The first draft is black and white. Editing gives the story color

—Emma Hill

Every organization wants to stand ahead in this competitive world and are trying to put in their best possible efforts to bring in new innovation for faster and efficient output. Editing is an art and an editor is an artist, a truth that every editor believes in. 

Automation with greater efficacy and quick turnaround is the need of the hour. And therefore, Hurix developed an AI developmental tool for its editors: HUED, to deliver efficient and high quality editorial service.

HUED stands for HUrix EDitor. HUED is a custom-designed AI tool primarily developed to ease pre-editing and copy editing processes and to enable a copy editor to focus more on the language front. It is a platform that automates the tasks for varied requirements.

HUED tool is customizable to the requirement put forth by the editorial team. Any additional needs of an editor can be automated with this tool. The two main Editorial modules of HUED tool include:

• Pre-editing
• Copy editing

Pre-Editing Tools

Pre-editing is the first step in the copy editing process. The raw manuscript will have unwanted spaces and breaks. Many authors submit references in a non-standard format which needs to be set as per the in-house publisher style, with regard to punctuation and placement of different elements. The following are the processes involved in pre-editing:

• Clean-up process: Unwanted Tabs/Enter marks/links, spaces, etc., are removed.
• Document structuring: Insertion and checking of Digital Object Identifier, addition of running heads, styling the article title and author names, and setting the heading levels, paragraphs, figure caption, and table caption.
• Reference structuring: The HUED platform covers more than 500 reference patterns and automatically structures the references based on these patterns.
• Online verification: References are cross-checked in PubMed Platform, and PubMed references are inserted in the document upon user’s confirmation.
• Finding duplicate references: HUED checks for identical references and throws a warning message if duplicate references are provided in the manuscript.
• Finding incomplete references: Incomplete references without volume numbers/page numbers, publisher information, etc., are highlighted in the manuscript.
• Sorting of references: References in the reference list are sorted in alphabetical order with track changes.
• Linking of reference citation: HUED automatically links in-text reference citations with the corresponding references in the reference list and throws an error if there is any missing citation.
• Linking for float elements citation: Citations of float elements (Tables, figures, notes, etc.) are automatically linked with the respective captions, and a warning message is displayed in case of missing citation.
• Author citation mismatch: For numbered references, the number of authors in the list and the authors mentioned in the citation for the corresponding citation is cross-checked and any mismatch is highlighted.

Copy Editing Tools

A variety of common style elements that can be automated are validated via the HUED tool. Here are some of the key tool elements developed and utilized effectively by the editors:

• US-UK spell checker: Lists the US/UK spelling available in the document. The spell checker is directed to the respective dictionary that has been followed for checking the spelling.
• Hyphenation consistency checker: Lists out hyphenated words with/without spaces and highlights if there are any inconsistencies. The corresponding dictionary is directed with the click of the dictionary option chosen.
• Numeral expansion: Based on the style, numerals could be changed to expanded form, and vice versa.
• Units checker: Lists out units for consistency checking.
• Abbreviation checker: Lists out acronyms in the manuscript and rechecks with the database.
• Floats abbreviation checker: Lists out the available acronyms in the captions of float elements.
• Author query palette: Lists the author query template to insert queries in the standard format. Any new standard queries can be added to the database for sending standardized queries.
• Checklist validation: Validates the checkpoints and generates the report based on specific instructions (client/style).
• Separate heading levels: Different heading levels are segregated and a report is generated to be cross-checked with the input
• In-house style specific inputs: Setting specific variables with relevant emphasis [Italics/Roman, lower case or upper case], retaining or deleting leading zeros, required mandatory elements in front matter and back matter etc., are validated and inserted upon the option chosen. Specific preferred glossary of terms can be modified based on the necessity.

With newer ideas and requirements arises every new technological development. In line with that, Hurix continuously strives to implement new and rapid innovation tools for its clients to render competent outcomes. 

At HurixDigital, we work with global publishers and institutions, providing content and technology solutions. We have recently helped one of the world’s leading international book publishers with customized automation in pre-editing and copyediting services with the aid of the Hued tool, delivering a high-quality output. 

Need to know more about our Products & Services? Drop us a note at marketing@hurix.com