Delay in authors’ final approval

After editing a scientific article, it is prepared for publication in a journal. The final approval should be declared before publication in order to ensure that the article is error-free.

This process is often time-consuming and requires reviewing the article several times. Revising and final editing of the article before publication is the duty of a proofreader. Proofreading refers to the “final review of an article for publication.” After checking the article for plagiarism, as well as technical and literature editing, the reviewer comments are applied in the article; then, the article is ready for publication.

However, errors may take place in the previous stages due to various reasons, including human errors. At this stage, proofreader carefully reads the article (or book) and correct the remaining problems.

A professional proofreader considers the following items:

• Reading the article precisely and comparing it with the edited versions
• Checking the grammar, literature, typography, and punctuation of the manuscript
• Controlling titles and headlines
• Checking the content, list of references, appendices, page numbers
• Ensuring the consistency of the style
• Removing the ambiguity in articles that confuses the readers
• Checking the captions of tables, figures, and charts and match them to the text of the article