Correcting Proofs

Corrections should be confined to typesetter's errors (e.g. bad hyphenation at the end of lines) and serious errors of fact.

Heavily marked proofs are time-consuming to correct and may delay publication; they will also substantially increase the production costs of the book.

If you cannot avoid adding or deleting a word or two, reword the relevant lines so that they contain approximately the same number of letters and spaces. If you fail to do this the rest of the paragraph may have to be reset and, if it becomes longer or shorter, lines may have to be transferred from page to page, at additional expense and disruption to the index typescript. Remember that each time a correction is made there is a danger that a new error might be introduced.

Always write as clearly as you can, using the symbols shown here. Unclear corrections are likely to cause further errors and delays.

Please use the following colours:

Red for all typesetter's errors (departures from the copy-edited typescript).

Black for the insertion of cross-references and completion of running heads.

Blue for any alterations of your own to factual errors, including any made in response to the typesetter's queries.

It is essential that you meet the deadline set for returning your proofs so that the publication date is not delayed.

If there are any points which you wish to raise with the copy-editor, please include a separate note about them with your corrected proofs.

Marginal mark	Meaning	Corresponding mark in text
	insert space		between letters or words
	insert space		between lines of paragraphs
	insert matter indicated in margin
	insertion
	insert single quotation marks
	insert double quotation marks
	insert (or substitute) superscript character		(or encircle characters to be altered)
	insert (or substitute) subscript character		(or encircle characters to be altered)
	substitute character		through character to be substituted
	delete (take out)	cross through
	delete and close up		above and below letters to be taken out
	close-up - delete space between characters		linking words or letters
	reduce space		between words
	transpose		between letters or words, numbered when necessary
	place in centre of line		enclosing matter to be centred
	move to the left		enclosing matter to be moved to the left
	move to the right		enclosing matter to be moved to the right
	begin a new paragraph		before first word of new paragraph
	no frest paragraph here		between paragraphs
	change to capital letters		under letters or words to be altered
	change to small capitals		under letters or words to be altered
	use capital letters for initial letters and smaller capitals for rest of the words		under initial letters under the rest of the words
	change from capital to lower case	line through letters to be altered
	change to bold type		under letters or words to be altered
	change to italics		under letters or words to be altered
	change to roman type	encircle words to be altered
	(wrong font) Replace by letter of correct font	encircle letter to be altered
	replace by similar but undamaged character	encircle letter to be altered
	make equal space		between words
	leave as printed (when words have been croseed out by mistake)		under letter or words to remain

Example: