Microsoft Word—A Powerful Editorial Tool

Scribe's default word processing software is Microsoft Word, primarily because most clients deliver content to us as Word documents. Since our multipurpose publishing philosophy predisposes us to work within the parameters of the technology and tools already employed by our clients, our editorial process utilizes the versions of Microsoft Word used by our clients. On the one hand, that means we utilize Word's powerful editing features. On the other hand, it means we also develop and use tools that complement Word's capabilities.

Given our Well-Formed Document Workflow, we eliminate redundancies in the editorial process by using three primary features built into Word. First, we use its capability to style elements within a document. This feature enables us both to create well-formed documents and to make global changes using the styles that we have consistently imposed. Second, we reduce editorial time by using the find and replace function, particularly the wildcard feature, to identify and edit known errors that can consume a lot of editorial attention. Third, we utilize the track changes function to highlight our editorial path, to raise queries, as well as to work with the client and author in making necessary changes, and not making unwanted changes.