List of proofreader's marks
This article is a list of standard proofreader's marks used to indicate and correct problems in a text. Marks come in two varieties, abbreviations and abstract symbols. These are usually handwritten on the paper containing the text. Symbols are interleaved in the text, while abbreviations may be placed in a margin with an arrow pointing to the problematic text. Different languages use different proofreading marks and sometimes publishers have their own in-house proofreading marks.
Abbreviations
These abbreviations are those prescribed by the Chicago Manual of Style. Other conventions exist.
Symbols
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Manuscripts
Depending on local conventions, underscores (underlines) may be used on manuscripts (and historically on typescripts) to indicate the special typefaces to be used:
- single dashed underline for stet, 'let it stand', proof-reading mark cancelled.
- single straight underline for italic type
- single wavy underline for bold type
- double straight underline for SMALL CAPS
- double underline of one straight line and one wavy line for bold italic
- triple underline for FULL CAPITAL LETTERS (used among small caps or to change text already typed as lower case).
See also
- ISO 5776 – Standard symbols for proofreading
- Blue pencil (editing) – Pencil used to show corrections to written copies
- Obelism – Editors' marks on manuscripts
Notes
References
External links
- "Proofreader's marks". Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015.
- British Standards Institution BS 5261C:2005 – Hardcopy for purchase
- "PROOFMARKS - How to communicate your text changes without ambiguity" (PDF). Lancing Press. April 2014. (Online summary of BS5261, open access via "Proofmarks")
- BSI proof-correction marks (conforming to BS 5261C:2005) as prepared by the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading
- The style guide for publications of the European Union is presented in 24 European languages and includes a section on proofreading. Each edition has a sheet of proofreader's marks that appears to be the same apart from the language used to describe the marks. The section cautions that "it should be realised that the typesetter may not understand the language in which the text is written".