PROOFREADING
Changesare feasiblebefore the manuscriptis typeset,
RATIONALE AN D TYPES
Your reward for proofreading-however tedious the discouraged,exceptto correct typographicalerrors,
task may seem-is the satisfactionof an error-free
publication. Although whento read proof varies with
the publisherand frequencyof revision, at least two
different types of proofreadingare essential.One
type (A) is a comprehensiveproofreadingof text,
tables, and illustrations for scientific integrity as well while
as for presentation(correct style, usage,and gram-
mar) and internal consistency.The secondtype (B) is
a conventionalproofreadingfor suchitems as spell-
ing, typographicalerrors, or incorrect word breaks.
Both types canbe done simultaneously,althoughthe
techniquesfor eachdiffer.
Comprehensiveproofreading(A) is a rigorous exer- the revised report is advisable.
cise that requires (1) a cool, objectiveappraisal of the
science,(2) validation of any mathematics,and (3)
checkingfor factual agreementamongtext, refer-
ences,tables, and illustrations and their captions.
Think of comprehensiveproofreadingas a technical
review of your own work-difficult, but vital.
Conventionalproofreading(B) is perhapsmore
difficult than comprehensiveproofreadingbecauseit
requires scanningtextual and graphic material with
little regard for meaning. At least one conventional
proofreading sessionshouldbe done with anotherper-
son(seetechniquesfor two-personproofreading).
The more frequently the report is revised,the
greater the need for proofreading.Errors seemto
multiply insidiouslywith eachnew printout, despite
your best efforts to proof them away. Still, that one
last try may catchthe very error that might prove
embarrassingto you or to the Survey. At best, your
thoroughly proofed copyinspires a publisher'scon-
fidence in the care with which you preparedthe
report.
WHEN TO PROOFREAD
Your Branch or Office may advise you when to
proofread your report, and your local editor un-
doubtedlywill ask you to proofread your USGSbook
or map at least once in the publicationprocess.You
may have to proofread on your own initiative more
frequently as the manuscriptprogresses.If you know ly by consciouslypronouncingeachsyllable. You can
you won't be availablefor proofreading,designate
someonewho will do it as meticulouslyas you would.
but changesto galley proofs and checkprints are
seriousfactual errors, or deviations from the mill
copyused as a guide by the typesetter or drafter.
Extensive changesat galley-proofor page-proofstage
are time consuming and costly.
Comprehensive proofreading (A) usuallyis done
the science and documentation are fresh in
mind-for example (1) just before a report to be pub-
lished by the USGS is sent for technical review or
(2) just before a report to be published outside the
USGSis sent to the journal. If technical review
necessitatesconsiderablerewriting and reorganiza-
tion, however, another comprehensiveproofreading of
Conventionalproofreading(B) generallyis required
(1) right after the report is first typed, (2) just before
the final mill copyis submitted for Director's ap-
proval, and (3) when you receive galley proofs or page
proofs and checkprints. (See section "Preparing
Maps and Other Illustrations," p. 210-213, for advice
on proofreadingcheckprints of illustrations). This is
your last chanceto make corrections, although they
shouldbe rare at galley-proofstage.
Conventionalproofreadingat (1) and (2) is most ef-
fective if you can let a little time elapse(severaldays
perhaps) before you begin to proofread. Errors are
more apt to leap from the page after the manuscript
has cooled a bit and the wording of the text is no
longer quite so fresh in your mind.
GENERAL TECHNIQUES OF
PROOFREADI NG
Accurate proofreadingis exacting work and
demandsconcentration.Choosea time when you are
wide awakeand alert, and take a short break when
you begin to tire.
If you are proofreadingalone, try to avoid proofing
somethingthat you have just finished typing. You are
muchmore likely to seeerrors if you leave the report
for a while. You may want to read aloud to yourself.
For example,words with multisyllablesand vowels
are commonlymisspelled;you can checkthem careful-
read backward (from right to left), which will force
Proofreading 265
you to focus on individual words. A spelling program
on a word processoris useful, but it won't flag words
correctly spelledbut incorrectly used("now" for
"not").
Proofreadingtabular data requires extra diligence
and a ruler to ensure that you are readingacrossjust
one horizontalline at a time. Checkthe vertical align-
ment in eachcolumnto be sure that all numbersare
aligned on the decimal point (or whatever symbolhas
beenchosen,suchas a hyphendenotingrange).
A list of commonlyusedproofreader'smarks and
an exampleof their usageare at the end of this sec-
tion. Although typeset copyis shown,the sameprin-
ciples and marks apply to typewritten text as well.
Seealso the U.S. GPO Style Manual(1984,p. 5, 6).
TWO-PERSON PROOFREADING
When proofreading with anotherperson, first agree reader'smarks. Indicate by AA (Author Alteration) or
how to proceed.For example,you won't say a capital AC (Author Correction)any changesthat differ from
letter at the beginning of a sentenceand you'll tap a
pencil to indicate a period at the end of the sentence. guide.
You should,however, say aloud all nonobviouspunc-
tuation and spell out uncommonwords. The session
will be less tiring if you take turns; one reads aloud COMMON CHANGES
from the original documentwhile the other silently
checksthe new copy.
The author, if proofing, shouldfollow the original
while the other person(a typist, perhaps)readsaloud conventionalmarks for indicating these changes:
from the redone copy. This way, any errors or omis-
sions in the new copy will automaticallybe read out.
Typographicalerrors, however, may still escape
detection. At somepoint in the proofreading, every
single word of the new copy must be read individually the insertion shouldbe made,and write in the margin
and deliberatelyif all typographicalerrors are to be
eliminated.
How AND WHERE TO MAKE
CORRECTIONS
Instructions and marks shouldbe legible, intelligi-
ble, and closeto the changedesired. Avoid marginal
notes that doglegaround the page and "skyrockets"
that zooma changefrom text to a distant part of the
page.
BEFORETYPESEmNG
Instructions, changes,additions, or deletionsto a
manuscriptbefore typesetting canbe made in the
body of the text, in the margins, on a copy of the
illustration, or on a separatepiece of paper-just as
266 Two-person proofreading
long as they are intelligible to the personwho must
read or type from them. Separatepiecesshouldbe
clearly marked: for example, "Insert A" or "Part 1
of 3." Make a small checkin the right margin next
to the line containinga minor changethat might be
overlooked;you may want to make a checkfor every
changein the line.
AFTER TYPESETTING
When you receive galley proofs or page proofs
and checkprints, the typesetter or editor may have
marked them already. Someof the marks may be
queriesto the author, which you shouldanswer. Make
corrections clearly and legibly in the margin of the
proof as closeto and as much in line with the error as
possible; the typesetter is not obliged to searchthe
body of the text for changes.Use commonproof-
the copyused as a printer's guide. Do not mark the
Six changesare most common:insertion, deletion,
substitution, transposition,punctuation,and capitaliza-
tion (or lowercasing).The following examplesshow
Insertion
To indicate that somethingshouldbe inserted, place
a caret (A) at the point on the line in the text where
what is to be inserted:
'" Pr~readcarefully
Deletion
To indicate that something should be taken out and
not replaced by anything else, draw a line through it
and place the "dele mark" (~), a form of "d" mean-
ing "delete," in the margin.
ProofreadFeftft.carefully
':::$
Substitution
To indicate that somethingis to be substituted for
the matter deleted, mark through the matter to be
replacedand write the substitute matter in the
margin.
Proofread 9I'P6ti8a11:,~-
Transposition The diagonalstroke is also used (1) to separateone
Transpositionis more commonin early drafts of a correction from the next where they are crowded in
report than in galley or page proofs. To indicate that the margin and (2) to indicate the end of the
somethingshouldbe in a different place(transposed), corrections.
draw lines to indicate the switch and write "tr" in
the margin. l' Cheer, chee~forthe fourth of Ju1~i~
our Nation's birthda~
;/?t
Q
@ ~P;oofiead 1
Capital or Lowercase Letters
If more than a few words are to be transposedand
the changeinvolves severallines, write the revised To indicate capitalization,draw a slashthrough the
version on a separatepiece of paper, cross out all the letter that is to be capitalizedand write the letter
obsoletelines, and write "Insert A" (or whatever you with three lines under it in the margin.
have labeledthe piece).This procedureallows for far
less error than does drawing lines in text. 1: jrOOfread
carefully
,..
To indicate lowercase,draw a slashthrough the
Punctuation letter that is to be lowercasedand write l.c. in the
Place punctuation or other marks that might be margin.
obscure to the left of a diagonal stroke, thus: ,f ;f -f, Proofread1arefully

COMMONLY USED
PROOFREADER'S MARKS
U SE WORDS IN MARGIN and lines in text. Mark clearly and
distinctly. Write out instructions that might be ambiguous.For
more marks, seethe GPO Style Manual (1984,p. 5).

BoldfaceJ f. (in margin) Print CONTENTS in boldface.

~
vvvvv (in text)
Brackets[/] [Bracketsindicate suppliedinformation." ]
Capitalization:
For authorship: By=-:=
L>~ Qg~. ~ --
C~.:SC
Small caps sc
Use-'"==
SMALL ---CAPS for headings. .£
=

Uppercase That map showsOgdenand Saltjake City.

~ jg
Lowercase Where have the ~nimals andjirds gone? ic./ ic.
/
Generalindicator used to mark exact posiwn of error.
.
Caret !\ A.,

Close up '-"
I'" ""
can not
"'"'
'-"
v

Delete ~ You might want to write t~e '61'8"delete" in the margin also. -?

Indention J~ ;l;B>x with a number indicating how manyspaces. :J [j]

Commonly used proofreader's marks 267

 Insert:

Apostrophe .{; Water was pondedat the glaciers edge. ~

1\
Colon """".
...,' in the following sequence" ""'.
v'
Comma I?\ garnet, wollastonite"andtremolite
l;-
Exclamation point Pleasebe careful" I
Hyphen = oliveAgreenschist
Parentheses /) ,,,asnoted by Page",
1964)
Period Q Water, then, was ponded" 0
Questionmark? Why did the river turn south"
Quotationmarks ~ / ~ "These beds~saidPowell'"are GreenRiver." ~//" V
Semicolon j

Space # Rockslittered the;r°ad. #"

I-em dash MI two different types~graniteand syenite I
-;:;r
l-en dash -# only 1O,,12
years old. ..1-
N

(em and en are printer's terms for the size of a space;an en is half the width of an em. The I-em dashis
representedby two hyphensin typewritten copyand the en dashby one hyphen.)

Italic .ita£ (in margin) SpiriferiDa

E~
(in text)

Paragraph 'lI ",Regionaluplift then ensued. <1f

No paragraph No <If IIAsh, however, continued to fall. No <1

Position:

Move right J Move left c

Move up n Move down U

Center horizontally Center vertically nLJ

Spell out Sp 0 The samplecontainedonlY~ SpO~

stet (let it stand) --- Use dashesin text and~in margin.
/\
Subscript[inferior] HAo 4
Superscript[superior] V
Fe\;;! tl
Transpose J) Use loop in text~;a-n d)in margin.

268 Commonly used proofreader's marks

~
J[
~.
v:
 CL ~~h~~
c-
1 I [is A geochemical survey to evaluate the mineral potential of
Ithe Flat Tops Wilderness included samples from streams
which drain the Hack Lake Wilderness StudyArea (Mallory
tII,. .and others, 196~ The analysesof these samplesrevealed
no anomalous concentrations of any elements that might
indicate outcropping mineralized rocks. HID is prevalant in 12\
t -teams.

MINERAL AND ENERGY RESOURCES

if l fij study
No area;
mineralized
however, areas
ro-psum
were andidentified
anhydrite in may
the wilderness
be present

in the Eagle Valley Evaporite. In the vicinity of Eagle, about

1.,. 20 mi southeast of the ~tudy area, the Eagle Valley Evapo-

rite is about 9,000 ft thick and contains isolated pods and
,.-:- lenses of ro-psum and anh drite 500/1,000 ft thic~allo~1\ .L I j J ~
~ ~~d ethef, 1971). It may be present beneath a thick cover 0 N

as t ase a roximatel 3 000 ft beneath the area. he

Eagle Valley Evaporite thins northeast of Eagle and is not .111,.
exposed in the study area.
The Belden Formation, approximately 4,000 ft beneath
the wilderness study area, may contain beds of coaly shale.

~
) Bass and Northrop (1963"noted that coal in the Belden is
discontinuous near the wilderness study area:)

CJ.4 ..':1r14."4.. rI., ~.4~ 1~~I,. f~.,~.~hl 1I./JIn.,-.IIJZ,j

The wilderness study area lacks favorable host rocks I7/b" 11
Atlt. and structural traps ;~~- ~i!: !~~~-~~ The potential for
uranium is low because the wilderness study area lacks host

41 ~ 2 z. The
rocks

area
low
is
favorable
mineral
assigned
for uranium.
resource
a certainty
potential
level
in the
of B
wilderness
(fig. 3§)
study.
for all M.
#/ # commoditie*,ecause...{he distribution of occurrences in rocks
beneath the area cannot be observed and has not been well
defined near the wilderness study area.

c c-- -REFERENCESCITED
/""---~llory, VW.W.,V 1971,YThe VGarciaV Yalley \lEvaporite, I:L:;;;ffi
/ northwest Y Colorado-a 1/regional 1/synthesis:YU.S. I.:L:/
/ Geological Survey Bulletin (XX)O-A,37 p., 3 pl.
iooJNadeau, J.G., 1977, Mineral investigation of the Melone
I 00 jLake Wilderness Study Area, Cayer County, Colorado:
-I U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report MLA 00-00, AP. #

Table l.tfConversion factors for SI metric and U.s. customaryunits

c~ ~ measurement-fEefttifttted-

N.W."andNorthrop,S.A., 1963,Geologyof the Field Springsquadrangle

;,.. ~. U~~nity, northwestern
Colorado:U.S.GeologicalSurveyBulletin OOOO-A, 74 p.
..J

Sample galley proof 269

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