Editing & editor

The verb "edit" mean to prepare a document for publication by correcting and  revising it. The word "editor" has different senses, such as a computer editor. In this article it is a person responsible for the editorial aspects of publication: the person who select submitted papers, invite authors and determines the final content of a text.

Editors play an important role in science and scholarship as well as in mass media and broader cultural environments. Scientific journals and conferences are, for example edited. Such an editing is a kind of value-added process. Editors are often gatekeepers in their respective fields.

One of the key issues for editors is to develop criteria and standards concerning form and content of documents. The literature about editing is an important source for information about normative criteria for quality as well as discussions of different views on what makes publications of high quality. (On the general level does this imply epistemological discussions). 

Lock (1992) has suggested a science of journals and their editing (journal, journalogy).

There are associations for editors, for example, "Nordisk föreningen för vetenskaplig publisering/Nordic Association for Scholarly Editing (NORED)" (Founded May 1993); and "EASE: European Association of Science Editors" (Founded May 1982);
 

Editorial processes, principles and problems are mostly treated in the literature about primary information systems. One specific concept, "peer-review" is a much debated and researched concept.

Literature:

Balaban, M. (ed.). (1978). Scientific Information Transfer: The Editor's Role. Proceedings of the First International Conference of Scientific Editors, April 24-29, 1977, Jerusalem. Dordrecht: D. Riedel Publ. Co. Main categories: "Editors and the Impact of New Techniques: Mechanization and Organization"; "Science, Society and the Editor"; "Creators and Gatekeepers - Authors, Editors, Referees"; "Refereeing and Judgment"; "Standards and Style"; "Economics and Organization of Scientific Publishing"; "International, National and Special Problems"; "Social Sciences"; "Agricultural and Development Publications"; "Editor-Secondary Services Interface".
 

Bush, D. W. and Campbell, C. P. (1995). How to edit technical documents. Phoenix, AZ. Oryx.

Council of Biological Editors (1990). Ethics and Policy in Scientific Publications. Bethesda, Maryland: Council of Biological Editors, Inc.
 

Eisenberg, A. (1992). Guide to technical editing. Discussion, dictionary and exercises. New York, Oxford University Press.
 

Lock, S. (1992). Journalology: evolution of medical journals and some current problems. Journal of internal medicine, 232, 199-205.
 

O'Connor, M. (1978). Editing scientific books and journals. London, Pitman Medical.

Sharpe, L. T. and Gunther, I. (1994). Editing fact and fiction: a concise guide to book editing. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Weller, A. C. (2001). Editorial Peer Review: Its Strengths and Weaknesses. Medford, NJ: Information Today.  (ASIS&T Monograph Series).

Wikipedia. The free encyclopedia. (2005). Editor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editor

Wikipedia. The free encyclopedia. (2005). Editor (software). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editor_(software)

See also:  Author; Gatekeeper;  Journal (journalogy); Scholarly edition

Birger Hjørland

Last edited: 17-05-2006

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Appendix:

Periodicals about editing

Bianji Xuebao / Acta Editologica. Sponsor: Zhongguo Kexue Jishu Qikan Bianji Xuehui; (China Editology Society of Science Periodicals); Beijing, China: Science Press, 1989- . (On editing journals in science and technology).
 

Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing. Chicago, IL, United States: University of Chicago Press, 1971- . (irreg. latest edition 1990).
 

Documentary Editing. Indianapolis,IN, United States: Association for Documentary Editing c/o Indiana Historical Society, 1979-. (On editing within humanities and history).
 

Editing History. Sponsor: Conference of Historical Journals. Kirksville, MO, United States: Sixteenth Century Publishers, 1985-.
 

Editio; Internationales Jahrbuch für Editionswissenschaft. Sponsor: Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Germanistische Edition; Tübingen, Germany: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1987- . (Focus on literature and philosophy).
 

Editor's Digest. San Marino, CA, United States: Quadriga Publishing, 1989- . (For small publishers about editing in liyerature, the humanities and professional activity).
 

Editors' Forum. Kansas City, MO: Editors' Forum Publishing Co., 1980- . (About writing, editing, proof reading, layout and design).
 

The Editorial Eye; focusing on publications standards and practices. Alexandria, VA, United States: Editorial Experts, Inc. (EEI), 1978- . (About editorial activities, proof reading, document management, language and software for publishing).
 

European science editing. Farnham, 1986-. European Association of Science Editors. http://www.ease.org.uk/

I E E E Transactions on Professional Communication. (Formerly: I E E E Transactions on Engineering Writing and Speech). New York, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc., 1958- . http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?puNumber=47

Righting Words; the journal of language and editing. Knoxville, TN, United States: Righting Words Corp., 1987- .
 

Seybold Report on Publishing Systems. (Former titles: Seybold Report; Editing Technology). Media, PA, United States: Seybold Publications, 1971- . (About computer applications in editing and publishing).
 

Society for Technical Communication Anthology Series. Arlington, VA, United States: Society for Technical Communication, 1973- . (Irregular).
 

Writing and editing for science and technology. Great Falls, VA: Ariadne Press, 1992-.
 

Writing Concepts; the newsletter on writing & editing. Washington, DC, United States: Communication Concepts, Inc., 1990- . (Practical advice for writers of non-fiction and editors, somewhat related to science journalism).

Birger Hjørland

Last edited: 17-05-2006

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