A Second Pair of Eyes:

Revision, Editing, and Proofreading

By S. Alexandra Russell-Bitting

he following article is based pri- To achieve this standard, a service look at a text. In addition to cor-

T marily on my 25 years of experi-

ence in translation, revision,
editing, and proofreading. After
provider must “manage” quality.
Under ISO 9000, quality manage-
ment is defined as “what the organi-
recting any mistakes, such as
grammar and spelling, an editor stan-
dardizes the style used (capitalization
studying journalism and translation at zation does to ensure that its products and hyphenation conventions, for
French universities, I worked in-house or services satisfy the customer’s instance) and enhances “readability.”
as a translator in a small French pub- quality requirements and comply In a recent article, New York Times
lishing company, at the United Nations with any regulations applicable to Op-Ed page editor David Shipley
Educational, Scientific and Cultural those products or services.” explained how Times editors make an
Organization (UNESCO), in the press For practical purposes, quality article more “readable”: “To make a
section at the French Embassy in management in translation—whether piece as clear and accessible as pos-
Washington, and in the translation sec- in a publishing company, a foreign sible, the editor may add a transition,
tion of the Inter-American Development embassy, or an international organi- cut a section that goes off point or
Bank (IDB). For the past year, I’ve been zation—means having a second pair move a paragraph. If a description is
an editor in the IDB press section. highly technical, the editor may sug-
In each institution, I had to learn gest language that lay readers will
the procedures for document produc- “…Our goal should be to understand. If it isn’t clear what a
tion, which invariably included revi- produce documents we writer is trying to say, the editor may
sion or editing of draft text (and take a guess, based on what he knows
sometimes both) and final proof- would be proud to have from the author, and suggest more
reading. In the following paragraphs, our names on…” precise language.” Shipley also
I demonstrate how these processes stressed that an edited article must
work and give readers a chance to see always be cleared by the author
them in practice by reviewing selec- of eyes (and often a third or a fourth) before publication.
tions from a sample document. review each document to make sure it Proofreading is the last step in the
meets the requirements of accuracy production process before actual
Quality Control in Translation and style. In other words, quality printing or posting, a final check to
First, we need to examine what we management means following the make sure no mistakes have slipped
mean by quality in translation. The basic principle of “Two heads are through. Proofreaders do not make any
International Organization for better than one.” changes in content, but read the text
Standardization (ISO) has a standard Consequently, a translator checking through from beginning to end to verify
for quality management called his or her own work, or “self-revision,” that the spelling and grammar are cor-
ISO 9000. It defines quality as fol- is not enough. A reviser, generally an rect and the text is properly formatted
lows: “In the everyday context, like experienced translator, needs to take a (no missing headings, misnumbered or
‘beauty,’ everyone may have his or her fresh, critical look at the translation and upside-down pages, inappropriate
idea of what ‘quality’ is. But, in the make any necessary improvements in changes in font, and so forth). They
ISO 9000 context, the standardized both accuracy and style. Decisions must have focus, an eye for detail, and
definition of quality refers to all those about the appropriate terminology knowledge of the subject matter.
features of a product (or service) and register for both the translator
which are required by the customer.” and reviser depend on the type of Sample Document: 2004 Annual
What features of translation are document and its author, medium, Report of the IDB
required by the customer? In my and target audience, that is, the con- The examples we’re going to look
experience, what the customer wants text. at in our discussion are drawn from the
first and foremost is an accurate Revised translations may also be 2004 Annual Report of the IDB, which
translation, that is, one that faithfully subject to editing, especially when I edited as part of my current duties.
expresses the source text, without any they are to be published as a book, an The primary purpose of this document
errors or omissions, in an idiomatic article, or website content. Editing is is to report to the IDB’s Board of
style that reads as if it were originally similar to revision in that it involves a Governors on the year’s activities and
written in the target language. second pair of eyes taking a critical present the IDB’s financial statements,

32 The ATA Chronicle | February 2006

as required under its charter. The 180- everything is there, verify that it’s cor- which is easier said than done in a
page book also contains an overview rect. Besides mistakes in spelling and document like the Annual Report that
of economic development in Latin grammar, look for inverted figures has multiple contributors.
America, a discussion of progress in and dates, for instance, which may Among the many stylistic questions
the IDB’s main areas of activity, and happen as fingers fly over the com- that came up in the Annual Report
descriptions of the several dozen loans puter keyboard. Sometimes decimals were whether or not to use accents on
approved during the year. are misplaced or the wrong style is place names (“Bogotá” or “Bogota”?).
Besides the Board of Governors, used. For example, change “$10.000” We also had to standardize hyphen-
the Annual Report readership includes to “$10,000.” Be on the lookout for ation, for instance, changing “sub-
government officials in all 47 member typos in the original, such as omitted regional” to “subregional,” and
countries of the IDB in the Americas, diacritics, that may distort the remember to alphabetize lists of
Western Europe, Croatia and Slovenia, meaning. For instance, one missing country names, taking into account
Israel, Japan and Korea, as well as accent in Spanish can make the differ- that alphabetical order will be slightly
nongovernmental organizations, aca- ence between “will total” and “had different in English and Spanish.
demics, researchers, and students. The totaled.” Revisers have little leeway to
report is published in book format and Specialized terminology requires improve an original that might be
on CD-ROM, and is posted on the IDB knowledge of the field in question. inconsistent, ambivalent, or unclear.
website. Any mistakes in such a high- The first chapter of the Annual However, they should avoid the
profile document, for instance, in its Report, for example, is an essay on “garbage in, garbage out” approach:
financial tables, economic charts, or economic development in Latin there is nothing wrong with a trans-
listings of senior officials, could have America during the year that gets lation reading better than the orig-
serious consequences. quite technical. The reviser needs to inal, provided there is no change in
Using examples from this report, know, for instance, that “direct for- meaning. No one will complain, for
let’s take a closer look at the different eign investment” should be “foreign instance, if you eliminate redundan-
stages of the quality control process. direct investment.” cies. Dividing or combining sen-
Always bear in mind the author, tences can also help make a text
Revision target readership, and medium to more readable.
We mentioned that revision means determine whether the terminology,
checking a translation for accuracy register, and style of the translation Editing
and style. It involves answering two are appropriate. For example, in a Editing is more creative work than
questions: 1) Does the translation document like the Annual Report, revision in that you have the freedom
accurately reflect the original in con- which is written in a very formal to make improvements in the text for
tent and register? 2) Is the style style, snappy journalistic writing is readability. As in translation and revi-
idiomatic in the target language? In inappropriate: change “Fiscal posi- sion, the three main criteria for
other words, does it read like original tions have been beefed up” to “Fiscal editing are context, context, context:
English (in this case)? positions have been strengthened.” Who is the author? What is the pur-
To do a thorough job on a revision, As you check for accuracy, make pose of the document? Who are the
I recommend reading the translation any necessary stylistic adjustments. target readers? What medium will the
sentence by sentence, using a ruler to Capitalization, hyphenation, and text be published in (an internal doc-
mark your place in the original and punctuation seem to be the most ument, newsletter, journal, book,
checking the translation as you go. recurring headaches because many website, or other)?
First of all, you want to make sure different options are correct. Follow The key question to ask yourself
that everything is there. Under the corporate or institutional guidelines when editing is simply, “Does it
pressure of a ticking clock, especially if they are available or any other sound right?” Besides not containing
with telephone calls and other inter- guidelines the client may refer you any errors in spelling or grammar, the
ruptions, even a seasoned translator to, such as the Chicago Manual of text should flow smoothly, that is,
can inadvertently miss a word, Style. Otherwise, decide on your own have no awkward, ambivalent, or
phrase, line, or an entire paragraph. personal preferences and stick to unclear passages. In the Annual
While you’re checking that them. The key here is consistency, Report, for example, a phrase ➡

The ATA Chronicle | February 2006 33

A Second Pair of Eyes: Revision, Editing, and Proofreading Continued

such as “teacher training centers at early printing process when every shorter documents, like a one-page
the national level” could be rendered letter or character was a small block press release, this collaborative
more idiomatically as “teaching of metal or wood that had to be lined process may take the form of an
schools throughout the country.” up for each page. A trial sheet or informal exchange with a colleague.
Taking that basic question a step “proof” would be printed and Freelance translators working from
further, ask yourself if the text con- checked against the original for home may want to do likewise.
veys all the necessary information. errors before printing. Even though
Given the target audience, does any- the process is now electronic rather Managing Quality
thing need to be added, deleted, or than mechanical, we still use the term According to the ISO standards
reshuffled to achieve the desired “proofreading” for that final check. for quality management, you need to
effect? For instance, the draft version Here the question is, “Does it “plan and manage the processes nec-
of Box 6 of the Annual Report on look right?” Once the document is essary for the continual improvement
social inclusion originally described laid out in its final format, you may of your quality management system”
publications and meetings before notice a few stylistic inconsisten- (9001:2000). How do we do this as
operations. However, since the main cies, such as capitalization, hyphen- translators? By improving our
concern of our primary readership, ation, and punctuation, that were knowledge, skills, and resources on
the IDB governors, is lending, we overlooked. Proofreaders also check an ongoing basis. Below are some
decided to move the paragraph on the format, including fonts and font suggestions.
operations to the top. sizes, use of italics, and alignment
Internal consistency is another (indents, footnote format). When Keep up-to-date on current events.
factor to bear in mind. For example, proofreading the Annual Report, for Read daily newspapers and other peri-
in the section on poverty reduction, instance, we noticed inconsistencies odicals, particularly journals in our
information on lending had to be in the decimals used in the figures area of expertise. For practical pur-
added so that it would be consistent cited in the project descriptions and poses, it is unrealistic to expect to
with the other sections. Any redun- decided to standardize them to just read an entire newspaper in both your
dant passages were deleted, such as one decimal ($1.9 billion instead of source and target languages. With the
the analysis of current trade negotia- $1.89 billion). overwhelming quantity of informa-
tions in the section on regional trade The pressure to finish intensifies tion available now, focus on your
that had already been included in a at this stage because of time con- target language and on news head-
previous chapter. straints for printing and shipping the lines and your area of expertise. Many
Finally, ask yourself if the infor- document. The 2004 Annual Report, newspapers are available online free
mation provided is accurate. As men- for instance, had to be produced in of charge. Radio and television can
tioned by the New York Times editor, time to be shipped to the site of the also be a good source of news.
the editing process also means fact 2005 IDB Annual Meeting in For example, in editing the finan-
checking (and double-checking). For Okinawa, Japan. That meant cials in the Annual Report, it helped
example, the photograph of the board allowing two weeks for shipment of to be aware of the Enron scandal
of executive directors in the front sec- the book from the United States. fallout, from accounting standards
tion of the Annual Report lists all the Several members of the editing team and financial reporting to the
names and constituencies of the were involved in proofreading, from Sarbanes-Oxley legislation. The
directors. You can be sure this editor the managing editor to the proof- Central American Free Trade Agree-
checked them against their office list- reader, at several stages: the master ment (CAFTA), which was men-
ings numerous times. Special atten- text file, which was also forwarded tioned in the section on regional
tion was also paid to such key figures to IDB management for clearance, integration, had been in the news as
as yearly and cumulative lending. several versions of the laid out text, well. You should also follow your
and the “bluelines” or proofs from inclinations and read about culture,
Proofreading the printer. which in addition to giving you a
As mentioned above, proofreading Each member of the Annual break from drier topics like business
is a final check before publication. Report team contributes towards
The term “proof” dates back to the improving the final product. For Continued on p.37

34 The ATA Chronicle | February 2006

will get the point without becoming the yard” might mistake it for a stan- approaches outlined here, we can find
offended by the original wording. dard Amharic euphemism related to a way to communicate clearly
Another option might be to insert a personal hygiene, not realizing that it is without offending our audience.
note at the end of the passage to simply a factual statement in English
explain to the reader that it was quite (that the woman merely walked into the References
common to use such crude language yard). Therefore, translators must be Thetela, Pulen Hanong. “Sex
during the time More was writing. aware of how each language uses Discourses and Gender Construc-
euphemisms in order to readily identify tions in Southern Sotho: A Case
Misidentifying Euphemisms them in the source text. Study of Police Interviews of
Sometimes we might mistake Rape/Sexual Assault Victims.”
something that is said in the source Conclusion Southern African Linguistics and
language for a different euphemism There is no single technique for Applied Language Studies,
from our own language. For example, translating euphemisms, as how we 20:177-189.
an Amharic translator coming across handle them will depend upon where
the English phrase “she went out to they are found. By using the

A Second Pair of Eyes: Revision, Editing, and Proofreading Continued from p. 34

and economics, enriches your general article lists just a few of the Portuguese:
background and may even come in resources you may need. www.iadb.org/EXR/ar2004/?
handy in your work. language=Portuguese
Take responsibility for your work. A French:
Learn. Of course, professional devel- former supervisor of mine used to urge www.iadb.org/EXR/ar2004/?
opment events such as ATA’s Annual his staff to translate “in self-defense.” language=French
Conference help improve knowledge Imagine being questioned by a client
and skills, giving us a chance to get on your choice of a term or sentence International Organization for
away from our routines and stimulate structure and having to present your Standardization (ISO):
those grey cells. These events also case. Our goal should be to produce www.iso.org
provide an invaluable opportunity to documents we would be proud to have
meet other professionals. our names on. Enlisting a second pair Rodale, J. I. 1986. The Synonym
of eyes will help us get there. Finder. Warner Brothers.
Network. Meeting other linguists can
help do more than find potential References Shipley, David. “What We Talk About
clients. You never know when you Associated Press Stylebook. Perseus When We Talk About Editing.” New
might need to share an urgent assign- Books, 2002. York Times, July 31, 2005.
ment, refer a client looking for
another language combination, ask a Chicago Manual of Style. University Webster’s Third New International
question, or find a reviser or editor. of Chicago Press, 2003. Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, 2002.

Be prepared. Lastly, have all the Inter-American Development Bank:

necessary tools at your fingertips. www.iadb.org
Invest in some solid general mono- IDB Annual Report (English):
lingual and bilingual dictionaries, a www.iadb.org/EXR/ar2004/ MasterCard
few key specialized ones, a style Spanish: MBNA America
Reference Code: IFKV
guide or two, and a thesaurus. www.iadb.org/EXR/ar2004/?
(800) 847-7378 • (302) 457-2165
Bookmark useful websites. The ref- language=Spanish
erences section at the end of this

The ATA Chronicle | February 2006 37