Electronic marks
Help for writers
These changes can be marked electronically, on screen. There is no agreed standard yet but these are recognised, especially in academic and technical publications.
In-line mark |
Instruction |
[ab] |
Faulty abbreviation |
[ad] |
Misuse of adjective or adverb |
[agr] |
Error in agreement |
[appr] |
Inappropriate diction |
[awk] |
Awkward construction |
[bib] |
Error in bibliography form |
[B] |
Bold |
[br] |
Set in brackets |
[ca] |
Error in case form |
[cap] |
Use capital letter |
[cit] |
Missing source citation |
[clos] |
Close up |
[coh] |
Coherence lacking |
[con] |
Be more concise |
[coord] |
Coordination needed or faulty |
[cs] |
Comma splice |
[d] |
Error in diction |
[del] |
Delete |
[dev] |
Inadequate development |
[div] |
Incorrect word division |
[dm] |
Dangling modifier |
[emph] |
Emphasis lacking or faulty |
[exact] |
Inexact word |
[frag] |
Sentence fragment |
[fs] |
Fused sentence |
[gr] |
Error in grammar |
[hyph] |
Error in use of hyphen |
[in] |
Insert in line |
[inc] |
Incomplete construction |
[ind] |
Indent |
[ital] |
Italicize |
[lc] |
Use lowercase letter |
[log] |
Faulty logic |
[mixed] |
Mixed construction |
[mm] |
Misplaced modifier |
[mng] |
Meaning unclear |
[ms] |
Error in manuscript form |
[noP] |
Merge paragraphs |
[no,] |
Comma not needed |
[num] |
Error in use of numbers |
[P] |
New paragraph |
[Pcoh] |
Paragraph not coherent |
[Pdev] |
Paragraph not developed |
[Pun] |
Paragraph not unified |
[punc] |
Error in punctuation |
[pass] |
Ineffective passive voice |
[ref] |
Error in pronoun reference |
[repeat] |
Unnecessary repetition |
[rep] |
Replace in line |
[rev] |
Revise or proofread |
[rom] |
Set in Roman numerals |
[run-on] |
Run-on (fused) sentence |
[shift] |
Inconsistency |
[sp] |
Misspelled word |
[spo] |
Spell out |
[spec] |
Be more specific |
[sub] |
Subscript |
[subor] |
Subordination needed or faulty |
[sug] |
Suggestion |
[sup] |
Superscript |
[t] |
Error in verb tense |
[tseq] |
Error in tense sequence |
[tp] |
Transpose |
[trans] |
Transition needed |
[var] |
Vary sentence structure |
[vb] |
Error in verb form |
[w] |
Wordy |
[ww] |
Wrong word |
[//] |
Faulty parallelism |
[#] |
Insert space |
[X] |
Obvious error |
[()] |
Parentheses |
[?] |
Something missing |
[??] |
Meaning unclear |
Comments and marks should be enclosed by square brackets, in bold type.