DFM Guideline: Copyediting checklist

These instructions are for copy editing reports and working papers for publication by the Dried Fish Matters project. Most points will also apply to the e-book and other outputs.

Use the “track changes” feature to create a record of your edits. You do not need to leave comments justifying your changes, unless they substantially modify the text or request further information.

Except where inconsistent with the requirements below, the document style should conform to the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition: https://www-chicagomanualofstyle-org.uml.idm.oclc.org. We are using author-date format for citations.

❏    Complete the metadata on the cover page/front matter (for a Working Paper: title, report type, institutional logo, document title, abstract, date, author, and other contributors; for an e-book chapter: title, authors, author affiliations), or leave a comment indicating information that is incomplete.

❏    Correct errors of spelling and punctuation.

❏    Correct obvious grammatical errors.

❏    Ensure terminological consistency (“dried fish” vs. “dry fish”, “small fish” vs. “small-sized fish”).

❏    Ensure that acronyms are defined on first usage.

❏    Put quotations longer than a sentence in blockquote format.

❏    Break up or rewrite sentences for clarity as needed, without modifying the overall content (generally: correct basic stylistic problems, including incorrect word order or awkward phrasings used by non-native English writers).

❏    Identify sentences or passages that do not make sense; use the comment feature to request clarification or additional information.

❏    Conform to Canadian spelling conventions.

❏    Apply heading styles (1-3) to section titles, ensuring that the document follows a hierarchical structure.

❏    Ensure headings are in sentence case.

❏    Create table titles and figure captions with numbers (e.g., Figure 1. Table 7.) Captions go below and titles above the element.

❏    Ensure a source is indicated in table and figure captions, using the format Source: <citation>.

❏    Cross-reference tables and figures (fig. x, table y) using the built-in referencing tool. Ensure that each figure and table is referenced at least once in the body of the text.

❏    Normalize capitalization and formatting of special terms (lowercase except for proper nouns; do not use italics or bold typeface for non-English or technical terms). (e.g., prahok vs. prahok)

❏    Remove non-semantic direct formatting (bold, underlined, italic text; changes of typeface).

❏    Ensure citations are connected to items in the DFM Zotero library (as Zotero fields); items missing from the Zotero library should be added and tagged @cited-<document>. Note that non-academic sources, such as web pages and reports, should also be cited using the author-date format rather than as footnotes or as bare URLs.

❏    Ensure the bibliography generated by Zotero is correct; if not, adjust the metadata within the Zotero library.

❏    Check hyperlinks for correctness.

❏    Adjust positioning of tables, images, etc. to avoid orphaned or widowed elements.

❏    Check for excess whitespace, tabs, page and section breaks.

❏    Update the table of contents.