Why Choose an Editor Over a Proofreader?

Editing services are becoming increasingly popular today, especially with the realisation among many businesses of the criticality of high-quality content in promoting their visibility and reputation. However, the question of when an editing service should be used as opposed to, for example, a proofreading service or paraphrasing service is a complex one. Therefore, this article discusses the differences between proofreading and editing, followed by an assessment of the question of when you should choose an editor over a proofreader.

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What is the difference between proofreading and editing?

Simply put, editing is a more thorough version of proofreading. In the case of proofreading, a proofreader’s main job is to check your document word by word to ensure that there are no spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors. As such, proofreading services are typically used only when the final draft of the document has been completed.

By contrast, editing services are richer and more diverse compared to proofreading services. Most editors pay attention to clarity, concision, redundant expressions, structure, layout, style, coherence, and unity. Depending on your editor’s level of experience, as well as the brief you have asked them to follow, they may not focus on some of these areas in their service.

When to choose an editor

To give you a sense of when to choose an editor over a proofreader, some typical editing tasks have been presented below. Please note that this advice applies generically for all types of documents; whether you are writing a blog article or an academic essay, our advice about when and why to choose an editor over a proofreader remains the same.

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• Increase clarity and concision by avoiding unnecessary words and phrases
• Ensure your writing conforms to a style guide (whether an in-house style guide or one disseminated by an institution such as Associated Press)
• If necessary, rewrite sections and paragraphs to improve the communication of your ideas, arguments, or factual information
• Revise the structure of your document to ensure it flows logically and coherently
• Explain or remove jargon or unusual language

When to choose a proofreader

If you do not need any of the above mentioned tasks to be completed for your document, then it is unlikely that you will need to work with an editing professional. Instead, you are likely to need the services of a professional proofreader, which means it is advisable to avoid paying an editor.

If you feel like proofreading may be more suitable for your use case compared to editing, the all-important point to consider is whether your document is already in a finished state.

If there is anything in your document that you feel should be restructured, reorganised, or rewritten, that should all be done before you send the text to a proofreader. This is because if you apply these revisions after the proofreader has finished, you risk introducing new errors into the text.