Institute of Professional Editors Limited

Revised 19 September 2008

Who or what is IPEd?

The Institute of Professional Editors Limited (IPEd) exists to advance the profession of editing, by planning and implementing national initiatives-in particular, an accreditation scheme and promotion and communication campaigns-and other activities to support Australian societies of editors and their members, and editors in general.

IPEd also supports biennial national conferences of editors, which have been held in Brisbane (2003), Melbourne (2005) and Hobart (2007). The next IPEd conference will be in Adelaide in October 2009. The conferences are organised and hosted by the local society of editors.

IPEd was launched at the 2005 national conference as successor to the Council of Australian Societies of Editors (CASE), and was registered as an Australian Public Company on 22 January 2008 (ABN 74 129 335 217).

IPEd's membership consists of the societies of editors in Canberra, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia (which also represents Northern Territory editors), Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. IPEd's Council consists of one delegate from each society, and is served by a Secretary.

What is accreditation?

Accreditation is an assessment of your competence as an editor, as measured against the benchmark of Australian Standards for Editing Practice, published by CASE (now IPEd) in 2001.

The IPEd accreditation scheme provides opportunities for editors to demonstrate their professional competence and for employers to readily identify proficient editors.

The scheme has two levels: Accreditation and Advanced Accreditation.

What are the benefits of accreditation?

Accreditation will help you gain recognition for your skills as an editor. Editors who meet the specified criteria will be certified at each level by the IPEd Accreditation Board and thereby will earn the right to use the postnominals AE (for ‘Accredited Editor') or AAE (for ‘Advanced Accredited Editor').

An immediate benefit of accreditation will be the validation of your competence by your peers. Being able to call yourself an Accredited Editor means you have passed a peer review that certifies your competence in applying Australian Standards for Editing Practice.

Over time, prospective employers and clients will come to recognise these postnominals as an indication that they can expect a competent editing service from Accredited Editors.

The scheme is new-should I wait awhile before applying?

By applying for accreditation as an editor, you are supporting the drive for high standards of competence in the editing profession and demonstrating a commitment to your own professional development. The more editors who are accredited, the more successful we will be in raising the profile of professional editors.

If you have the recommended two to three years' full-time (or equivalent) editing experience, applying now for accreditation will maximise potential benefits to you and your profession.

How can I become accredited?

To achieve the first level-Accreditation-you need to pass the editing exam, which is to be held annually.

To achieve the second level-Advanced Accreditation-you must first achieve Accreditation and then submit a portfolio of work for assessment by the Accreditation Board. Advanced Accreditation is not yet available; keep an eye on your society's newsletter or the IPEd website for updates on the development of this level of accreditation.

When and where can I sit the 2008 accreditation exam?

Registrations have now closed for the 2008 exam.

I have special needs-what should I do?

If you have special needs, such as a disability that means you cannot sit for three hours at a time, the Accreditation Board will endeavour to accommodate your needs. You should contact your society's Accreditation Board delegate to find the best solution. Delegates' contact details are at http://www.iped-editors.org/content/accreditation-board.

What will the exam cost?

The exam fee is $490 for financial members of the state/territory societies of editors and $650 for non-members and non-financial members. (Note that GST is not applicable.)

What does the fee include?

The exam fee includes the cost for you to sit the exam, your paper to be marked and your certificate to be printed, and covers all related correspondence and postage charges. It does not include the cost of lodging an appeal against your result.

Since the accreditation scheme is run on a cost-recovery basis, exam fees must cover all costs related to exam venue hire, exam development and coordination, and all administration expenses related to the exam.

What if I register to sit the exam and then can't attend? Will I get a refund?

The $100 deposit is non-refundable; however, it may be held over if you wish for next year's exam.

A refund of the balance depends on when you notify the Exam Coordinator of your withdrawal.

If after paying the full fee you find you are unable to attend, you must give notice immediately (via email or in writing) to the Exam Coordinator, explaining the reason for withdrawal, and the balance will be refunded less a $50 administration fee.

If you notify the Exam Coordinator after 3 October and up to 48 hours in advance, you will be entitled to sit the exam once more within two years without payment of a further fee, providing you book for it by the prescribed dates.

If you provide less than 48 hours' notice of non-attendance, you will not be entitled to a refund, nor will you be able to sit the exam in the future without payment of a further (full) exam fee.

If illness or an emergency prevents you from sitting the exam, you can discuss terms for postponement with the Exam Coordinator. A refund may be provided at the discretion of the Accreditation Board.

I was not able to sit the exam in 2008. When will the next exam be held?

The next exam will be held sometime in 2009, and the fee will be the same as in 2008.

Will the exam be handwritten or on-screen?

The first exam (2008) will be handwritten. IPEd will be investigating options for on-screen and/or online delivery in the future.

What is covered in the exam?

The exam focuses on the copyediting sections of Australian Standards for Editing Practice and on essential skills such as project definition and the ability to identify defamation, permission and copyright issues.

The exam comprises:

• Copyediting questions (20%), including multiple-choice questions. This section tests your competence in copyediting for grammar, syntax, punctuation and spelling, as well as general editing practice. It includes some multiple-choice questions. The focus is on correcting errors rather than on rewriting the sentences.
• A short manuscript/passage for editing (40%). The passage isapproximately 1000-1200 words and will not require any specialist knowledge of the subject or genre. While facts do not have to be checked, you will need to flag any contradictory or dubious facts to the author or client. The focus is on copyediting, with minimal structural editing required, and you will be given explicit instructions on what you are expected to do. Instructions will include sufficient background information to ensure you are able to complete the task without undue guesswork. The passage requires you to grade headings and deal (editorially) with illustrations and display material, and is presented double-spaced and in a reasonably large font. (Scribble paper will be provided, and you may use pens, pencils and erasers or white-out when editing.)
• Short-answer questions (40%). This section poses 12 questions, of which you must choose four only, each worth 10 per cent of the total mark. Eight of the questions are general, testing skills and areas of publishing and editing knowledge that would be expected of editors working in any genre. The remaining four questions are more specialised-for example, related to mathematics, science, education, online or web-based content, literary fiction, biography, government or corporate publications, or any other genre of publishing-but the nature of the specialties offered will vary from exam to exam. All questions in the third part are of roughly equal difficulty. To minimise the amount of writing required, some questions are open-ended; for example, a question may ask you to ‘Explain what you would do. Write down your conversation, email or other communication strategy'.

The sample exam is now available on the IPEd website at http://www.iped-editors.org/content/sample-exam will help you decide whether you are ready to apply for accreditation. We would be interested in your comments on the sample exam, after trialling it: click here to tell us what you thought.

We recommend that you print out the exam and work through it under exam conditions. Allow yourself 15 minutes' reading time and three hours' writing time, and then check your answers against the Answer Guide, awarding yourself marks to see if you have passed.

Will I be able to pass the exam?

Since the exam is a test of competence (not excellence) in applying Australian Standards for Editing Practice, the Accreditation Board expects that a competent editor with two to three years' full-time experience, or equivalent, will pass the exam.

Can I bring references?

Yes, the exam is an open-book test, so you may bring along your preferred style guide and other references. But avoid bringing your entire reference library-consulting many sources could take up an undue amount of time and space during the exam. As a general rule of thumb, three references should be sufficient: perhaps your preferred style guide, favourite dictionary and an editing handbook or specialist guide. Note that your references must be published texts: you may not bring any loose printed, photocopied or handwritten notes into the exam. Pages of photocopied or handwritten material stuck into books are also not permitted, nor are electronic references such as dictionaries.

You may annotate your reference books and use post-it notes. Bound, typed notes are also acceptable as ‘hard-copy references'; however, if these represent style guides, they are to be handed in with the exam paper.

What writing materials should I bring?

You will be provided with a scribble pad but should bring your own writing materials including liquid paper/correction tape and calculators. Extra pens, pencils and calculators will be available.

The following writing materials are permissible: black, red and dark blue pens (ink, Artline, Frixion erasable), and B range pencils, e.g. 2B. HB and H range pencils are too faint and may not be picked up by the scanner.

How can I prepare for the exam?

In addition to testing yourself on the sample exam on the IPEd website, the best preparation is your day-to-day professional work as an editor.

Make sure you are familiar with Australian Standards for Editing Practice and the Style manual for authors, editors and printers (6th edn, John Wiley & Sons, 2002).

If you work solely or mostly on-screen, you should refresh your knowledge of proofreading marks (see page 521 of the Style manual for authors, editors and printers) and practise using them, especially if you are not used to marking-up by hand on paper. You will not be penalised for not using standard marks, but your intention must be clear to the assessor.

Recognising that most editors today work on-screen, the exam developers have made every effort to minimise the amount of handwriting required in the exam. You will be provided with a scribble pad for rough drafting.

If all or most of your work is in a single or highly specialised area, it may be helpful to spend some time refreshing your knowledge of general publishing processes and procedures. A list of some of the better known editing handbooks and publishing style guides is provided below.

How much time is allowed for the exam?

The exam runs for three hours and 20 minutes. You are given 15 minutes' reading time before the exam begins, during which no writing will be allowed, followed by 5 minutes for ensuring you have written your candidate reference number on all pages. The exam itself is three hours in duration. This should provide ample time to complete the exam and check your work.

How will the exam be run?

Once you have registered, you will be assigned a unique candidate reference number. You will receive this number along with a receipt for your payment.

Your receipt entitles you to sit the exam on the appointed day, at the selected venue. Make sure you bring your receipt with you to the exam. Your reference number will be used instead of your name on the answer paper to ensure that the assessors do not know the names of the candidates.

Venues and the time of the exam will be emailed to all candidates sixweeks before the exam. Each society's committee is responsible for finding a convenient and appropriate venue, and will provide details to its membership as confirmed.

You will also need to present photo identification, such as a driver's licence, to the invigilators at the exam venue. Any person who attempts to take the exam for another person or enlists the help of others will be permanently disbarred from accreditation.

Once your name has been checked off on the list of registered candidates, you will be permitted to enter the exam room where you will find an exam booklet, scribble paper and an answer sheet.

When the invigilator gives the signal, you may open the exam booklet and begin reading. When the invigilator signals again after 15 minutes, you may begin writing your candidate reference number on each page - 5 minutes is allocated for this. You will then be allowed three hours to complete the exam. You must not put any marks on the answer sheet after the invigilator has signalled the end of the exam.

Are there any other rules for the exam?

Anyone who arrives after the first 20 minutes will not be admitted.

Although this is an open-book exam, you may not borrow references or anything else from other candidates during the exam.

Mobile phones must be turned off (not to ‘silent') before you enter the exam room and placed under your chair. The invigilators will remind all candidates to turn off their phones before the exam begins.

Can I talk to the invigilators?

During the exam the invigilators will be able to answer questions about the exam format and procedure, but not about the content of the exam.

Can I leave the room?

If you need to go to the toilet during the exam, speak with an invigilator; insert your answer sheet and scribble paper in the exam booklet, and close it. The invigilator will note on it the time you left the room and returned, and will escort you to the toilet.

You may also speak with an invigilator if you need to leave the room for any other reason. The invigilator will follow a similar procedure. If you leave the room because of illness you may not return.

Once you have finished the exam you must hand the exam paper, the answer sheet and any scribble paper to the invigilator and leave the room; you may not return.

To minimise disruption to those who are finishing the exam, no one may leave during the last 15 minutes of the exam.

Can I take the exam paper with me when I've finished?

You may not remove from the room any part of the exam paper, answer sheet or scribble paper.

Who will mark the exam?

Exams are marked by the inaugural members of the Assessors Forum—senior editors recognised and respected by their societies for their lengthy career experience and comprehensive knowledge of editing. More editors will be asked to join the Assessors Forum as the accreditation scheme develops, drawn from the ranks of those who have achieved Advanced Accreditation.

Brief biographies of the inaugural assessors are on the IPEd website at http://www.iped-editors.org/content/assessors.

To ensure that marking is fair and consistent, the assessors will meet for two days to mark and moderate the exam papers in consultation with each other.

How is the exam be weighted?

Marking of the exam is weighted to reflect competence as identified in Australian Standards for Editing Practice and recognises that there may be more than one acceptable solution to an editorial problem and more than one way to mark up a manuscript.

Part 1 is worth 20 per cent. Part 2 is worth 40 per cent. Part 3 is worth 40 per cent.

What is the pass mark?

The exam is scored either ‘pass' or ‘fail'. The pass mark is 80 per cent of the total number of marks available in the exam, and 65 per cent of the marks available in each of Parts 1, 2 and 3.

When will I find out my result?

The Accreditation Board will notify you in writing of your result within six weeks of the exam.

If you pass you will receive a certificate stating your accredited status and, with your consent, have your name published in your society's newsletter and on the IPEd website. Your society may host a special ceremony to present the certificates to its members. A special award ceremony for 2008 graduates is planned for the 2009 IPEd conference in Adelaide.

What if I fail?

If you fail the exam, you will receive a brief report on your performance that will help you identify areas of weakness. You will be entitled to re-sit the exam once more at a reduced rate.

Can I request special consideration?

If you wish to request special consideration (for instance, because of illness or family problems), you must supply a statement of the reasons to the Exam Coordinator within seven days of the date of the exam. The Exam Coordinator will refer the matter to the Accreditation Board, whose decision on whether you qualify for special consideration will be final.

Can I lodge an appeal?

You may appeal the decision by writing to the Exam Secretariat within 21 days of receiving your results. A fee of two-thirds of the exam fee is payable in order to cover the cost of the appeal. If your appeal is upheld, the appeal fee will be refunded in full. Appeals are reviewed by the Accreditation Board in consultation with the Assessors Forum. The board's decision is final.

Suggested reading list

Butcher, J, Drake, C & Leach, M 2006, Butcher's copy-editing: the handbook for editors, copy-editors and proofreaders, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

The Chicago manual of style 2003, 15th edn, University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Council of Australian Societies of Editors (CASE) 2001, Australian Standards for Editing Practice, CASE, Canberra.

Flann, E & Hill, B 2004, The Australian editing handbook, 2nd edn, John Wiley & Sons, Milton, Queensland.

Mackenzie, J 2004, The editor's companion, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne. Peters, P 2007, The Cambridge guide to Australian English usage, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne.

Ritter, R 2002, Oxford guide to style, Oxford University Press, London. Snooks & Co. 2002, Style manual for authors, editors and printers, 6th edn, John Wiley & Sons, Milton, Queensland.