3 Fundamental Editorial Standards for Any Serious Publication

3 Fundamental Editorial Standards for Any Serious Publication

Reader Comments (10)

  1. More rock solid information from Stefanie! This is just so “right on” for anyone and everyone. Keeping things relevant by adding your own specialty that brings that winning difference is so important. On top of that, the care you give to details when it comes to accuracy and formatting pays off in valued trust from others. Great work once again! Thanks for the reminder!

  2. Does the writing match the tone and voice of the organization putting it out? This is especially important to check when you’ve got folks from outside your org supplying content. A mismatched tone really sticks out like a sore thumb.

    Also, when I hurt my thumb in a doorjamb or stub it on something, I curl it protectively into my fist. I don’t stick it out to get smooshed again. That saying just doesn’t make sense to me.

    • It’s natural for readers of a publication to take a consistent tone, voice, and style for granted … but editors know how much work it takes to achieve that cohesiveness. 🙂

  3. Good reminder of some fundamentals to check for.

    Also wanted to point out a funny bit of comedic irony I spotted in the ending line of the 2nd F (right before the heading for the section 3. Formatting):

    “Everyone accidentally publishes mistakes every once and a while, but consistent accuracy brings visitors back to your site.”

    The correct phrase should say “every once in a while”. ;p

  4. Great post Stefanie!

    I especially love your point about fact-checking. Little errors can make a publication’s content look unprofessional. Another dimension to fact-checking is updating links to research or studies.

    For instance, a link to research published 8 years ago should be replaced by a link to new data, if available.

    Beyond that, I think a publication can implement editorial standards by creating a style guide. This is especially important if they manage a team of writers or publish guest posts. With the style guide, everybody can be on the same page.

    If creating a style guide is impossible, a publication can adopt a popular style guide that fits their voice.

  5. With AI like ChatGPT and other software gaining popularity, I can see how these tips are even more crucial to ensure content is of a high standard. Great article! I’ll keep these tips in mind as I build my content.

  6. The point about striking a balance between creativity and serving your audience is spot-on. As the article mentions, editorial standards provide a foundation that allows for creativity and even eccentricity, which can set your content apart from competitors while maintaining trust with your audience.

    Thank you for this thought-provoking piece on editorial standards, and I look forward to implementing these principles in my own content efforts.

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