How to prepare your manuscript before you send it for editing

A short checklist to get your document ready, so your editor spends time on your writing and not on avoidable formatting problems.

Sending a manuscript for editing is a good moment to pause and check your file. A few small steps before you send it can save time and money, and they help your editor focus on your writing. This guide covers the checks we find most useful.

Save the file in a format we can work with

Send a .docx file if you can. Word files carry tracked changes and comments in a form that most supervisors and journal editors can open. If your document is written in LaTeX or another system, export a Word or PDF copy as well, and tell us which file is the master version.

Clean up the layout

Use the heading styles in your word processor, such as Heading 1 and Heading 2, instead of bold text for section titles. This makes the structure visible and helps with the contents page later. Before you send the file, remove the clutter that makes editing harder:

• Remove double spaces, empty paragraphs and manual line breaks
• Accept or reject tracked changes from earlier drafts, so your editor sees one set of edits
• Keep each table and figure in the text, with a caption
• Delete comments you have already resolved

Do not spend hours on final layout if your journal has its own template. The layout will change anyway.

Check your references

Choose your referencing style before you finish the reference list. Harvard, APA, Chicago, MLA and Vancouver each have their own rules for names, dates, capital letters and punctuation. Check that every in-text citation has an entry in the list, and that every entry is cited somewhere in the text. Missing or mismatched references are among the most common problems we find.

Tell your editor what you need

A short covering note helps a great deal. Include your academic field, your deadline, whether you need British or American English, and the style guide you must follow. If your supervisor or journal has left comments, send those too. Mention any sections you are less sure about, such as a methods paragraph, so we can look at them with care.

Decide which kind of help you need

Proofreading checks spelling, punctuation and typing errors in a final version. Editing works on clarity, grammar, structure and flow. If your argument or structure is still changing, editing is usually the better choice, because a proofread now may be wasted after your next round of revisions.

Takeaways

• Send a Word file, and a PDF too if the layout matters
• Use heading styles and remove manual formatting
• Clear earlier tracked changes and resolved comments
• Check that every citation matches a reference, and the reverse
• Tell your editor your field, deadline, English variant and style guide

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