Lead and Co-Editor Checklist
Updated Dec 2020
A Google docs version of this article that you can print and use as a checklist can be found here.
This is a checklist for lead and co-editors to remind them of the steps they should be taking at different stages of the editorial process. For more detail, you can refer to our gitbook or ask your editor-at-large or managing editor any questions you may have. Both lead and co-editors are responsible for making sure each step of the process is followed correctly, and lead editors have the added responsibility of drafting and sending emails to authors.
The main thing to remember during this process is to set early and firm deadlines. Life happens, and authors and editors invariably fail to meet deadlines. Setting them a bit arbitrarily earlier (e.g., seven days instead of ten) helps to make sure that we meet our hard deadlines. Don’t be afraid to email authors to remind them of upcoming deadlines, and to check in on them when they have failed to meet them! If authors are not meeting deadlines, or you have questions about when to set them for, email your EAL or the managing editor.
Author Brief
As soon as we send out the acceptances and you’ve signed up to edit an article, the lead editor should send out the author brief to introduce themselves to the author(s) and set a first deadline.
Drafts
When you receive a draft:
When editing a draft:
Editors can use whatever editing strategy works best for them. Usually, both editors work on the same document and discuss, over email or slack, what they thought of the draft. If there are any disagreements between the editors about edits this should be addressed, so that authors don’t receive conflicting feedback.
If this is a first draft, try to focus on big picture edits: is the topic covered appropriately? Does the author need to do more research, clarify their thesis, or reorganize the structure of the article? You may also make general comments on writing, such as asking authors to use a less academic style, or to refrain from use of the passive voice, but try not to make line edits unless there are no major issues with the draft.
If this is a second draft, loop in your EAL and ask them to give their thoughts on the article so far. They may have suggestions about where to take the article, what kind of feedback to give, and so on. In subsequent drafts, once these bigger picture issues are addressed, you should go in and make line-edits to help with the flow and writing style of the article. Remember, we are a general interest magazine, so all writing should be clear and accessible!
Things to watch out for:
Are authors meeting the deadlines you established? Send reminders and follow up as often as necessary. Sometimes authors fall behind, and it’s better to catch that sooner rather than later.
Are authors citing their work according to our style guide? Will the material in their references be accessible to the technical editor? Authors are responsible for writing their own citations, which are checked by the proofreaders, and it’s best to remind them of this early on!
Are there any new authors on the piece? If so, let the managing editor know so that they can be sent a contract.
Are authors receptive to edits and responsive over email? If not, you may want to ask your EAL or the managing editor to intervene.
Does the work have a title?
Will the author be providing any artwork to go along with the piece? If so, reach out to the art editorial collective!
After editing:
When an article is almost done:
If you feel an article is about ready to be sent to technical editing, now is the time to email your editor-at-large and ask them to take a look at the article. Ideally, this will be the third draft, but don’t be worried if articles take 4-5 drafts to be ready - it happens!
Technical editing
Technical editors usually need 1-2 weeks to do their work. If you need turnaround more quickly, make sure you agree on this with the technical editor ahead of time. It’s important that authors have clearly cited their sources and have provided access to ones that may be hard to find early on so the TE can work more quickly. Authors cannot make substantice changes (content, ordering, etc) after this stage.
After TE
Copy Editing
Copy editors work to make sure that the language in the article is clear, concise, and that all grammar, spelling, style and citation rules are followed. They usually need 1 week to complete their work. Authors cannot make sentence-level changes after this stage.
After CE
At this point, all changes should be relatively minor. If there are major changes that they CE lead agrees with, you can email the author to offer them a chance to address them. However, we typically do not email authors their CE feedback - this part of the editorial process helps us ‘clean up’ and standardise our articles.
Proofreading
Proofreaders check the final draft of the article to make sure there are no spelling or grammar mistakes and that all citations are properly formatted. They do not change language or the content of the article, only catch mistakes. Proofreaders typically need 1 week to finish their work.
After Proofreading
After design
Editors and authors will receive a proof of the article from the designer to review, along with the meet the contributors section. Any edits should be relayed to the ME and copy/proof lead as comments on the PDF or via email.
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