How to write and publish a scientific paper - Barbara Gastel, Robert A. Day 2022

Marking the corrections
The publishing process (How to deal with proofs)—and after publication
Publishing the paper

Like much else in scientific publishing, correction of proofs has been changing in the electronic era. No longer do authors receive galley proofs (long strips of type) to correct before page proofs are prepared. And rather than being sent proofs by mail, authors receive them electronically or access them through websites. Accordingly, procedures for indicating corrections have been evolving. Be sure to follow the current instructions that the journal provides with the proof.

The long-established procedure is to mark each error twice on a hard copy of a proof, once at the point where it occurs and once in the margin opposite where it occurs. The compositor uses the margin marks to find the errors, as a correction indicated only in the body of the text can easily go unnoticed. Standard proofreading marks, the most common of which are listed in Table 22.1, should be used to indicate corrections. Normally, if you are to print out a hard copy and indicate corrections on it, the publisher provides a list of such marks along with the proofs. Learning the main proofreading marks can facilitate reviewing the proofs of your papers and proofing typeset versions of other items you write.

Table 22.1. Frequently Used Proofreaders’ Marks

Other options have been developing as well. Some journals, for example, ask authors to use tools in Adobe Acrobat to indicate corrections on PDF versions of the proofs. Some have their own online proofreading systems for authors to use.

Whatever approach is used, return the proofs quickly, by the deadline given you by the journal. Failure to do so disrupts the publication schedule of the journal and can result in delay or even withdrawal of your paper. If you think that you might be unreachable when the proofs become available, inform the journal so the timetable can be revised or the proofs can be sent to a coauthor or other colleague to review.