Typesetting and proofreading

After your manuscript has been copyedited, it will be sent out for typesetting and proofreading. Typesetting is the process of changing your manuscript from a Word document into the formatted PDF/HTML/print file that it will appear as when published in the journal. This is also the stage when all of your images, figures, tables, etc. will be added in. There’s nothing for you to do at this stage – it’ll all be done by the publisher.

Once your article has been typeset, you’ll be able to proofread it. This is a final check of the article before it’s sent off to be published in an issue of the journal. At this stage, only very minor changes can be made. This could include correcting any typos that may have previously been missed, checking that there are no orphaned headers (headers appearing alone on the page before the section they’re related to), making sure that there are no words confusingly split between lines, etc. The most significant changes that can be made at this stage are moving tables and figures to better spots within the text.

Just like in the copyediting phase, if you find any major problems at this point in the process, you should highlight them to the journal editor rather than try to change them. The proofreading stage is not the time to alter the substance of your article.

Once your article is published, it’s time to start promoting it. Some of this work will be done by the publisher, but there are things you can do, too. To find out more, check out our Promoting your research guide.

Where to now?

• Back: Copyediting
• Next: Open Access
• Return to the ECR Hub homepage
• Ready to submit your article? Find the full list of Edinburgh University Press journals that you can submit to here