Editorial Notes: Pass-Along Notes to Ease Publication

OK, my blog Gathering Sources: 7 Tips for Citing Research Sources, Avoiding Plagiarism, and Easing Publication covered off on some key ways that writers, researchers, and editors can avoid troubles with citations and sources. Citing sources and keeping good source notes not only help writers avoid plagiarism; both habits can also ease publication. Another way in which editors can ease publication is to anticipate questions that will crop up further along in the publication process. (For example, someone doing a structural and stylistic edit can pass along notes to those who will copyedit the ms. and those who will fact check.) Editorial notes to pass along don’t have to be long. They do save time (by helping to avoid duplicated efforts) and they are a mark of professional consideration. They can be tucked into a style sheet or appear in a general cover note—whatever seems appropriate. Here are some examples:

• note discrepancies—e.g., Ed. Note: There are two very different population figures given in sources. Most sources consulted give X; Y is a more recent estimate from this source…. We have chosen Y because of the source authority.
• anticipate possible confusions— e.g., Ed. Note: About dates, the War of 1812 extended 1812 to 1815, the Treaty of Ghent was signed in Dec. 1814, but the surveys on which some of the boundaries were to be based weren’t completed until 1822…
• style choices—e.g., Ed. Note: the citation style is based on MLA style (7^th edition); however, access dates are clarified as for websites or online databases, and URLs are given.
• note intentional inconsistencies—e.g., Ed. Note: Specific First Nations people identified in this article are described as of Stoney Point. In contrast, the INAC (federal department Indian and Northern Affairs Canada) refers to the “Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation.” Note Stoney vs Stony and the combining of two First Nations. In this ms., no one term can be used in every reference to people: the terms Stoney Point, Stoney Pointers, Kettle and Stony Point First Nation… are used specifically based on the particular timeframe and other considerations. See for reference…
• give the big picture—e.g., Ed. Note: This anthology contains short stories in English from around the world. Each author’s original choices in spelling and grammar have been maintained; e.g., no permission requests were made to change American spelling to Canadian Oxford Dictionary spelling for consistency within the ms. However, the introduction, bibliographic notes, and other non-selection text in the ms. should adhere to the style sheet attached.
• keep the door open—e.g., Ed. Note: This decision was applied in Chapters 1, 2, and 3. Here’s the thinking behind it…  However, if this does not sit well with other decisions made in your publications, let’s discuss and rethink…