Who Needs a Proofreader?

Who needs a proofreader?
Simple as this question appears at first glance, before we can answer it we need to define exactly what we are talking about. What—exactly—do we mean by proofreading? What are the benefits of having work professionally proofread? And finally, who is likely to benefit from a proofreading service?

What is proofreading?

In brief, having your document(s) checked for style, consistency, spelling and grammar before committing them to be printed or submitted in their final electronic form. In the traditional print process using movable type, proofs would be pages ‘cast off’ to check that everything was correct before the final printing. Although the technology has moved on, the terminology has not. Generally, everyone who, in their work, produces documents is required to be their own typist, editor, compositor and proofreader.
Traditionally, page proofs would therefore have been seen by a number of professionals. The stage of proofreading was not intended to check against ‘house style’, to comment on content or individual style or provide any other function in the domain of the copy editor.

Doesn’t my word processing software do that for me?

No. For a variety of reasons. Even very well-known word processing software is not good with non-standard, technical or innovative language. Grammar checkers have, in effect, one ‘style guide’ built in which is unlikely to correspond with what is expected of you. Spell checkers cannot recognise the misuse of a homonym. Autocorrect functions lead to ill-advised corrections. Use with great care!

What are the benefits?

First and simplest, to have someone else look over your work. If you have a trusted friend who understands your work and who can act as your ‘first reader’ (by ‘trusted’ we mean sufficiently trusted to be honest with you without fearing upsetting you—we recommend this is not someone you are in an intimate relationship with!) you will find your writing is immediately strengthened. If you are lucky enough to have such a reader, how familiar are they with your subject area, with the way modern English is used, with the specific requirements of your audience?

What are you willing to risk to the limitations of your own knowledge?