Quality assurance of texts

Several processes have evolved over the years to ensure good text quality. Which of these continue to be relevant today? And what’s new in proofreading and editing texts?

Text by Markus Nickl

Inhaltsübersicht

Quality assurance of texts

You still hear the words “Could you just give it a quick once over?” in technical editing. Although it should be clear to everyone that you cannot be done with it so easily. Quality assurance in technical documentation means first and foremost that proofreading and editing are systematically integrated in the work process. A general mandatory standard by which editing is conducted is essential.

However, the process often fails right at the basics: Proofreading is not simply checking whether the automatic spell-check has done its work completely. Therefore it is important to differentiate between the individual tasks of quality control: Is this a proofreading phase in which comparatively simple superficial phenomena are checked, such as spelling, grammar, sentences of the text or terminology? Or does it deal with real editing that checks complex content, such as the correctness of the ...