This document provides estimates of the time needed to complete editing assignments based upon the type of material, the word count, and the thoroughness of the review required.
The estimates in this document are intended for high-level planning purposes only. The actual time required to complete an editing assignment may vary from the provided estimates.
The following table provides a quick overview of estimated editing times.1 For more information regarding each column, refer to the corresponding topic headings.
| Content Type | Light Edit | Medium Edit | Heavy Edit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Difficult Text | 500 – 1,000 words/hour | 500 – 750 words/hour | 250 – 500 words/hour |
| Standard Text | 1,500 – 2,000 words/hour | 1,000 – 1,500 words/hour | 500 – 1,000 words/hour |
When in doubt, apply the following guidelines:
- One typewritten page (using 1-inch margins, double-spacing, and a size 12 standard font) is approximately 250 – 350 words.
- Words are a better metric than pages for gauging editing times, because “page” is an inconsistent unit of text (due to images, headings, intentional whitespace, and so on).
- In general, editing should be faster than writing, but slower than reading.
- In the absence of any other data, when setting aside time for editing content in the project planning phase, grant the editor at least 15% of the time allotted for writing the content.
Broadly speaking, content submitted for editing can be classified into one of two categories: difficult text and standard text. These are not meant to be construed as hard-and-fast definitions. Instead, they should be taken as guidelines for determining the level of effort necessary for editing.
In general, a difficult text presents obstacles that impede smooth, quick reading, over and above the usual challenges associated with editing content. Difficult texts may include:
- Content written by a non-native English speaker or an inexperienced writer.
- Highly technical content, such as code or calculations that require verification.
- Serious structural or conceptual deficiencies that demand editorial intervention.
- Early or incomplete drafts of content.
- Content that requires navigating a system (such as online help), rather than reading a straightforward document.
A standard text is one that poses no unusual obstacles to editing. Standard texts are presumed to contain errors, but are not expected to present unique or unpredictable challenges that complicate the editing process.
Editing assignments can be classified according to the level of effort and attention involved. In ascending order of thoroughness, an assignment can call for either a light edit, medium edit, or heavy edit. These three types should be considered guidelines or flavors, rather than strict definitions. It is also assumed that each type of edit subsumes the editorial actions in the levels before it.
A light edit involves only a quick assessment of glaring errors. (The term “proofreading” can be used interchangeably with “light edit”.) A light edit consists of skimming the document, and correcting obvious errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, consistency, and completeness.
A medium edit demands greater editorial involvement than a light edit, but does not entail the rewriting and restructuring of a heavy edit. A medium edit can include what are called “line edits” and “copy edits” in conventional editing terms.
A line edit includes flagging the following problem cases, and offering suggestions or rewriting where appropriate:
- Extraneous or overused words and sentences.
- Run-on sentences.
- Redundancies from repeating the same information in different ways.
- Paragraphs that can be tightened.
- Places where the author’s meaning is unclear due to bad phrasing or transitions.
- Tonal shifts and unnatural phrasing.
- Passages that read poorly due to bland or imprecise language use.
- Confusing digressions.
- Changes that can be made to improve the pacing or presentation of a passage.
- Words or phrases that may clarify or enhance the author’s meaning.
A copy edit includes flagging the following problem cases, and offering suggestions or rewriting where appropriate:
- Incorrect spelling, grammar, punctuation, and syntax.
- Inconsistent spelling, hyphenation, numerals, fonts, and capitalization.
- Ambiguous or factually incorrect statements.
- Macro concerns like internal consistency.
A heavy edit involves the most rewriting and content-level corrections. It can be described as a substantive edit with extreme editorial intervention, where the editor serves as a second writer and remakes the content where appropriate. A heavy edit may also include checking all links present in a document, analyzing content, restructuring content, and verifying facts or citations as needed.
Footnotes
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The rates in the table are adapted from The Copyeditor’s Handbook. ↩