What Is Editing? Types, Process, and Why It Matters

Editing is the process of reviewing a written document to correct errors, improve clarity, and strengthen the overall quality of the writing. A professional editor reviews your draft to fix grammar and punctuation errors, misspelled words, and inconsistencies, and makes revisions to improve the flow, structure, and readability of your document. Different types of editing are used at different stages of the writing process, from early structural work to a final proofread before publication or submission.

The Four Types of Editing Compared

Each type of editing serves a different purpose and happens at a different stage of the writing process. The table below summarizes how the four main types compare.

What Are the Main Types of Editing?

There are four main types of editing, each serving a different purpose depending on where a document is in the writing process. Understanding the differences helps you choose the right service for your document.

Structural Editing

Structural editing is a thorough, high-level review that occurs early in the writing process. It's sometimes called substantive editing or developmental editing, depending on the context. At this stage, the editor focuses on the organization, structure, argument, scope, audience, length, and style of the document. Structural editing addresses whether the content makes sense as a whole, not just whether individual sentences are correct. For a deep dive into substantive editing specifically, see our guide on what is substantive editing. At Editor World, structural editing falls under our rewriting services.

Copy Editing

Copy editing focuses on the overall quality of the writing at the sentence and paragraph level. A copy editor corrects grammar errors, misspelled words, punctuation issues, and typos, and makes revisions to improve the flow, clarity, and readability of the document. Copy editing also includes improvements to word choice and usage where needed. It's the most common type of editing used for finished or near-finished documents. Copy editing is included in Editor World's professional editing services.

Line Editing

Line editing works at the paragraph and sentence level to improve the flow, clarity, and readability of a document. It's more detailed than structural editing but broader than proofreading, focusing on how the writing reads rather than on catching final errors. A good line editor improves your prose without flattening your voice. Line editing is most valuable for documents where prose quality matters as much as correctness, including fiction, memoir, and narrative nonfiction.

Proofreading

Proofreading is the final step of editing. Its purpose is to catch any remaining errors after the document has been through earlier stages of editing. A proofreader looks for the small typos, misspellings, and punctuation mistakes that remain after other editing is complete. The goal is to ensure the document is error-free before it's published or submitted. For a detailed look at how proofreading and editing differ, see our guide on proofreading versus editing.

What Is the Writing and Editing Process?

Most writers do some degree of self-editing as they write, moving sentences, removing content, and revising as they go. But the more time you spend with a document, the harder it becomes to spot remaining errors or evaluate the writing objectively. This is where a professional editor adds significant value. For a closer look at what editors actually do, see our guide on what does an editor do.

When you submit your document to a professional editor, they review it both as a careful reader and with the trained critical eye developed through years of editing experience. They identify sections that don't flow, passages that may confuse readers, grammar errors, misspellings, and inconsistencies you may have missed. For example, if a document refers to an author as both "Fisher" and "Fischer," a professional editor will catch and flag the inconsistency.

When you receive your edited document, you can review all revisions using Microsoft Word's Track Changes markup. This shows you exactly where content was added or removed, and includes any comments your editor has left. If you make further revisions based on the feedback, it's a good idea to have the document edited or proofread one more time before submitting or publishing.

Why Is Editing Important?

All written work benefits from editing, whether it's a dissertation, a novel, a business report, or a product description. Editing ensures your writing is presented as professionally as possible and that your ideas come across clearly to your intended audience.

It's nearly impossible to catch every error in your own writing. When you're the one who wrote the document, you already know what it says and what you meant to say, which makes it easy to overlook mistakes. A professional editor reads the document fresh and catches what you've missed.

Editing also makes your writing more accessible to its readers. This means not only improving the flow, but also adjusting language and style to suit the audience. A fiction novel can use contractions and informal phrasing, while a dissertation requires formal academic language throughout. A professional editor ensures your writing matches the expectations of its intended audience.

How Do I Know Which Type of Editing My Document Needs?

The right editing type depends on where your document is in the writing process and what kind of help it needs.

• Choose structural editing if your document has organizational issues, weak argument structure, sections that feel out of order, or content that hasn't been through significant revision.
• Choose copy editing if your document is structurally sound but you know it has grammar errors, inconsistencies, or sentences that need clarity work.
• Choose line editing if your document is structurally sound and grammatically correct but the prose feels flat, inconsistent, or doesn't sing the way you want it to.
• Choose proofreading if your document has already been edited and you need a final error check before publication or submission.
• Choose a combination if your document is going to publication. Most professionally published books go through structural editing, then copy editing, then proofreading as separate stages. Most journal article submissions go through copy editing followed by proofreading.

Frequently Asked Questions

Professional Editing Services at Editor World

Editor World has been offering professional editing and proofreading services since 2010. Editor World is BBB A+ accredited with 5.0/5 stars on Google Reviews and 5.0/5 on Facebook Reviews. More than 100 million words have been edited for over 8,000 clients in 65+ countries. Every editor is a native English speaker from the United States, the United Kingdom, or Canada, with verified credentials and an advanced degree in their field. Every document is reviewed by a real person, never by AI.

Editor World offers copy editing and proofreading services, academic editing, dissertation editing, thesis proofreading, and rewriting services. You can choose your own editor from the Editor World roster, or request a free sample edit of up to 300 words before committing to a full edit. Use the instant price calculator to get an exact quote in seconds.

This article was reviewed by the Editor World editorial team. Editor World, founded in 2010 by Patti Fisher, PhD, provides professional editing and proofreading services for students, academics, authors, and businesses worldwide.