The symbols and notations below are copy editors' marks, or, "proof-reader's" marks that I use on manuscripts, essays, and term papers to indicate the kinds of change that I think are necessary to improve the clarity of writing. These are based on the Style Manual for Biological Journals (Committee on Form and Style, Conference of Biological Editors. 1960. American Institute for Biological Sciences, Washington, D.C.: 92 pp.). These are commonly used by editors and reviewers to suggest minor changes to authors. In grading papers, if major structural changes are required, I generally write a note to the author explaining how a reorganization might improve the clarity of the writing. For further elaboration of proofreaders marks and extensive commentary on writing style appropriate for contemporary journals, see the CBE Style Manual, Council of Biology Editors, Inc.(The Fifth Edition, published in 1983 had grown to 324 pages in length).
The illustration on the right is a copy of Figure 3 from the Style Manual. It shows the marks that editors commonly use to suggest corrections. Two marks generally appear on the printed manuscript, or galley proof. One of these marks will be placed in the margin, indicating what is to be done on a particular line of print. The other will be a perpendicular line or a caret (^) within the line to indicate the exact location where the change will be made.
The illustration below shows an example of how the proofreaders marks might appear in a marked manuscript. The right-hand column shows what the text would look like after the author/editor had made the changes indicated in the left-hand column.
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Date created: June, 2002
Last modified: Feb. 19, 2003
Copyright ©2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 George R. Spangler