To maintain a professional level and quality of work, don’t forget the editing phase of OER publishing. Because it is difficult to objectively edit one’s own work, it is best to either hire a professional copy editor or to seek assistance with editing from trusted peers.
It is also important for anyone doing this work to be familiar with the nuances of copyediting in the OER realm.
Basic Guidelines
Writing and editing an OER will likely occur in an online platform, such as Pressbooks. Therefore, it’s important that editors, authors, and other participating parties agree to and understand how changes in the textbook and platform will be made.
Using an annotation tool such as hypothes.is can be helpful when the copy editor wants to highlight and comment on problems that should not or cannot be changed without instruction.
Starting with a standard style guide is important. As the project progresses, be sure to record styling exceptions for the OER on a style sheet. You might find that an openly-licensed textbook has special requirements such as ensuring that all images are properly licensed and correctly attributed.
A web-based OER will likely include live links (in the body and possibly in the reference list), and multimedia. Decide at the outset of your project what the copy editor is responsible for checking. For instance, do they need to check if all links are working?
A web-based textbook, online platform, and other technical elements introduce additional challenges. Clarify at the beginning of an editing project:
- Whether the copy editor should report technical problems in the textbook;
- To whom the copy editor should report technical problems relating to accessing or using the online platform or textbook; and
- Who is responsible for fixing technical problems (the author, the project manager, or the managing editor)
Clarify, at the beginning of an editing project, who will receive the copy editor’s editing notes and how issues will be addressed. Determine if the copy editor will contact the author directly or through an intermediary, such as a project manager.
Try Your Hand at Editing an OER
Do you appreciate high-quality Open Educational Resources? Do you have a keen eye for editing and proofreading? Are you a subject specialist that knows citation styles like the back of your hand?
Consider becoming a volunteer copy editor, proofreader, or licensing reviewer with Milne Open Textbooks.
Open SUNY Textbooks is an IITG-supported grant project that publishes unique and impactful textbooks by SUNY faculty authors. This collection of 30+ textbooks is completely open and free for students and libraries around the world–but this is a small operation and welcomes your help.
Copy editing involves careful reading for spelling, grammar and punctuation, polishing up writing for clarity, and ensuring the correct style guide is followed. Proofreading involves reading through the text right before it’s published to catch any last minute snafus. Basic training is provided.
This content is adapted from the following work:
“Get Involved: OER Editing” by Open SUNY Textbooks, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
“Guideline for Copy Editors” by Lauri Aesoph, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted
Unless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.