Copy editing (also copy-editing and copyediting) is the editorial work that an editor does to make formatting changes and improvements to a manuscript;[1][2] copy (as a noun) refers to written or typewritten text for typesetting, printing, or publication. Copyediting is done prior to work of proofreaders, who handle documents before final publication.[1]
In the United States and Canada, an editor who does this is a copy editor;[1] an organization’s highest-ranking copy editor, or the supervising editor of a group of copy editors, may be known as the copy chief. In book publishing in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world that follow UK nomenclature, the term copy editor is used, but in newspaper and magazine publishing, the term is sub-editor, commonly shortened to sub (“to sub” is the verb form). The senior sub-editor on a title is referred to as the Chief Sub-Editor.
