SO, YOUR report is getting rather unwieldy.
Dozens of colleagues have left comments. It seems to keep getting longer by the day. You’ve read it more times than your favourite novel. But it’s still not quite right.
This is where a report editor comes in.
Over the last 15 years, I’ve edited dozens of reports – for NGOs, consultancies, corporations, think tanks, institutions and professional associations – and have developed my own methods and processes for report editing.
Here are my thoughts on what you should expect from a report editor.
Why organisations need report editors
A report editor comes to your document with a fresh pair of critical (but constructive!) eyes. Finding someone to edit a report for you can solve some common issues:
- Reports are rarely written by professional writers: Most reports I’ve edited are written by people with professional backgrounds in science, engineering, IT, research or marketing. The content is always technically good, but is not always that easy to consume.
- Too many cooks: Most reports put out by large organisations have input from many people. This makes sense – you want to use your people’s expertise. But multiple different writing styles can make reading rather confusing.
- English as a second language: Many international organisations and businesses produce reports written by multilingual teams. The level of English (even before LLMs came on the scene) is often very impressive. But still, reports written by a non-native speaker should always be checked.
- Continual growth: The longest report I’ve ever edited was over 300 pages (I’ve worked on longer books). Reports sometimes keep expanding as organisations want to add more information and insights. A good report editor will identify where cutbacks should be made.
- Loss of objectivity: If a team has spent several months working on a big report, it can get hard to see the bigger picture. How does it all fit together? What’s the main point you want to convey? Where are you repeating yourself? If your head’s been in the document for too long, it can be difficult to edit it properly yourself.
10 things to expect from a report editor
An experienced report editor will do more than just check for spelling mistakes. They should make a meaningful improvement to the document.
Here are 10 things you should expect from a report editor.
1. Focus on the end-reader
When I edit reports, the goal is simple:
Produce a document that is ready for the intended audience to consume.
The focus on the audience is key here. Some reports are written for technical specialists. Others are for investors and donors. Policymakers. And sometimes a report is really a PR or marketing tool – intended for journalists or customers.
This is always at the front of my mind when I’m doing my first read-through, as well as any subsequent edits I make.
What does the intended audience actually need to know? And does the document, as it stands, give them that?
2. Bring some critical thinking
A report editor is not a proof reader. They should read your document with curiosity. And they should bring critical thinking skills to bear.
When I’m editing reports, my role is to do more than just check for typos. As I go through, I’ll be thinking:
- Does this make sense?
- Does this contradict what was said earlier?
- Is this statement backed up by evidence?
- Has the author justified this point?
3. Actively recommend improvements
Report editors come to a document with a fresh pair of eyes. And that can be so valuable, especially when you’ve been working on it for weeks. Because they’re not as invested in the content, they can often see gaps that the original author will have missed.
A report editor should:
- Notice what is missing – definitions, explanations, missing links
- Suggest changes to layout or structure (e.g. move a paragraph to a different location)
- Delete repetitions
- Cut any content that’s superfluous or tangential
- Shorten lengthy sentences
4. Have design awareness
One of the last stages for most reports is to send it to the designer – they’ll lay the document out. However, it’s still really useful for your report editor to think about the design and layout too.
Depending on what stage the document is at, I will:
- Check through images (Are they consistent in style? Size? Do they logically relate to the copy?)
- Review tables and graphics (Is it clear what’s shown? Are numbers on charts and graphs visible?)
- Assess titles (Are they too long or too short for the space available?)
5. Speed and timeliness
When organisations outsource report editing, it’s usually because they’re quite close to the publishing deadline.
You should expect a freelance report editor to be pretty fast. Obviously, timelines are dictated by the state of the report itself and its length. But for a report that’s reasonably well written, the editor should be able to turn it around in a day or two.
6. Focus on formatting
A good report editor will notice formatting issues as they read through and get things consistent.
- Is one chapter full of bullet points, whereas another uses hyphens?
- Did one of your writers use lots of headings, whereas another barely used any?
- Are there captions on every image?
- Are graphic titles above or below the image?
- Are you writing it Fig. 1; Figure 2.; FIG 3?
7. Able to write fresh content
As well as editing reports, I’m often asked to write executive summaries, ‘at a glance’ or key findings sections. To do so, I need to have read the report in full and in-depth.
As mentioned above, writing these sections ultimately requires thinking about your audience. These sections are the first (and sometimes, the only) part they will read. So they really need to convey the most important messages that that person should know.
8. Fact checking
A report editor should double check facts and claims throughout your report. It’s easy for writers to forget to add a source for a statistic – an editor should spot anything missing and either find the original fact themselves, or flag it to the writer.
9. Align it with your house style
If you have a house style, your report editor should make sure the report actually follows it. This includes things like:
- Numbering styles
- Naming conventions
- Referencing styles
- Footnote styles
- Title capitalisation
- Spellings of certain words / terms
10. Eagle eye for grammar and spelling
It goes without saying, but a report editor should, of course, spot spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Word processors and, to a degree, LLMs, can now do a lot of this. But your report editor should also be looking for other issues that might not get picked up:
- Changes in tense between chapters / sections
- Passive voice
- Inconsistencies in spelling styles (a mix of ‘organisation’ and ‘organization’ is a classic)
- Double spaces
- Indents
- And much more!
Get help editing your report
If you’ve been writing a report for your organisation and need a fresh pair of eyes to get it up to scratch, I can help.
I hold a social sciences master’s degree, so have a strong grounding in academic rigour. I’ve worked as a subeditor on national newspapers, so have an eye for detail. And I bring a commercial copywriter’s flair to your writing, helping improve overall readability.
Contact me today about editing your report.