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Discovering the Field of Scientific Editing

Nancy Titus Napierala

I had no idea that technical editing could be a career path, yet that is what I learned when I took a class in this field as a graduate student at Northern Illinois University. Considering for the first time the possibility of specializing in the field of technical communication, I recalled my impression that scientific writing and editing must be highly difficult and specialized. People with traditional humanities backgrounds (like mine) are also thought to be averse to anything connected with such hard sciences as mathematics, chemistry, physics, or engineering. Yet I had already experienced another seemingly high-tech field — accounting.

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Editing Documents Written by People Speaking English as a Second Language

Alan Kelly

I work in a department responsible for on-the-job training and have experienced the challenges of working with people for whom English is a second language. I see that sometimes they become frustrated, for lack of a better term, when writing. What they have in their minds is not always reflected in the written document. My colleagues are extremely knowledgeable – they just have a language barrier. This is where I come in.

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The Editor as Leader: How Expanding Your Role Can Boost Your Profession, Your Employer, and Your Career

Marcy Pack

Whether you are a full-time editor or simply someone who believes in the importance of editorial vigilance, you have a lot to gain by becoming a visible leader. Even if you’re not in a supervisory position, taking an active role in stressing the value of high-quality editing can improve your company’s products, boost the reputation of the editing profession, and often provide some payoffs in your career as well.

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Who Needs a Style Guide

Melanie Flanders

If you are writing documentation, there is also a need for a style guide, especially when documents have multiple authors. A style guide fosters consistency among writers and across documents and provides editors with a written set of guidelines by which they can instill consistency. The style guide can end disputes among writers, editors, and subject matter experts that arise over consistency issues in documentation.

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Ask the Editor: With Geoff Hart

Geoff Hart

Q: Are there any good online discussion resources for editors other than copyediting-l?

A: A colleague recently pointed me towards “EDline”, a discussion group run by the “Electric Editors”. I haven’t had the time to monitor the group and form a personal opinion, but I’ve heard good things about this group over the years from colleagues whose opinions I respect. EDline deals with editorial matters, covering everything from spelling and hyphenation queries to business issues of relevance to freelances.

To subscribe send a blank e-mail to: ee_edline-subscribe@listbot.com or send a message to ElectricEds@bigfoot.com with “Subscribe EDline” in the subject line.

As with all mailing lists, turn off your e-mail software’s signature feature before sending the message to reduce the risk of confusing the list management software.

Do you have a question related to editing? Send any short query that you’d like to appear in the newsletter to my work e-mail address geoff-h@mtl.feric.ca with the subject line “Ask the Editor.”