This is just a reminder for those who volunteered to participate in my edited usage survey. I know I said the deadline was very flexible, but I’m at the point where I need to start moving things along. If you volunteered and haven’t returned your manuscript to me yet but would still like to participate, could you please return it to me by February 15th?

Also, if you haven’t volunteered yet but would like to, you can still do so (provided you get your results to me by the 15th). Just go to this page and fill out the form. I’ll send you a manuscript to edit, and then you can email it back to me when you’re done.

Thanks!

As you may know, I’m a grad student currently working on my master’s thesis. I’m examining usage changes made by copy editors and how they shape standard written English. I’ve been able to get my hands on about two dozen edited manuscripts, marked with Word’s Track Changes feature, but the editors are student interns here at my university, and I’d like to get a better sample.

Here’s where you, dear reader, come in. I’d like some volunteers to edit the original versions of these manuscripts and then send them back to me with their changes tracked. Edited for simplicity: For the purposes of this study, I’m mostly interested in grammar and usage, so it should be more of a copy edit than a content or substantive edit.

But to keep my results relevant, I’d like my volunteers to be professional editors. I would also like them to be native English speakers who edit for American audiences. If you fit the criteria and wouldn’t mind editing a 20–30-page article (for science!), please read the following informed consent information and send me an email through the contact form below. Edited to add: The important part is familiarity with editing for an American audience. If you’re from outside the US but have experience editing for a North American audience, feel free to participate.

Addendum: A couple of people have asked about deadlines, so I thought I’d better clarify. I’d like edited manuscripts returned by the end of this month if possible, but that’s not a firm deadline; I plan on defending next April, so it will probably be okay if they keep coming in over the next few months. If I need to close the survey, I will post an update here.

Informed Consent

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of editing on standard written English. The results will be analyzed in aggregate to determine the affect of editing on standard written English.

Procedure

After you submit your information through the contact form below, you will be emailed an unedited paper selected at random from my collection of manuscripts. Using Word’s Track Changes feature, please edit for usage and grammar but not for content. The survey will look at spelling and stylistic variation but not at simple spelling errors or punctuation changes. When you are through editing the paper, please return it to me via the email address from which you received the paper.

Benefits

The results of this study will contribute to our understanding of the selection and codification processes of standard written English.

Risks

There are no risks involved with this study.

Voluntary Participation

Participation in this study is completely voluntary. You may withdraw at any time.

Compensation

There is no financial compensation for participation in this study.

Confidentiality

No personal identifying information will be collected for this survey. Email addresses will be used only to distribute and collect manuscripts for the survey and to contact you in the event of technical problems. Email addresses will not be sold, given out, published, or used for any other purposes.

Contact for Questions

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact me through the regular contact form here. If you would like to be notified of the results when the survey is complete, please include a note to that effect when you return your edited manuscript.

Consent to Participate

By filling out the form below, you confirm that you have read the above information about this study and that you understand the purpose of this study.

*(denotes required field)

Name:

E-Mail Address: *

I understand the above and grant my consent. *

How long have you been editing? *

0-2 years 3-5 years 5-10 years 10+ years

Message:

CAPTCHA Code: *

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Sorry if you’ve already seen this on Twitter or Facebook, but you can get free shipping (up to $9.50 value) on all orders from the Arrant Pedantry store today and tomorrow. Use the code witchinghour during checkout. There’s no minimum order requirement, so the coupon is good whether you buy one shirt or a dozen shirts. Go check out the new designs and the cheaper standard-weight shirts (starting at $10.99).

My blog is currently in fourth place in Grammar.net’s Best Grammar Blog of 2011 contest. Please help me get into the top three by voting for Arrant Pedantry! Voting ends today. No registration required; you just have to complete a CAPTCHA. Go here to vote.

After much deliberation, I have two winners for the Kindle 3G / You Are What You Speak giveaway contest. There were a lot of good suggestions that would have made great posts, though I felt unqualified or underqualified to tackle some of those topics myself. I might try to get to some of the non-winning topics if I have time.

So without further ado, here are the winners: second prize, a copy of Robert Lane Greene’s You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws, and the Politics of Identity, goes to Bob Scopatz for his topic suggestion of neuter pronouns. First prize goes to Erin Brenner for her suggestion (via Twitter), “How about a post on prescriptivism/descriptivism as a continuum rather than two sides? Why does it have to be either/or?” StackExchange allowed her to choose one of the new Kindle models, so Erin opted for a not-even-released-yet Kindle Fire. I’ll try to have a post on each topic within the next week or so.

Thanks for all those who submitted an idea, and special thanks again to Stack Exchange English Language and Usage for sponsoring. If you haven’t already, please go check out their site, as well as their new Linguistics site.

Just a reminder that my blog is currently competing in Grammar.net’s Best Grammar Blog of 2011 contest. Arrant Pedantry is currently in third. If you like my blog, please go vote.

Also, the deadline for submissions for my own contest sponsored by Stack Exchange English Language and Usage is fast approaching. Submit an idea for a future post here on Arrant Pedantry, and you’ll be entered to win either a new Kindle 3G or a copy of Robert Lane Greene’s You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws, and the Politics of Identity. Post a comment on that post or send me a tweet @ArrantPedantry. The last day for entries is September 30th.

Topic Contest

I’m very pleased to announce the first-ever contest here at Arrant Pedantry, sponsored by the generous folks at Stack Exchange English Language and Usage. The first-prize winner will receive a new Kindle 3G.

A Word from Our Sponsor

Stack Exchange English Language and Usage is a collaborative, community-driven site focused on questions about grammar, etymology, usage, dialects, and other aspects of the English language. For example, you can ask about the pronunciation of the names of the letters of the alphabet, the appropriate use of the semicolon, or the factual basis for pirate speech (appropriate for yesterday’s Talk like a Pirate Day).

Stack Exchange English Language and Usage is a great resource for people looking for answers to those often obscure questions about language that we all have from time to time. Stack Exchange features an involved community of language experts, amateurs, and enthusiasts who are willing and able to tackle questions on a variety of topics. Please go check it out, and consider following StackEnglish on Twitter.

The Rules

And now on to business. To enter, submit a request for a future topic you’d like to see covered here on Arrant Pedantry. It can be a question about usage, etymology, how I can call myself an editor when I think a lot of the rules are bogus—whatever you want. (Keep it civil, of course). Post your request either in the comments below or on Twitter @ArrantPedantry. I’ll pick the two best suggestions and write a post on each of them. One lucky winner will receive the grand prize of a a new Kindle 3G; one slightly less lucky winner will receive a copy of Robert Lane Greene’s You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws, and the Politics of Identity (on which I’ll try to write a review sometime soon).

The deadline for entries is Friday, September 30th. Only contestants in the continental US, Canada, and Western Europe are eligible. Employees of StackExchange and relatives of me are not eligible. Spread the word!

And while you’re at it, check out the limerick contest at Sentence First, also sponsored by Stack Exchange English Language and Usage.

Addendum: My blog is currently getting bombarded by spammers, so if your comment doesn’t go through for some reason, please let me know through the contact page or by direct message on Twitter.

Update: The contest is now closed to submissions. I’ll go over all of them and announce the winners soon.

Best Grammar Blog of 2011

As you may have noticed, my blog has been preselected as a finalist for Grammar.net’s Best Grammar Blog of 2011 contest. I’m up against some excellent grammar and language blogs, so I’m honored to have been chosen. Voting for this contest starts on September 26th and runs through October 17th. If you enjoy my blog, please go and vote!

To celebrate International T-shirt Day (apparently that’s a real thing), Spreadshirt is offering free shipping today on all orders (up to $9.50 in value). Just head over to the Arrant Pedantry store and use the coupon code T-DAY2011 in the US or T-DAY2011CAD in Canada.

I know it’s been unforgivably long since my last post, so I promise to have something real up soon.

I’m working on a research project for a class this semester, and I need volunteers to take a short survey. It involves reading three short passages and answering a few questions. It should only take about 10 minutes. The results will not be published and no identifiable personal information will be collected. If anyone is interested, just follow this link. I would be much obliged.

Just a quick update to say that I’ve redone the design for my Better Living Through Syntax shirts. Now it actually looks like a proper X-bar structure instead of a hastily drawn tree-thingy. Check it out!

Keep in mind that the shirt colors there are just examples—you can choose your own. And, as always, if you have any feedback or requests, feel free to let me know.

Also, I promise that I’m working on a real, substantive post. It should be done any day now . . .