Giving Feedback on Word-Processed Text

Hello again. I’m writing to you early because a storm is expected soon and we might lose electricity.

Today, because of the possible storm, the university where I teach was closed. At home I provided feedback on some manuscripts, using the Track Changes feature of Microsoft Word.

Doing so reminded me that my AuthorAID colleague Julie Walker had recently asked me for resources on using Track Changes. (She wanted to share this information.) The resources I listed were

• Microsoft Word’s instructions for using Track Changes
• a handout from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• a handout, from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, on using Track Changes in Word 2007

We thought I should also mention these resources in this blog.

Conveniently, Track Changes lets others see what revisions you made. It also lets you write comments. One comment I wrote today was “Perhaps this sentence could be deleted.” Another was “I found this introduction very well done.”

On part of one manuscript, I wanted to write a long comment. However, Track Changes is best suited for fairly short comments.

To have lots of space for the comment, I used an earlier approach: I inserted the comment into the manuscript text, but I wrote it in boldface and placed it in square brackets. Doing so helped show that the comment wasn’t part of the manuscript.

Either with Track Changes or by other means, providing electronic feedback on word-processed text is convenient. It’s a good way to give feedback if authors are far away.  If you review work by AuthorAID colleagues, I hope you'll at least consider this approach.

Wishing everyone a good week—

Barbara