Proofreading

You’ll usually receive your proofs around 5 months after submission. Your desk editor will be in touch with the exact schedule closer to the time. You’ll see up to two sets of proofs before we progress to print.

First proofs

You should carefully check the first proofs and mark up your changes. This is the most important proof stage so please take the time to read through your book in detail, including the prelim pages, references, quotes and bibliography. You should look out for spelling or grammatical errors, typos and factual inaccuracies. Please be aware that you cannot rewrite, rephrase or add new material at proof stage. Return the proofs to your desk editor by the deadline, otherwise the publication of your book may be delayed.

Revised proofs

Your desk editor will send you the revised proofs if you request them. Check the revised proofs to make sure that your changes have been made and read the index for any errors or typos. You should not make other changes at revised proof stage. Doing so will delay the publication of your book and you may be charged for the extra typesetting costs.

Marking corrections to your proofs

Print out your proofs and write your corrections on them. Mark your corrections in the text and give details in the margin. We have prepared a list of proof correction marks and an example page to help you. If you have any questions, your desk editor will be happy to help.

• Proof correction marks (pdf)
• Example proof mark-up (pdf)

If you are changing more than just a word or two, supply the new text in a Word document. Collate all changes in one document, in page order. Write the page number that the text is found on as a heading, then write the new text. Mark on the proofs that you have supplied replacement text.

Returning your proofs

Return your corrections to your desk editor by email or by secure file transfer by the deadline. You can either compile a corrections list or send us a pdf scan of your marked-up pages. If you have replacement text, send us the Word document at the same time.

Corrections list

Corrections lists are best if you don’t have a lot of changes. Create a table with the page number, line and the correction to be made. Attach this to an email and send it to your desk editor.

Counting lines

• When counting lines, only count the book text itself.
• Don’t include text that appears on every page, such as the running heads, or white space.
• You can count from the top of the page or the bottom of the page. If you are counting from the bottom of the page, mark this as ‘-up’. For example: 12-up is the 12th line from the bottom.  

Example corrections list

Page	Line	Correction
Title page		Subtitle: change 1880s–1930s to 1890s–1930s
vi	4	Start new paragraph before ‘In writing’
vii	23	Transpose: ‘stardom’ to read ‘tsardom’
2	12-up	‘[H]’ should not be separated from rest of ‘Human’
3	10–11	Apply correct indent
4	last line	Chapter 5 > Chapter 4
5	7 from subheading	Replace ‘twenty-three-year-old’ with ‘thirty-three-year-old’
189	‘Smith’ entry	Set journal title in italics: Scottish Historical Review

 

Returning scanned pages

If you have made a lot of changes, it will be easiest to send us scans of your marked-up pages. Attach the pdf or pdfs to an email and send it to your desk editor. Remember to attach your Word document with any text to be replaced at the same time.

Only scan the pages that you have made corrections on – otherwise you’ll be at your scanner forever!

Edited collections

We send proofs of edited collections to the volume editors only. If you have agreed with your chapter authors that they will see the proofs of their own chapters, you will need to send the proofs on to them yourself. Make sure that they know the deadline for returning the proofs to you, giving yourself enough time to consolidate the corrections into a single collated set of corrections to send to Edinburgh University Press by the deadline.

Copyright holders

If you are reproducing material in copyright, the copyright holders might request to see a copy of the proofs. You should send them the first proofs as soon as you get them and let them know your deadline for returning the proofs. If your book is an edited collection, make sure you ask your chapter authors where proofs need to be sent and who will send them. It is your responsibility as the editor to make sure all copyright holders receive the proofs if they’ve requested them.

Translations

If your book is a translation, we will send a copy of the proofs to the copyright holder.

Any questions?

If you are having any difficulties with proofreading, marking-up or meeting your deadline, get in touch with your desk editor and they will be able to help you.