You'll often hear the word "proofread", but its meaning has broadened over the years. Once upon a time, proofreading was a trade with its own hierarchy, and specialists worked for years doing nothing else. Real proofreaders spot miniature "mistakes" that most of us do not notice. Examples are an italic comma, a hyphen used instead of a dash, single quote marks on page 4 but double quote marks on page 24.
Although anybody with a good eye is capable of checking over most work,
high-stakes or expensive works should be proofread by a specialist, and
such people are now very few and far between.
We can check and track items that you, without
our specialist training, may easily overlook.
Good proofreaders are often editors, too,
and they'll pick up grammatical or structural inconsistencies.
In the following sample, there are eight changes picked up by our proofreader.
Original: How does the Change group propose to ensure [ ] interlinkages between various departments/sections in the newly-merged organisation will occur, and that this new style organisation does not simply enshrine what has occurred in the past - both culturally & operationally?
After proofreading: How does the
Change Group propose to ensure that interlinkages between various departments
and sections in the newly merged organisation will occur; and that this
new-style organisation does not simply enshrine what has occurred in the
past — both culturally and operationally?