The key to all proofreading is that the publisher easily understands exactly what needs to be deleted, changed or added. For example, the publisher must know exactly where to place new text.

We work with both paper proofing and electronic proofing. There are also specific proofing procedures for products with online material. You can read more about the different forms in the menu on the right.

Tips for proofreading

When proofreading, you usually start by reading the entire text carefully, focusing on content and spelling. At this stage of the production process, you shouldn't make any major changes or rewording (this should be done during the proofreading process, in the word processor), but rather correct simple errors that were missed earlier.
Next, it is a good idea to check the following points one by one:

• Is the chapter division, paragraph division, etc. correct? 

• Is the header correct, with the correct chapter title(can also be subtitle or authors name)?

• Check that headings and heading levels are correct.

• Check that the figures/tables are correct, that they are correctly positioned and captioned and that the numbering is consistent with the references within the text. 

• Check that any footnotes or endnotes are correct. 

• Check that all page references and other references in the text are correct (to avoid problems in any subsequent reflow of the text, it is often better to refer to chapters/sections rather than page numbers, which are subject to change).

• Check that everything referenced in the text is also included in the reference list and vice versa.

• Read the table of contents carefully, focussing on the hierarchy of headings.

• Check that any formulae and phonetic or diacritical marks have been corrected.

If you find that a piece of text is missing, attach the entire missing text in Word format. It is not enough to refer to the manuscript. Avoid writing question marks in the margins or in the PDF proof: it may not be clear to the publisher what you are asking, and you are often the only one who can provide the answer.
 

PDF proofreading

You can read a so-called electronic proof, i.e. you receive the proof as an annotated PDF file. There are several advantages of PDF proofing compared to paper proofing: we minimise the risk of misunderstandings due to unclear handwriting, which saves a lot of time and effort; we further reduce the production time by at least one week just by eliminating the postal service; and we use less paper.

Paper proofreading 

For each change in a paper proof, mark a character, such as a dash, in the text where the change should be made. In the margin, repeat the dash and write the correct text. Since several changes are often made on the same page, it is important that the proofing characters have a different appearance, otherwise the publisher may have to guess where the change should be placed.

General instructions to the publisher and comments that do not involve direct changes can be circled so that they can be easily distinguished from the corrections to be made in the text.

Proofing digital material

In some cases, the author and publisher have agreed that the book will have a digital component. The digital material can consist of, for example, interactive exercises, films, summaries and tests.

The proofreading procedure in these cases is as follows: once the digital parts have been produced, the author receives a login code that gives access to a proofreading version of the entire digital part. The author is also provided with a document, a so-called error list, where the changes that need to be made can be noted in a systematic way.