Editing in Academic and Professional Contexts

Overview 

This course introduces the levels of editing - substantive, stylistic, and copyediting - and how to apply these skills to academic and professional documents such as reports, essays, articles, and newsletters. The course will give students the tools both to revise their own work and to edit the work of others for greater clarity.

This 12-week course has six modules. The first (week 1) offers a general introduction to what editors do and the wide variety of materials that they work on. It provides an overview of the three main levels of editing and where these editorial stages occur in the publishing process.

Modules 2, 3, and 4 (two weeks each) focus on different levels of editing: structural, stylistic, and copy editing. Module 2 describes the "big picture" concerns—purpose, audience, medium—and identifies common structural problems. Students will apply this knowledge by reorganizing a table of contents to reach a specific audience. Module 3 presents tools for and approaches to stylistic editing, along with practice exercises and feedback.  Module 4 introduces students to copy editing, the conventions of editorial style, and the use of resources such as style guides and dictionaries.

In Module 5 (four weeks), students choose TWO of the following genres: academic journal article, government report, short story (fiction), and personal essay (creative nonfiction). This module allows students to explore editing  in an area of interest.

Module 6 (week 12) considers trends in publishing and reading, and provides an opportunity for self-reflection.

WRIT 265 views writing and editing as skills that can be developed and refined over a lifetime. For this reason, the course emphasizes practice through "learning activities"—worth 35 percent—in which students share their editing work in a collaborative atmosphere of peer and instructor feedback. The comments and coaching that students give and receive mirror the dynamic process of editing.

If you like this course and want to take more of our writing courses, consider working towards completing our Certificate in Academic Writing.

OR

If, after you complete this course, you'd like to learn to work to industry standards in

• the fundamentals of editing
• copyediting
• proofreading
• stylistic editing
• structural editing

Topics 

• Module 1 (Week 1): Introduction to Editing
• Module 2 (Week 2-3): Structural Editing
• Module 3 (Week 4-5): Stylistic Editing
• Module 4 (Week 6-7): Copy Editing
• Module 5 (Week 8-11): Editing in the Genres
• Module 6 (Week 12): Trends in Publishing

Learning Outcomes 

After completing WRIT 265, you should be able to:

1. Describe the three main levels of editing—structural, stylistic, and copy editing—and the purposes of each in the publishing process.
2. Restructure a document to achieve a coherent organization and logical progression of ideas for a specific audience.
3. Revise sentences, paragraphs, and passages to resolve ambiguities, ensure logical connections, and clarify meaning. 
4. Recognize the principles of plain language and how plain language relates to readability and access to information.
5. Consistently apply the conventions of an editorial style.
6. Identify and correct common errors in grammar, punctuation, and usage.
7. Use editorial judgment when deciding when to query, leave as is, or propose a change.
8. Write clear, respectful, and diplomatic queries and comments for the appropriate person (author, managing editor, peer, instructor). 
9. Edit documents in different genres as appropriate for the intended audience.
10. Demonstrate proficiency in the use of electronic technology and software for editing documents and communicating with authors, peers, and teaching team members.