Understand why proofreading for format is critical.
As a proofreader, you must ensure that all formatting is consistent throughout the document. The format, or overall appearance of a document, determines a reader's first impression, favorable or not, about the author and the message. Because the format of a document is so critical, don't overlook this important proofreading step.
Note: If you find obvious errors, correct them. If the author is inconsistent in format, or if the format is such that the document is difficult to follow, query him or her to identify a preferred format.
Use a checklist to guide you.
As you proofread for format, ask
- Are the margins acceptable?
- Is the font standard throughout?
- Do the same page headers appear on all pages?
- Is the document single spaced, double spaced, or space-and-a-half consistently?
- Do headings and subheadings follow a consistent, acceptable format?
- Is the documentation or citation style correct? Does it follow one of the accepted formats?
- Are quotations cited accurately?
- Are bibliographic references alphabetically listed?
- Are pages numbered in correct order?
- Are indentations consistent?
Refer to a style manual.
When checking for consistency in format, do not guess. Use one style, and one style only, as your guideline. You may choose to refer to these two notable style manuals:
- The Modern Language Association (MLA) Style Manual by Walter S Achtert and Joseph Gibaldi.
- The Chicago Manual of Style: For Authors, Editors and Copywriters by the University of Chicago Press.
- The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law by the Associated Press.
Naturally, if your company has established its own in-house style manual, use that. Whichever style manual you choose, be consistent as you check for formatting errors. If necessary, refer to it for every footnote or bibliography entry.
Develop a style sheet for personal reference.
A style sheet is an invaluable tool for a proofreader. Often, during a project, you will be following strict rules about certain word choices, numbers, and phrases. A style sheet provides a way for you, and anyone working with you, to keep track of the rules. Anytime there might be more than one way to handle a style choice issue, refer to your style sheet.
Use one-inch margins on all sides.Use one-inch margins on all sides (top, bottom, left, right) unless the document is to be bound. In that case, use a one-and-one-half inch margin on the left side only. On the title page, use a top margin of one-and-one-half inches.
Use a consistent font size and type.
To be consistent, use a 12-pt. font in Times New Roman or Courier.
EXAMPLE:
Times New Roman:
Many word processing packages have the ability to store memo formats.
Courier:
Many word processing packages have the ability to store memo formats.
Follow the rules for correct spacing.
- For ease in readability, double-space throughout the document, including the title page, body of the document, and references, unless your company's style manual requires single-spacing.
Note: Letters are generally single-spaced, leaving two blank lines between paragraphs.
- Leave one space after a period. As we make a transition away from typewriters to proportional spacing on computers, the rule as to how many spaces should be put after a period ending a sentence becomes clear. Because typesetting does not require the extra space, prepare all electronic manuscripts with a single space between sentences. The extra space was merely a typewriter convention.
Example with two spaces between sentences:
Our speakers are available for your next conference or workshop. We're happy to talk about technique, business, or inspirational topics. We also help evaluate query letters or book proposals. We won't break your budget, and we're fun people.
Example with one space between sentences:
Our speakers are available for your next conference or workshop. We're happy to talk about technique, business, or inspirational topics. We also help evaluate query letters or book proposals. We won't break your budget, and we're fun people.
- Always leave a space after commas, semicolons, and colons.
Align the text flush left.
Align the text flush left, leaving an uneven right margin. Do not use full justification, in which you extend the text out to the right margin. It is more difficult to read, creates spaces between words, looks unnecessarily affected and stilted, and does absolutely nothing for readers.
EXAMPLES:
Uneven right margin:
Communicating is really trying to grab a little piece of the customer's mind. You want to have a customer remember you, what you do, and why he or she should call you. Your goal is visibility.
Justified right margin:
Communicating is really trying to grab a little piece of the customer's mind. You want to have a customer remember you, what you do, and why he or she should call you. Your goal is visibility.
Notice how the internal spacing becomes uneven with right justification.
Follow the rules for paragraph indentation.
If the text is double-spaced, indent five spaces (one-half inch) for each new paragraph. Some indent one-quarter inch. Do not skip an extra blank line between paragraphs.
If the text is single-spaced, do not indent the first lines of paragraphs and skip one blank line between paragraphs. Published documents may not use a blank line between paragraphs, substituting a one-quarter inch indentation to mark the first line of each paragraph. However, for letters, e-mails, memos, and short reports, the standard format is to use single spacing and no indentation.
Leave at least two lines of text at the top and bottom of a page.
Example of double-spacing and five-space indentation:
If the text refers to a particular illustration, figure,
or page within the report, check to be sure the reference
is correct.
Example of single-spacing, using a block paragraph:
If the text refers to a particular illustration, figure, or page within the report,
check to be sure the reference is correct.
Place page numbers and headers correctly.
Place page numbers one inch from the right edge of the document on the first line of every page (line 6), beginning with the title page. The only pages that are not numbered are pages of artwork.
Use Arabic numbers (1, 2, 3) for the body of the document and lowercase Roman numerals (i, ii, iii) for material that precedes it. Be sure to verify that the page numbers are in consecutive order and that they correspond with the Table of Contents and Index.
For page headers, place two or three words of the title five spaces to the left of the page number on every page, beginning with the title page.
Note: Using your computer, you may insert the manuscript page header and page number into a "header," which then automatically appears on all pages.
Capitalize "Internet" and "Web site."
In all instances, uppercase "Internet" and "Web." Spell "Web site" as an open compound when used as a noun. Hyphenate "Web-site" when it is used as an adjective.
Examples:
- Once you become an experienced Web author, you may want to buy professional site-design software.
- The Internet has become as indispensable as the fax and telephone.
- A Web-site address is called a URL.
Document all source material.
Source material must be documented within the body of the paper to formally acknowledge the ideas and words of others. This is called "parenthetical documentation."
By citing the author and date of a source within the body of the paper, you are leaving a marker for the reader. All the reader has to do to obtain the full source citation is refer to the bibliography, or list of references that follow the body of the paper or document.
Parenthetical documentation includes the author's last name, the year of publication, and often the page number. Make sure that parenthetical documentation, rather than traditional footnotes and endnotes, is the author's preferred method of citing resources. Most authors prefer parenthetical documentation because of its relative ease in both writing and reading.
Follow these guidelines for documenting source material:
- When the name of the author is part of the formal structure of the sentence, put only the year of publication and page number inside the parentheses following the author's name.
Example:
According to Nan Macey (1999, 75) there are different ways of thinking and doing things.
Use "and" not "&" when you identify multiple authors as part of the formal structure of the sentence. Example:
Wroan and Mitchell (1997, 109) found that in extortion cases, the fundamental principle is often keeping the threat from the media, which is the terrorist's trump card.
When the authors are not part of the formal structure of the sentence, both the authors and years of publication appear in parentheses, separated by semicolons. Use "&" not "and." Example:
Reviews of research on religion and health have concluded that at least some types of religious behaviors are related to higher levels of physical and mental health (Gartner, Larson, & Allen, 1991; Koenig, 1990; Levin & Vanderpool, 1991; Maton & Pargament, 1987; Paloma & Pendleton, 1991; Payne, Bergin, Bielema, & Jenkins, 1991).
Note: When several sources are cited parenthetically, write them alphabetically by first authors' surnames.
When a cited source has three, four, or five authors, include all authors the first time the source is cited. When that source is cited again, use the first author's surname followed by "et al." (Latin abbreviation for "and others") Example:
Reviews of research on religion and health have concluded that at least some types of religious behaviors are related to higher levels of physical and mental health (Payne, Bergin, Bielema, & Jenkins, 1991).
Payne et al. (1991) showed that ...
When a cited source has two authors, include both authors every time the source is cited.
When a cited source has six or more authors, use the first author's surname and "et al." every time the source is cited (including the first time).
With endnotes (citations gathered at the end of each chapter or at the end of the document) write the author's last name, first name and initial, then the title (italicized) followed by the publication location, publishing company, and year. Example:
Townsend, Robert. The Medieval Village Economy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993.
If the book is written by an editor, write the editor's last name, first name and initial followed by "ed." Write the title (italicized), then the publication location, publishing company, and year. Example:
Mcrae, Murdo William, ed. The Literature of Science: Perspectives on Popular Science Writing. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1993.
When citing online articles, write the author's last name, first name and initial, followed by the article's title (in quotes), the article's original source (italicized) and publication date, and page numbers, the product name, (underlined), then site publisher, followed by date that researcher visited site, and the URL. Example:
Lanken, Dane. "When the Earth Moves." Canadian Geographic March-April 1996: 66-73. Master FILE Premier Online. EBSCO Publishing. 15 April 1998 < http://www.epnet.com/>.
Note: It is always best to cite the original source of an article unless the article was originally retrieved from an on-line database or other such electronic source.
When citing from a Web site, write the author's last name, first name, title of the Web site (in quotes), date, month, year of publication, and followed by the date accessed (in parentheses). Example:
Kehoe, Brendan P. "Zen and the Art of the Internet." January 1992, <http://freenet.buffalo.edu/~popmusic/zen10.txt> (4 June 1999)
When citing from e-mail, write the author's last name, first name, followed by "E-mail to . . ." then the recipient's first and last name, and date, month, year. Example:
Danford, Tom. E-mail to Terry Craig, 13 September 1993.
Note: According to the Chicago Manual of Style, e-mail is regarded as personal communication, and therefore needs only to be cited in the text.
Example:
In an e-mail memo to Terry Craig on the 13th of September, 1993, Tom Danford stated that . . .
If the author you are proofreading for prefers footnotes, insert a number at the end of a sentence, phrase, or clause containing the language or idea requiring citation. Write the number as a superscript. Do not leave a space between the period and the superscript number.
Example:
(Within the body of the text)
There are different ways of thinking and doing things.15(As a footnote)
15 Macey, Nancy M., The Discovery, Viking Press, 1999, p. 75.If the author prefers footnotes, leave four spaces between the last line of text and the first footnote on each page. Footnotes should be first-line indented and single spaced, with a double space between each footnote.
Write footnotes and endnotes with their corresponding superscript number and the first line indented. Write the author's name in normal order (first name, then last name), or reverse order (last name, then first name) but be consistent. Separate the name from the other information with a comma.
Follow this order:
Author's name, Title (no comma) Publication data (City: Press, year, capitalized and in parentheses). Leave out periods until the end of the citation. Examples: (both are correct, but be consistent)10 Ronald E. Pepin, Literature of Satire in the Twelfth Century (Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 1988) 78.