4.1 Proofreading vs. Literary Editing & Why Spelling Matters
Key Takeaways
Proofreading checks the transcript against the audio and the standards; literary editing rewrites the speaker's words for style, which a verbatim transcript forbids.
The Guide to Judiciary Policy requires grammatical errors, changes of thought, contractions, misstatements and poorly constructed sentences to be transcribed as spoken.
Merriam-Webster is the dictionary listed in the CET blueprint's references and is the usual authority for spelling, compounds and hyphenation.
Spell-checkers cannot catch correctly spelled wrong words such as counsel/council, principal/principle or elicit/illicit.
Blueprint knowledge area 20100, Editing and Grammar Standards, starts with two topics: "the difference between Proofreading Versus Literary Editing" (20101) and "how spelling is important in a transcript" (20102). They set the boundaries for everything else in the grammar domain.
Proofreading vs. literary editing
| Proofreading (required) | Literary editing (forbidden in a verbatim transcript) | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Make the transcript match the audio and the formatting and grammar standards | Make the text read better |
| Changes | Fix typos, wrong words, misheard words, speaker IDs, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, format | Rewrite sentences, fix the speaker's grammar, remove repetition, reorder ideas, substitute words |
| Authority | The recording, the style standards, the dictionary | The editor's taste |
| Result | An accurate record of what was said | A different text from what was said |
The Guide to Judiciary Policy (§ 520.40.10(b)(1)) draws the line: "The transcript must provide an accurate record of words spoken in the course of proceedings. All grammatical errors, changes of thought, contractions, misstatements, and poorly constructed sentences must be transcribed as spoken."
What proofreading may change
- Punctuation, because speech has none; the transcriber supplies it according to standard usage.
- Capitalization and spelling, using standard forms.
- Number style, following the transcript's number rules (Section 4.3).
- Paragraphing within long answers and colloquy (Chapter 9).
- Format: margins, indents, headers, parentheticals.
What proofreading may never change
- The words spoken, their order or their grammar. "Me and him was there" stays "Me and him was there."
- A misstatement. If counsel says "Exhibit 4" but means Exhibit 5, the transcript says "Exhibit 4" (with "(sic)" if needed; Section 5.1).
- A change of thought. "I went to -- we drove to the store" keeps both parts.
Filler and false starts
Removing "uh," "um," stutters and false starts is not literary editing. It is the standard federal practice. The Guide says these "are not normally included in transcripts" but "must be transcribed whenever their exclusion could change a statement's meaning" (Chapter 11).
A three-pass proofreading method
- Audio proof. Listen to the whole recording while reading the draft. Correct every word, speaker change and missed passage. This is the only pass that catches mishearings.
- Read-through. Read the transcript without audio for sense, punctuation, capitalization, spelling and number style. Reading aloud slowly helps catch repeated or dropped words.
- Format pass. Check the title page, headers, examination lines, BY lines, parentheticals, exhibit notations, index page numbers and certificate against the standard.
On the CET practical, where time is short, do at least a targeted audio proof of every flagged spot and a fast read-through.
Why spelling matters
A transcript is read, searched and quoted. A misspelling can:
- make a search fail. An attorney searching the electronic transcript for "Kowalczyk" never finds "Kowalski";
- change the meaning. "The defendant's principal" (a person or an amount of money) is not "the defendant's principle" (a belief);
- hurt credibility. A transcript full of misspellings invites doubt about the words too.
Merriam-Webster is the dictionary listed among the CET blueprint's references. Use it for standard spelling, compound words ("courtroom," "cross-examination," "firsthand") and preferred variants. Use Black's Law Dictionary for legal terms and a medical dictionary for medical terms.
Homophones spell-checkers miss
| Word | Meaning | Sound-alike | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| counsel | attorney; advice | council | governing body |
| principal | main; a person in charge; loan amount | principle | rule or belief |
| elicit | draw out (testimony) | illicit | unlawful |
| cite | refer to authority | site / sight | location / vision |
| eminent (domain) | prominent | imminent | about to happen |
| waive / waiver | give up a right | wave / waver | hand motion / hesitate |
| precedent | earlier decision | president | presiding officer |
| marshal | officer; to gather | martial | military |
| affect | to influence (verb) | effect | result (noun); to bring about (verb) |
| discreet | careful, tactful | discrete | separate |
| breach | break (of contract) | breech | rear part (of a gun); breech birth |
| lien | legal claim on property | lean | incline; thin |
| prosecute | bring charges | persecute | harass |
| censor | suppress | censure | formal reprimand |
| incite | provoke | insight | understanding |
Decide by meaning and grammar, never by sound. AAERT's Scalini answer key shows the opposite trap: the witness says "martial background" where "marital" was probably meant, and the key keeps the word she actually said.
Proper names
Proper names cause most spelling errors in real transcripts. Check them against the case information sheet, the log notes, the appearances, the exhibits and reliable outside sources (Chapter 13). If a name cannot be verified, spell it phonetically and mark it "(phonetic)" (Chapter 12).
A proofreading checklist
| Pass | Look for |
|---|---|
| Audio proof | dropped or added words; can/can't and did/didn't; numbers; names; speaker changes; missing objections or rulings; words marked (indiscernible) that you can now resolve |
| Read-through | homophones; subject-verb agreement errors you introduced (not the speaker's); comma splices; question marks; quotation marks closed; consistent number and capitalization style |
| Format | title page items; BY line after every colloquy interruption; examination lines centered; headers on testimony pages; exhibit parentheticals; page numbers in the index; certificate signed and dated |
A worked example
Draft line: A. I never seen the principle on the loan, their was no statement sent.
- never seen is the witness's grammar, so it stays.
- principle should be principal: a spelling error by the transcriber, so it changes.
- their should be there: a transcriber's spelling error, so it changes.
- The comma splice after loan is a punctuation error, so it changes to a period.
Corrected: A. I never seen the principal on the loan. There was no statement sent.
Each change fixes the transcriber's work. None changes the witness's words.
A witness testifies, "Me and him was at the bar till closing." What should the transcript read?
He and I were at the bar till closing.
Me and him was at the bar till closing.
Me and him were at the bar until closing.
He and I was at the bar till closing.
Which change is a legitimate proofreading correction rather than literary editing?
Rewriting a witness's long run-on answer as three tidy sentences with new words
Replacing a witness's "ain't" with "isn't"
Deleting a sentence the attorney later said he regretted
Changing "the city counsel voted" to "the city council voted" after confirming the speaker meant the governing body
Which dictionary is listed among the references in AAERT's CET blueprint?
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
Webster's New World College Dictionary
American Heritage Dictionary
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.