From: "Friend, Fred" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2013 08:24:50 +0000

Experience suggests that the value added to a peer-reviewed manuscript
by a copy-editor varies considerably. If the peer-reviewers have done
their job, any false facts or illogicality in the research arguments
should have been picked up. Precision of language and grammar are
important but an author may have as good a grasp of language and
grammar as a copy-editor. I am not suggesting that copy-editors do not
play any role in the quality of the published article, but quality
lies to a greater extent in the quality of the research reported in
the article than it does in copy-editing. The question we have to face
is whether the variable value added by a publisher through
copy-editing or any other service is worth the substantial sum a
publisher charges for such services. How much is using the services of
a publisher worth?

Fred Friend
Honorary Director Scholarly Communication UCL

________________________________________

From: Mark Goodwin <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 2013 11:16:21 -0400

Ah, so *not* the "final" version, but the penultimate version (post
peer review, at acceptance, pre-copyedit).

That is, the rough manuscript version that has not yet passed a
rigorous copyedit for facts, logical structure, and precision of
language, not to mention grammar, etc., irrespective of whatever
typesetting or formatting may be applied for public consumption.

(apologies for the intentional smug tone...)

Ever and always, a Copy Editor at heart... -Mark

M. L. Goodwin, ELS ([log in to unmask])
Editorial Manager, Publications
The American Physiological Society
Bethesda, MD  20814
http://www.The-APS.org

Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism


-----Original Message-----

From: Iris Brest <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 5 Aug 2013 13:11:31 -0700

Sandy -- They will be the version of accepted articles post peer review.

9. What version of their article should Faculty submit to the repository?

The policy requires that the author submit the "final version", which
safely means the manuscript copy post-peer review but before a
publisher typesets and finalizes it.

Iris Brest/Stanford University


-----Original Message-----

From: Sandy Thatcher <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2013 22:59:52 -0500

> All research publications
> covered by the policy will continue to be subjected to rigorous peer
> review; they will still appear in the most prestigious journals across
> all fields; and they will continue to meet UC's standards of high
> quality.

Just wondering if the "standards of high quality" include high quality
in copyediting? Will UC be paying to have the accepted articles
copyedited before they are posted in eScholarship? If not, how can
this promise of "high quality" be made? Does UC think copyediting not
important? Do all UC faculty write pristine prose that is free of
errors?

Sandy Thatcher