resolution
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352:Community
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962:centre
958:colour
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