Review a draft against its evidence
Editorial review works best when a comment identifies a problem the writer can act on. Use Citation to discuss the relationship between a passage, its evidence and the conclusion it asks the reader to accept.
- Audience
- Editors
- Role
- Research editor
- Project
- Editorial review
- Reading time
- 2 min read
Read the piece once for its purpose before editing individual sentences. Identify the central claims and the sections that carry the argument.
Agree on the scope of the review, such as structure, language or source verification. Different reviews require different checks.
Start with consequential claims
Identify numbers, causal statements and broad conclusions that carry the piece. Follow their citations back to the original sources.
Check whether the population, time period and conditions match the wording. A related source is not necessarily support for the exact claim.
Preserve necessary qualifications
Look for revisions that turn a possibility into a certainty or a limited result into a general rule. Keep qualifications that affect meaning.
Explain the issue in a comment and propose a narrower statement when the source supports one. Avoid replacing the writer’s judgment without discussion.
Make questions actionable
Anchor a comment to the passage and describe what needs resolving. Ask for a source, a definition or an explanation of the connection.
Distinguish a required correction from an editorial preference. That distinction helps the writer decide how to respond.
Compare proposed wording
Use a second phrasing to test whether the original sentence can be clearer. Compare meaning, emphasis and attribution before applying a change.
Check AI suggestions against the same standard. A fluent rewrite can still remove a limitation or introduce a new factual claim.
Review the handoff
Revisit unresolved comments and confirm which issues still need an answer. Do not treat a resolved discussion as proof that the underlying fact is correct.
Inspect the exported document and references before handoff, keeping the working draft available for follow up questions.