Editing a manuscript through the draft stages to produce a final product is time consuming, but the process ensures clarity, sense, accuracy and consistency.

Macro-editing

Macro-editing involves rewriting and reorganising the document by asking:

• is there sense and clarity?
• are the title and abstract concise, accurate, informative, of the correct style and length?
• are the paragraphs in the right order?
• is the emphasis correct?
• are the data accurate?
• is the referencing adequate?
• are the tables and figures consistent with the text and presented effectively?
• is the document relevant to – and at an appropriate level for – the reader?
• is the document concise?

Micro-editing

Micro-editing ensures that the language and style are correct and consistent. Look for:

• completeness;
• correct grammar, syntax, spelling, and punctuation;
• abbreviations, acronyms and symbols (are they correctly defined and consistent?);
• capitalisation;
• numbers (i.e. words or numerals?) and units (correct and consistent?);
• heading hierarchy, fonts, consistency of bulleted listed and justified/unjustified text;
• references (are they in the correct style, are all cited references listed and are all listed references cited?);
• tables and figures that are complete with title, legend and axis labelling, are consistent, and are correctly numbered, cited in the text and in the correct position in the text; and
• drug names and medical terminology that are correct and consistent.

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