Blog
Dignified language in a healthcare environment
By Crystal Shelley, LCSW As editors, we consider how messaging will affect readers. Is it clear? Is it biased? Is it harmful? These questions are no different in healthcare environments, where it’s vital for care providers to intentionally choose language that values the dignity and humanity of those receiving services. One area of healthcare that…
Read MoreWhen was the last time you updated your website?
By Nate Hoffelder Given how we’ve all been busy surviving this past year, it is understandable if it’s been so long that you can’t remember when you last worked on it. If you haven’t taken some time to refresh your site recently, now is a good time to do so. (Ideally you should update your…
Read MoreChoosing a style guide
By Susan Karcz Medical editing, like any other kind, varies according to the specific medium, platform, even workplace. Sometimes editors are given a style to follow; other times they create their own. And part of the editor’s job is to know how to apply the right style to the copy in front of them. In…
Read MoreAn editor should be a translator’s best friend
By Jennifer Case As Daniel Hahn pointed out, an editor is like a beta reader. Having an editor look over your translation is like testing your translation out on your target reader. Maybe a term you chose affected your beta reader in a way you didn’t expect, or maybe they feel that the term in…
Read MoreDealing with religious terms: Many faiths
By Erin Brenner In a previous article, I discussed how to handle special terms for an audience of a (mostly) single faith. That was the easy part. This article looks at the challenging part: when a text that discusses religion is aimed at a diverse audience: people from different faiths, spiritual people of no organized religion,…
Read MoreHow an editor found true happiness inside the Education Fund Board’s kitchen
By Laura Cameron A recent, completely unscientific, poll confirmed what I have long suspected about people drawn to copyediting: We are more likely to be found in the kitchen than in the center of the party’s action. It’s not that we’re unsociable creatures, of course. I can happily mix and mingle under the right circumstances…
Read MoreWhy I give
By Lisa McLendon, University of Kansas School of Journalism and ACES Education Fund board member I could say I give to the ACES Education Fund because I think it’s important to support students, among them my own, in completing their education as they aspire to be editors. And that’s true: I think it’s so important,…
Read MoreDealing with religious terms: One faith
By Erin Brenner In the EAE Backroom an editor asked a question on styling a religious term: “Who would capitalize ‘holy family’ in Chicago style?” The ensuing conversation brought to light some issues concerning religious terminology: Our main stylebooks, such as Chicago and AP, offer guidance that is sometimes vague or meant for publications that target general…
Read MoreUsage dictionaries
By Laura Poole Editors love a good reference, and there’s one under-the-radar type of reference book that’s particularly well-suited to editors: the usage dictionary. Let’s define some terms. A usage dictionary is not a standard dictionary. Your trusty Webster’s New World or Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate is a standard dictionary which primarily contains lexical information: it tells…
Read MoreAuthor queries for the nonfiction editor: How to raise ’em and how to phrase ’em
By Sue Littleford Why should you take any notice of me, a UK copyeditor of scholarly humanities and social sciences? Well, exactly a year before I started drafting this post, I received this comment from a professor-author: “Everything has gone so smoothly and the tables which you sent our authors make the process quick and…
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