Boundary Editorial

Structural editing is sometimes called developmental editing as it focuses on the overall organization, logic, and coherence of a manuscript rather than sentence-level grammar, style or mechanics. It is particularly valuable at the early stages of the writing process. It identifies gaps in reasoning and evidence, flags conceptual inconsistencies, clarifies chapter or section purposes, reorders sections and chapters, and advises on the framing and reframing of arguments or narratives.

Structural editing helps ensure that your research questions are clearly framed, your evidence strongly supports your claims, and your conclusions follow convincingly from your analysis. The end result is a stronger, more focused, more readable, and more persuasive manuscript.

Please note that edits are usually delivered as comments, outlines, and revision suggestions, rather than direct rewrites.

For more information on structural editing, please see: Standards for Structural Editing (Editors Canada, Professional Editorial Standards)t

Copy editing normally occurs once the main bulk of the writing has been completed. It corrects for spelling, punctuation, grammar and usage errors, and focuses on correctness, clarity, and consistency. It also ensures that the text and any visuals are accurate, that citation and reference styles are consistent, and that your material is complete. It attends to language and detail while preserving the author's voice and intellectual intent.

Copy editing is less about the big-picture and more about fine-tuning the text so that it is clean, professional and publication-ready. More specifically, copy editing involves checking for:

• Correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation

• Clarity and readability at the sentence and paragraph level

• Consistency in terminology, capitalization, and usage

• Compliance with style-guides (Chicago, APA, MLA, house styles)

• Consistent formatting for citations and references

• Correctness in figures, tables, and maps.

Professional copy editing improves the readability of the work in order to meet the expectations of editors, reviewers, and readers.

Please note that edits are made directly in the manuscript, with track changes and explanatory comments.

For more information on copy editing, please see: Standards for Copy Editing (Editor’s Canada, Professional Editorial Standards).

Proofreading occurs in the final stages of the editing process and is distinct from the copy edit. The service is for manuscripts that are complete and structurally sound but need a final polish before printing or publication.

To ensure the final copy is as close to perfect as possible, proofreading:

• Checks for spelling, punctuation, and typographical errors

• Highlights grammar and syntax issues

• Looks for consistency in capitalization, hyphenation, and formatting

• Cross-checks headings, captions, tables, and figures

• Verifies references, citations, and numbering (as appropriate)

• Adheres to style guides (e.g., Chicago, APA, MLA)

Again, proofreading is the final stage of the editorial process. It does not involve rewriting, reorganizing, or making any substantive changes to content. Instead, the goal is to make sure that your work is clean, professional, and ready for publication.

For more information on proofreading, please see: Standards for Proofreading (Editors Canada, Professional Editorial Standards).

An index is an organized, searchable guide to the topics, names, concepts, and places discussed in a document. Indexers are tasked with creating clear and consistent search headings to which they add cross-references (see, see also).

Professional back-of-the-book indexes are not derived from simple keyword searches or automatically generated lists. Rather, such indexes are created by humans who read the manuscript, identify important concepts, and organize them in a way that reflects how human readers think and search for information.

At Boundary Editorial, we use Cindex for our indexing software. We do not use AI as it misses entries, fails to provide an appropriate index structure and hallucinates content. For more on why you should choose a human for your indexing projects, please see: “LLM-Generated Book Indexes: Can They Replace Professionally Created Indexes?”

Boundary Editorial makes maps, we can help you make your own maps, and we can edit the maps that you’ve already made.

As mapmakers, we use QGIS and ESRI products (ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Pro) to make both reference maps and maps for data visualization. We also have experience with web mapping (Google API, Leaflet, and Mapbox).

As map editors, we ensure that your maps are in keeping with cartographic conventions by checking that the map content is up-to-date, place names are spelled correctly, labels are consistent, and that cartographic best practices are followed for the positioning and names of countries, cities, and bodies of water. We also make sure that your map uses correct colours, that the scale bar is in the correct units, and that the legend is correct. Finally, we ensure that the map title and content mirrors your written text, and that it is placed properly in your document.

For projects where maps play an analytical role, we advise on appropriate projections and spatial frameworks, evaluate how your maps support (or undermine) your argument, and identify the assumptions embedded in your choice of map design.

For more information on maps and map design, please see: 33 Map Elements to Include in Cartographic Design (GIS Geography) as well as Chapter 9 of Essentials of Geographic Information Systems: Cartographic Principles.

Rigorous research is the foundation of strong scholarship. Boundary Editorial provides academic research support for scholars, editors, and publishers who need reliable, well-documented, and analytically informed research tailored to their projects.

Our work supports research at every stage and is grounded in disciplinary standards, archival literacy, and careful source evaluation.

We offer focused, high-level research assistance, including:

• Literature reviews and bibliographic research

• Source discovery (primary and secondary sources, archival materials, datasets)

• Fact-checking and verification

• Historical, legal, and geopolitical research

• Background research for maps, indexes, and editorial projects

• Citation checking and source validation

All research is fully documented and delivered in a format suitable for academic writing and publishing. Research can be delivered as annotated bibliographies, research memos or briefs, chronologies and background dossiers, and source lists aligned with specific chapters or arguments.