An Analysis of PerfectIt’s Copyediting Software
Everyone wants to automate copyediting of their technical documents. This is understandable. Copyediting is a complex, somewhat mysterious function of document development, and not everyone has access to a professional copyeditor. There are software applications and document platforms that promise this automation. I analyzed one such application—PerfectIt—to determine if it was able to replace a human copyeditor. Here’s what I discovered.
Scope of Analysis: This analysis only addresses copyediting capabilities in the PerfectIt software. It does not address technical editing (i.e., substantive editing) capabilities, nor does it address layout editing (i.e., desktop publishing [DTP]) capabilities. This analysis was conducted in February 2023 and is confined to PerfectIt’s software version at that time.
Summary of Findings and Conclusion: PerfectIt supports particular copyediting elements, but it does not support the full scope of copyediting. Some of the more rote, objective copyediting tasks (both rule-based and style-based) appear to be supported by PerfectIt (e.g, spelling, punctuation, acronym management, and basic grammar) while other conceptually based, subjective copyediting tasks are not supported (e.g., the appropriateness, logical, and general readability of the text). Other copyediting tasks are only partially supported. PerfectIt appears to be a good tool to automate some of the simpler elements of copyediting, but it is not a replacement for full-scale, thorough copyediting. PerfectIt should be used as a tool to support manual copyediting efforts; it should not replace manual copyediting efforts.
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Findings and Conclusions by Copyediting Area
Copyediting Area No. 1:
Hierarchical Logic of Text at Section and Paragraph Levels
Definition:
The nested hierarchy of sections, subsections, and paragraphs throughout the document that properly structure subject matter within general-to-specific patterns
Finding:
PerfectIt appears to have no ability to edit the hierarchical logic of text at section and paragraph levels.
Conclusion:
No — PerfectIt does not support this copyediting area.
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Copyediting Area No. 2:
Linear Logic of Text at Section and Paragraph Levels
Definition:
The linear narrative of sections, subsections, and paragraphs throughout the document that properly sequences subject matter
Finding:
PerfectIt appears to have no ability to edit the linear logic of text at section and paragraph levels.
Conclusion:
No — PerfectIt does not support this copyediting area.
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Copyediting Area No. 3:
Linear Logic of Text at Sentence Level
Definition:
The linear narrative of sentences within a paragraph
Finding: PerfectIt appears to have no ability to edit the hierarchical logic of text at the sentence level.
Conclusion:
No — PerfectIt does not support this copyediting area.
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Copyediting Area No. 4:
Sentence Syntax
Definition:
The grammatically proper structure of a sentence and the summation of its elements, including sentence type, clauses and phrases, and parts of speech
Finding:
PerfectIt appears to have the ability to identify improper grammatical structure within sentences, but this ability needs further review, especially if it can be linked to an established style guide like the Chicago Manual of Style, which not only contains style guidelines but grammar guidelines.
Conclusion:
Partially — PerfectIt partially supports this copyediting area.
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Copyediting Area No. 5:
Sentence Clarity and Readability
Definition: The appropriate structure of a sentence to clearly communicate the subject matter being communicated within the sentence
Finding:
PerfectIt appears to have little ability to edit the clarity of a sentence except within the context of sentence syntax. Editing the structure of a sentence for clarity also involves subjective choices, including how long to make a sentence, how many independent clauses and dependent clauses to string together, and how many phrases to use, etcetera.
Conclusion:
Partially — PerfectIt partially supports this copyediting area.
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Copyediting Area No. 6:
Sentence Voice
Definition:
The appropriate use of active and passive voice
Finding:
PerfectIt appears to identify active and passive voice, but whether it can make the appropriate choices of when to use active and passive voice remains to be seen.
Conclusion:
Yes — PerfectIt supports this copyediting area.
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Copyediting Area No. 7:
Diction and Numbers
Definition:
The appropriate and preferred use of words, compound terms, abbreviations, dates, numbers, etcetera within the context of the subject matter, document type, intended audience, and the recognized style guides
Finding:
PerfectIt presented a fix that either converted all numbers in the document to either numerals or to words—there was no acknowledgement by the software that 0-9 alone should be presented as a word and that 10 and over should be presented as a numeral. The software also doesn't seem to recognize that these instances of 0-9 and 10 and over in the same sentence should convert every number to a numeral. The software does allow you to make individual fixes, but that creates the situation in which an editor is still needed to make a manual decision about which issue to fix and how to fix it, the only value being that the software brings to your attention a possible issue and provides a more automated way to fix it.
Conclusion:
Partially — PerfectIt partially supports this copyediting area.
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Copyediting Area No. 8:
Spelling
Definition:
The proper spelling of words
Finding:
Appears to correct misspellings even when there is a homonym (e.g., there, their, and they’re)
Conclusion:
Yes — PerfectIt supports this copyediting area.
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Copyediting Area No. 9:
Punctuation
Definition:
The proper punctuation of sentences
Finding:
PerfectIt appears to correct punctuation errors.
Conclusion:
Yes — PerfectIt supports this copyediting area.
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Copyediting Area No. 10:
Acronyms
Definition:
The appropriate placement of acronyms during the first appearance of its corresponding term and the appropriate consistent use of the acronym (sans its term) thereafter
Finding:
PerfectIt appears to be partially valuable when editing acronyms. In the sample document, the software found the first appearance of an acronym and prompted me to add the term before the acronym and then deleted subsequent instances of that same term throughout the document and replaced it with the acronym. What remains to be seen is whether it will recognize that a term needs to be accompanied by an acronym in the first place.
Conclusion:
Partially — PerfectIt partially supports this copyediting area.
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Copyediting Area No. 11:
Word and Letter Formatting
Definition: The appropriate capitalization, boldness, italics, font type, font size, and font spacing
Finding:
PerfectIt recognized and prompted me to fix the improperly formatted sentence case of a heading. What remains to be seen is whether the software will be able to determine which words and letters will need to be bolded and italicized; most likely the software will only be able to recognize particular terms that need to be bolded and italicized based on style guides linked to the software (the Chicago Manual of Style is one such style guide that can be linked). The software properly fixed the capitalization and punctuation of a bulleted list; it made the first word uppercase and placed a bullet at the end of a bulleted phrase that completed a sentence when paired with the introductory phrase before the bulleted list. However, there will likely be individual words whose formatting can only be identified manually. Font type, font size, and font spacing will most likely need to be fixed manually in particular instances.
Conclusion:
Partially — PerfectIt partially supports this copyediting area.
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Copyediting Area No. 12:
Spacing
Definition:
The appropriate spacing of words, including between words (kerning) and between sentences. Note: Margins, paragraph spacing, and line spacing are normally handled in DTP.
Finding:
PerfectIt removes all extraneous spaces throughout the document; although, this can be achieved easily by Word, so this feature is redundant.
Conclusion:
Yes — PerfectIt supports this copyediting area.
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Copyediting Area No. 13:
Acronym List
Definition:
The generation of a comprehensive list of all acronyms used within the document
Finding:
PerfectIt generated a List of Abbreviations, but it did not generate a complete list—a term was missing within the automatically generated acronym list for a particular acronym even though that term was present in the document.
Conclusion:
Partially — PerfectIt partially supports this copyediting area.
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Copyediting Area No. 14:
Table of Contents
Definition:
The generation of a table of contents
Finding:
PerfectIt appears to be able to update a table of contents; however, this feature is redundant if the document already has an established, consistently used style list upon which text throughout the document is formatted in. Word can automatically generate a table of contents based upon styles, so this feature is not necessarily valuable.
Conclusion:
Yes — PerfectIt supports this copyediting area.