These are some of the jobs an editor may take on:
| Adaptations Adapting content (Usually includes substantive and structural editing). |
| Canadianization Editing American or British text to make it conform to Canadian spelling and usage. |
| Consultation for academic writers Preliminary or developmental discussion about an academic thesis or research project. |
| Copy editing Editing for grammar, spelling, punctuation and other mechanics of style. |
| Correspondence: government Writing letters on behalf of ministers and other government officials. |
| Cross-language editing/proofreading Comparative editing/proofreading of the same material in two or more languages for consistency and accuracy. May include Canadianization of English-language materials or Americanization of British or Canadian materials. |
| Developmental editing Developing or helping to develop a project from proposal and rough manuscript to final manuscript or final product, incorporating input from author(s) and others. May include scheduling, costing/budgeting, supervising design and coordinating production. |
| Desktop publishing/document design Layout and typesetting. May include selecting graphics. |
| Electronic forms Creating forms to be filled out electronically using fields, drop-down menus and check-boxes. |
| Fact/reference checking Checking the accuracy of facts and/or quotes by referring to the author’s original sources or other sources. |
| Gender and bias editing Editing to avoid bias in matters of gender and ethnicity. May be done during copy and stylistic editing, or may be a separate function. |
| Grant proposal writing Consulting on or helping to prepare applications for grant funding. |
| Indexing Producing an alphabetical list of names and subjects that appear in a work, including the page references. |
| Manuscript evaluation Assessing manuscripts, including book-length fiction and non-fiction works, for publication. Includes evaluating for content, structure and style, and estimating the possible market potential of the work. |
| Mock-up (rough paste-up) Producing a mock-up from proofs and marking the proofs for changes; inserting the page numbers in the table of contents and cross-references if necessary. May include copy fitting and/or marking colour breaks. |
| Online editing Receiving manuscripts in electronic form and editing on-screen, using tracking software if required. See also specific types of editing, and Website/page evaluation, editing and writing. |
| Picture research Locating suitable visuals, e.g., photographs, reproductions and illustrations. May include negotiating reprint permissions, copyright agreements and royalties. |
| Plain language editing Simplifying language and style and eliminating jargon in order to make text easier to understand. Similar to Stylistic editing in intent, but often involves more rewriting/reworking. May include changing or unifying the reading level. |
| Proceedings Recording and transcribing proceedings of conferences and similar events. |
| Production/pre-press/print coordination Coordinating single- or multi-media projects. May include sourcing, costing, scheduling, and supervising design, photography/visuals, pre-press, print, bindery and distribution. |
| Project management Managing a project from inception to final manuscript or final product, incorporating the work of writers, designers, desktop publishers, and other specialists. May include budgeting, scheduling, hiring, supervising design, estimating print costs and coordinating production. |
| Proofreading Checking edited proofs for errors and omissions. May include incorporating or checking incorporation of author’s alterations and cross-checking table of contents to page numbers, indices or appendices. |
| Research Gathering information to support new or existing bodies of work. |
| Rewriting Creating a new manuscript or parts of a manuscript based on existing text. Generally involves additional research and writing new material. |
| Stylistic editing Clarifying meaning, eliminating jargon and improving the flow of language and ideas. May include checking or correcting the reading level, creating or recasting tables and/or figures, and negotiating changes with the author. |
| Substantive and structural editing Clarifying and/or reorganizing a manuscript for content and structure. May include some rewriting, with author’s agreement. |
| Technical editing Editing technical texts to ensure that terms are used appropriately and that the language is readable and accurately conveys the author’s meaning. May include editing scientific materials, and editing to a research journal style. |
| Template design Designing a skeleton or master layout to provide consistency for a suite of documents. |
| Transcription/preparing texts Transcribing and editing taped interviews. May be similar to Proceedings. |
| Translation Rendering a manuscript in another language. |
| Website/page evaluation, editing and writing Evaluating and/or editing new or existing Web pages or sites for coherence, content, language and usage, length and links. May also include writing new material. |
| Website/page design Designing and/or creating new sites or pages for the Internet. May include work on site architecture, content, hypertext links, electronic forms and templates, etc. |
| Writing Creating a new work based on research done by the editor/writer. May include editing. |