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editing marks and symbols

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how to use this resource

One of your greatest tools for improving your writing is to know, not only what your mistakes are, but what they are called by your colleagues and instructors. Rather than indulging self-piteously in the notion that you are the victim of your teacher's ruthless red pen, make an effort to catalogue your errors: keep a current list of your mistakes and study at least a handful of them each time. At worst, you will train yourself to be a more effective proofreader of your own writing. At best, you will grow in skill and respect for writing. A little proactive use of the tens of thousands of resources made available to you on the internet by dedicated educators and writers can save you years of unnecessary proofreading and heartache down the line.

Use this guide, then, in the spirit of such self-discovery and growth. After reviewing the corrections on your paper made by your instructor, locate the relevant symbol or abbreviation on the index chart and link to its corresponding explanation, or browse the explanatory chart further down this page. Once you have properly identified the notation, use the hypertext links to consult a variety of external internet sources, including Purdue University's OWL (On-line Writing Lab), Bartleby.com, and others. Or, look in your own handbook for further advice.

NOTE: Although the following charts include some of the most common notations used by editors and teachers to proof and correct essays, be aware that different instructors will adapt and reinvent some of these symbols to suit their own style—sometimes to address the more esoteric needs of their classes and sometimes to accommodate their own handwriting. This is called "house style." Among the following charts, therefore, will be abbreviations and symbols developed solely for my own purposes. If you cannot identify a symbol or notation based on this list, please consult the back of A Writer's Reference for further suggestions, or speak with me personally.

Happy hunting!

Karl Sherlock

index
				¶
	//ism	]	" "		agr.	alphab.	apos.	avoid
	awk.	bibl. style	bolding	c.f.	c.s.	caps.	choppy	cite?
	claim?	d.s.	dang mod	diction	font	forbidden	frag.	fused
	init. caps.	ital.	l.c.	logic	margins	markers	mixed const.	MLA
	mm	numbers	P.O.S.	p.v.	paginate	parag?	pron. agr.	r.o.
	red.	ref.	-s, -ed	s.b.	s/v agr.	shift	source?	sp
	t.s.	thesis	tone?	topic?	typog.	u.c.	w.w.	wordy

^	insert [word or punctuation]
	insert spacing (usually, typographical error)
¶	new paragraph, or paragraph organization difficulty
]	indent
	adjust line to margin
	transpose [letters, words or phrases]
	delete
	unnecessary line spaces (usually in-between paragraphs)

agr.	Agreement	pron. agr.	pronoun agreement error
		s/v agr.	subject-verb agreement error
apos.	Apostrophes		missing apostrophes
avoid	Errors of Tone	forbidden	a forbidden word of academic tone
		diction	inappropriate language (slang, etc.)
		tone?	contractions
			"you" and other pronouns
			clichés
			hyperbole
			sexism
			audience bias
awk.	Awkward Sentence	// | //ism	parallel structure
		choppy	choppy (redundant) sentence
		mixed const.	mixed construction (see also "Parts of Speech Errors")
		wordy	repetitious
		red.	redundancy
caps.	Capitalization	init. caps.	initial caps (for titles)
		l.c.	lower case
		u.c.	upper case
c.f.	Commas	overuse
		commas v. semi-colons, in lists of words or phrases
		missing, or misuse of, commas to separate clauses and phrases
		c.s.	comma splice
			missing or misplaced comma
logic	Reasoning and Argument	logical fallacy; faulty or ambiguous pattern of deductive or inductive reasoning
markers	Markers	" " | ' '	quotation marks (double and single)
		ital.	use italics (or underline)
		markers?	missing markers (for titles, quotations, and secondary quoted material), or misuse of markers
MLA	Modern Language Association Style	alphab.	alphabetize the "Works Cited"
		bibl. style	bibliographic (Works Cited) citation error
		cite?	contextual (in-text) citation error
		d.s.	double space
		margins	improper document design
		numbers	words v. numerals
		paginate	document page numbers in MLA style
		source?	missing contextual or bibl. citation
mod.	Modifiers	dang mod	dangling modifier or modifying phrase
		mm	misplaced (a.k.a. squinting) modifier or modifying phrase
		p.o.s.	parts of speech errors
ref.	Pronoun Reference	ambiguous antecedents
		pronoun case
s.b.	Sentence Boundary Error	frag.	fragment
		fused	fused sentence
		c.s.	comma spliced
		r.o.	run-on sentence
sp.	Spelling	ww	wrong word (homonym errors)
		tr.	transposed letters ("ei" or "ie")
		pl.	noun plurals
		sfx	suffixes ("-able" or "-ible")
thesis	Thesis Statements	ambig.	unclear thesis
		simplistic	too general or simple a major claim
		thesis?	unable to locate thesis
t.s.	Topic Sentence	parag?	unclear paragraph topic
		claim?	too general or simple a topic point
		topic?	unable to locate paragraph's topic
typog.	Typography	bolding	remove all bolding (see "M.L.A. Style")
		typo.	typographical error
			add character spacing
		font	inconsistent or inappropriate font choice
w.w.	Usage	errors of measurement
		foreign plural and singular endings
		homonym errors
		imprecise usage
		malapropisms
		parts of speech errors
		spoonerism
		subject-object verb errors
v.t.	Verb Tense	p.v.	passive voice
		-s, -ed	missing or inconsistent verb endings (ESL)
		shift	verb tense consistency
		verbs, mood, and voice
© 2006 – 2008 Karl J. Sherlock