Question

Why are editing and proofreading so important in technical communication?(not math related)

Answer 1

Importance of Editing:

Regardless of how remarkable your document is or how well organized the material is, if it contains grammatical and spelling errors, the reader will probably not trust the document. A misspelled word or incorrect use of a word can take away the credibility of the entire document you have written. Little errors and inconsistencies in the usage of words can confuse your readers. Editing is the process of checking information to correct content, language, and stylistic errors.

Technical editing is revising a document that presents material related to science or technology to make it communicate more effectively. The main purpose of editing is to make sure that the audience gets an error-free document. It is the process of reviewing a document to improve its language in terms of content, accuracy, coherence, and consistency.

Editing is a very subjective term. If you ask five people to describe what it means to them, you will get answers as varied as the parabled five men who described different parts of an elephant. The truth is, good editing goes unnoticed, but even a single spelling mistake in a document brings in a lot of negative comments. Take a look at the following cartoon and poem. There are no spelling mistakes (typos), but are they error free? On the contrary, it is full of errors/mistakes.

The Importance of Proofreading

Before submitting or printing an academic research paper, essay, email, memo, or any other written document, it is very important to carefully proofread it. Proofreading of written material is the final step that must be taken before a document can be considered complete.

When proofreading a document, you should first read it slowly and carefully to determine whether or not it communicates its message. If the title or the introductory paragraph do not clearly signal the intent of the paper or if the paragraphs that follow do not naturally flow from that introduction, you might want to rewrite those parts of your paper. If the research does not seem to verify what you are attempting to communicate, you may wish to rethink your thesis or you may need to conduct further research.

Once that part of the proofreading process, the overview editing, has been completed, it is time to perform a more exacting analysis of the paper. During this part of the proofreading procedure, you should search for errors in spelling, word usage, grammar, and punctuation. After all, a poorly written paper cannot possibly communicate its message properly to the reader.

Before you can consider the proofreading process complete, you should verify your sources and make sure the document adheres to the rules of the style guide you are using, whether it is MLA, APA, ASA, AMA, Chicago, CSE, Turabian, AP, or another style.

Professional editors can proofread your document so the final product is well written, precise, and easy to read. It is important to carefully proofread all written material. Editing is not just the icing on the cake; it is an essential part of the writing process.