Copyediting
Gain a Solid Foundation in the Tools and Techniques of Copyediting
About the Copyediting Program
Copyediting, also known as copy editing—especially nonfiction editing—is one of today's most marketable skills for freelance work. In today's economy, creating a career with flexibility and mobility appeals to many people. Copy editors are the bridge between writers, publishers, and readers. They review, refine, and correct a variety of written material that appears in print or onscreen, such as marketing brochures, blogs, manuals, reports, feature articles, catalogs, and books. Copy editors who have a specialized background (such as science, technical, medical, finance and marketing) or proficiency with digital media are particularly in demand. Still, you do not need prior experience in these fields to complete this certificate successfully.
Our program provides a solid understanding of the tools and techniques of copy editing and introduces several topics required to make copyediting a career. Every lesson offers practical skills and information you can use immediately. The program can be completed online in 12 months. The courses are asynchronous but not self-paced; you will be required to keep up with weekly assignments. The average student spends three hours online and six hours offline per course each week.
Additional Information:
For detailed information, please enroll in the online on-demand Copyediting Program Information Session. Questions about our classes or certificates? Contact our department at 858-534-5760 or ahl@ucsd.edu.
For those who are considering entering the field of copyediting via UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies’s Copyediting Certificate Program, we invite you to join our LinkedIn group of current students, graduates, and writing professionals.
What You Will Learn
- Grammar review and effective levels of editing to improve clarity and readability, including web copy and all elements of a manuscript.
- Different types of editor roles and the various style guides used in the industry (the program uses the Chicago Manual of Style).
- Review of standard copyediting symbols, spelling, grammar, and punctuation rules.
- Editorial processes, using style sheets and editing with Microsoft Word.
- Fact-checking, active/passive voice and editing for logic, sexism, and plagiarism.
- Querying and best practices for fostering the author-editor relationship.
- Style sheets, legal considerations, bias in language, and editing graphic elements.
- Career-related information, such as career paths, jobs and training, and the basics of freelance editing.
This program is designed for those who wish to:
Copyediting
Information Session
Find out more about the program in a free, online information session.
Required Courses
All 4 units are required to earn a Copyediting Certificate. Classes must be taken in order and can not be taken simultaneously.
Recommended Courses
These classes do not apply to the certificate. They can be taken in any order.
Required Tools
- Internet access
- Scanner access (for use in Copyediting I course)
- Acrobat Reader 11.0 (or newest available)
- Microsoft Word 2016 or newer
Certificate Guidelines
Grammar Lab, Copyediting I, II, and III must be taken in sequence. You must earn a Pass (C-) or better grade in each course.
Conditions for Admission
You must have native-level fluency with English and must write clear, logical, and grammatically correct sentences. You will need a computer, a high-speed internet connection, MS Word 2016 or later, and proficiency with all of the above.
FAQs
Copyediting
Copyeditors make multiple passes and work directly with the author. They look at the following::
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Spelling
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Punctuation
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Capitalization
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Hyphenation
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The use of italics and bold type
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Treatment of quotations
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Treatment of numbers and numerals
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Treatment of special elements, such as lists and charts
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The formatting of footnotes and endnotes
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Consistency and clarity throughout a document.
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Fact-checking information—for instance, whether an important date is correct in the text
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Rephrasing awkward language
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Maintaining author's voice
Proofreading
Proofreading is the final stage of editing a manuscript before it is printed. Proofreaders are unlikely to do multiple passes or to have any interaction with the author, as they are working directly with editors. They look for egregious errors and formatting issues, like the following:
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Errors that were introduced during the formatting process, such as dropped words or even dropped paragraphs.
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Other typographical and layout errors, such as whether a word breaks badly at the end of a sentence or whether a paragraph breaks at a bad spot over two pages.
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Any misalignments, such as incorrect margin and line spacing.
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Consistency between the table of contents and chapter names as well as page numbers.
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Whether the front matter and back matter are in the right place. Front matter includes the title page, copyright page, and table of contents. Back matter may contain the author’s bio, an appendix, an index, and a glossary.
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Whether headlines or titles, photographs, text, and even advertising all make sense on a page. For instance, in a newspaper or magazine, you typically do not want an ad from an airline company next to a story about a plane crash, or on a corporate website, an article about a bank collapse and neighboring ads inviting the reader to apply for the bank’s credit card.