List of proofreader's marks

This article is a list of standard proofreader's marks used to indicate and correct problems in a text. Marks come in two varieties, abbreviations and abstract symbols. These are usually handwritten on the paper containing the text. Symbols are interleaved in the text, while abbreviations may be placed in a margin with an arrow pointing to the problematic text. Note that different languages use different proofreading marks and sometimes publishers have their own in-house proofreading marks.[1]

Abbreviations

AbbreviationMeaningUse
spSpellingUsed to indicate misspelling
spSpell outUsed to indicate that an abbreviation should be spelled out, such as in its first use
stetLet it standIndicates that proofreading marks should be ignored and the copy unchanged
flFlush leftAlign text flush with left margin
frFlush rightAlign text flush with right margin
eq #Equalize spacing
lsLetterspaceAdjust letterspacing
italItalicsPut in italics
romRomanPut in Roman (non-italic) font
bfBoldfacePut in boldface
lcLower casePut text in lower case
capsCapitalizePut text in capital case
scSmall capsPut text in small caps
wfWrong fontPut text in correct font
wc/wwword choice/wrong wordIncorrect or awkward word choice
hr #Insert hair space

Symbols

Symbol NameImageMeaningExample of Use
Dele

Delete
Pilcrow (Unicode U+00B6)Begin new paragraph
Pilcrow (Unicode U+00B6)¶ noRemove paragraph break
Caret[lower-alpha 1] (Unicode U+2038, 2041, 2380)‸ ⁁ ⎀Insert
#Insert space
Close up (Unicode U+2050)Tie words together, eliminating a spaceI was reading the news⁐paper this morning.
] [Center text
]Move text right
[Move text left
Insert em dash
Insert en dash

See also

Notes

  1. The circumflex character ^ and latin letter v are sometimes shown but these are not correct.

References

  1. "Proof Correction Marks" (PDF). British Standards Institution. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
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