Warranting+Evidence


 * Chapter 2: Warranting Evidence in the Editing Process**

2.1 Introduction 2.2 Toulmin’s Logic 2.3 Manuscript Editing and Style Guides 2.4 MSPTC Editing Bookshelf

**2.1 INTRODUCTION**

Warranting evidence is vital in maintaining credibility as an editor. The changes made to a document are only as good as the evidence provided to support them. Warranting evidence also ensures that work holds up to the high standards that many professional settings require. This section will further illuminate the individual elements of warranted evidence, including what constitutes a logical claim for change and the necessary tools needed to make them.

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**2.2 TOULMIN'S LOGIC**

Toulmin’s model for making a logical argument translates nicely to making a claim for editing in a document. The model represented below is taken from the Stephen Toulmin's //The Uses of Argument//:



The **claim** is the author’s statement and also the nucleus of Toulmin’s model. The **data** are those facts offered to **support** our claim. The **warranting** statement connects the data to the claim. The **qualification** expands upon the claim. For example, to what extent is the author confident about the claim?

To understand the concept better, consider the following example:


 * **Before Editing** || **After Editing** ||
 * In PTC 601, Prof. Copolla stresses the importance of moving from writer-//centred// prose to reader-//centred// prose. || In PTC 601, Prof. Copolla stresses the importance of moving from writer-//centered// prose to reader-//centered// prose. ||

In the above sentence, the editor suggests that “centred” should be changed to “centered.” However, spell check might not indicate a spelling error, so further confirmation is necessary. The editor should support his or her claim with warranted evidence gained from a reliable reference source:

The **claim**: “centred” should be changed to “centered.”

The **data**: According to the //Oxford American Dictionary//, “centred” is a British spelling of the American “centered.”

The **warrant**: “Centred” should be changed to “centered” according to the //Oxford American Dictionary//, which states that “centred” is a British spelling of the word.

The **qualification**: Because the intended audience is American, “centred” should be changed to “centered.” According to the //Oxford American Dictionary//, “centred” is a British common spelling of the word.

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**2.3 MANUSCRIPT EDITING AND STYLE GUIDES**

The manuscript editing process is where many of the edits on a physical text is done. Also called copyediting, Carolyn D. Rude in //Technical Editing// delineates the following standards for effective copyediting or manuscript editing:
 * Correctness
 * Consistency
 * Accuracy
 * Completeness (107)

Editors can satisfy these standards by, according to //The Chicago Manual of Style//, demanding that editors pay “attention to every word in a manuscript” (2.48). In addition to a close awareness to the details of a text, the manuscript editor should maintain a “thorough” knowledge of the style being adhered to and, most importantly, make edits based upon “quick, logical, and defensible decisions” (2.48).

The “defensible decisions” that //Chicago// refers to can be made predominantly through consultation of reliable reference tools or style guides. These tools “establish conventions accepted in various disciplines or organizations” and also keep the copyeditor from guessing or “imposing [their] own personal preferences” (Rude 131).

Style manuals often include topics on spelling, number use, capitalization, citation, and other standards for language and visual presentation (Rude 131). Comprehensive style manuals—for example, //The Chicago Manual//—address broad topics that “might apply in any publishing situation” (132). Whereas, selective style manuals, like the following, are required for working in “specific contexts”: guides for international audiences; specific disciplines like biology, psychology, or computer science; and in-house style manuals or those that are created specifically for a particular organization (133-4).

This MSPTC editing guide is a fine example of an in-house style manual because it serves, specifically, the students and faculty of the MSPTC program.

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**2.4 MSPTC EDITING BOOKSHELF**

Students of NJIT’s Professional and Technical Editing graduate program will find the following texts useful in the warranting evidence process (adapted from Prof. Norbert Elliot’s podcast lecture on “Warranting Evidence in the Editing Process"):


 * Comprehensive style manuals on editing
 * __The Chicago Manual of Style__. 15th edition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2004.
 * __The Oxford Guide to Style__. 2nd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
 * Guides on Grammar and Punctuation
 * __The Cambridge Guide to English Usage__. Pam Peters. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
 * __A Writer’s Reference__. Diana Hacker. 5th edition. Boston: Bedford, 2003.
 * Guides on Style
 * __Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style__. Virginia Tufte. Cheshire, Connecticut: Graphics Press, 2006.
 * __The Elements of Style__. William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. 4th edition. Needham Heights, Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon, 2000.
 * Definition of Words
 * __Webster’s New World College Dictionary.__ 4th edition. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 2004.
 * Guide on citation
 * __MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing__. 3rd edition. New York: Modern Language Association, 2008.
 * Technical Editing and Writing Guides
 * __Handbook of Technical Writing__. Gerald J. Alred, et al. 8th edition. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2006.
 * __Technical Editing__. Carolyn D. Rude. 4th edition. New York: Pearson Education, 2006.

Additionally, Carolyn D. Rude’s __Technical Editing__ contains a listing of commonly used style manuals for specific disciplines on pages 133-134 of the edition mentioned above.

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**WORKS CITED**

Alred, Gerald J., Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu. //Handbook of Technical Writing//. 8th ed. New York: St. Martin's P, 2006.

//The Chicago Manual of Style//. 15th ed. Chicago: The UP of Chicago, 2007. The Chicago Manual of Style. 12 Apr. 2008 <[|http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/>.]

Elliot, Norbert. "Warranting Evidence in the Editing Process." NJIT. New Jersey. 29 Jan. 2008. 12 Apr. 2008 <[|http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/njit.edu.1449878816.01449878823.1449841019?i=1169555886>.]

Hacker, Diana. //A Writer's Reference//. 5th ed. Bedford: Boston, 2003.

Rude, Carolyn D. //Technical Editing//. 4th ed. New York: Pearson, 2006.

Toulmin, Stephen E. //An Introduction to Reasoning//. New York: Macmillan, 1979.

---. //The Uses of Argument//. New York: Cambridge UP, 2003.