Once the client has responded to the substantive edit, I undertake a more detailed copyedit, which involves checking:
- spelling, grammar, punctuation and use of technical terms
- tables of contents
- headings as a set (content, consistency and numbering)
- consistency and completeness in:
- abbreviations (in text and in abbreviations list)
- bullet points
- tables, figures and boxes (content, position, numbering and cross-referencing)
- footnotes and endnotes
- headers and footers
- glossary and annexes
- cross-references
- references (checking in-text citations against the reference list, and checking the entries in the reference list).
I run PerfectIt at the start and end of copyediting, to identify and fix inconsistencies in spelling, capitalisation, hyphenation and so on (using the client-specific style sheet, or creating one, if appropriate). I also update all tables of contents (e.g. for headings, tables and figures) on completion of the copyedit.