Make Your Voice Heard: How to Present Editorial Comments Verbally

Abstract

I learned a useful tip from some English language professors about making editorial comments and suggestions on written documents. In their presentation at a recent technology conference, these busy women claimed to make more comments in less time and receive more positive feedback from students by using “voice files”. It sounded almost too good to be true – so I decided to try it for making editorial comments on manuscripts I send back to authors for revisions. The process is quite simple. First, the file for commenting must be a PDF with document rights enabled; and you must have the latest Adobe Acrobat Reader (the free version is sufficient) open and running on your computer. In the Acrobat Comment and Mark-up Tool Bar, select the option to record audio comment. This will appear as a small megaphone on the tool bar. You might have to add this icon by either right-clicking on the tool bar and searching for the record audio comment option, or by customizing your tool bar with the Tools option in the Main Menu at the top of the screen. You will also need a small microphone to record your voice and you must have your sound turned on to hear your recordings. Once the record audio comment option is available to you, click on the megaphone with your cursor; this will transform your pointer to a small megaphone icon. Bring that icon down to the line on which you wish to comment and left click to start the process. A small Record Option dialogue box will open. This is where you start your recording by clicking on the red record button. Record your comment and then click on the black stop/play button. Clicking once will stop your recording, clicking the second time will play it back for you. Once you are satisfied with your comment, click OK and a Sound Files Properties box opens. You can just close that or you can change the color or shape of your icon. I normally use the default megaphone in a bright green color, which is very visible on the screen (see Figure 1). When the recording is complete and ready for the author, there will be a small megaphone indicating where the comments are located. I include instructions to authors that all they need to do is make sure the speaker is on then right-click on the megaphone and the file will play automatically. I have received great feedback from authors that they love this system and have no difficulty understanding my comments and suggestions. Overall, I have to say that I've become quite adept at this process and can make short, concise, substantive and editorial comments that are understandable and helpful to authors. Using Adobe voice files is not as complicated as using voice-recognition software and does not require “training” the computer in any way. The files remain relatively compact and easily transferable electronically. I also find that my editing is accomplished quickly because I don't try to correct everything and I'm less likely to re-write what an author has submitted. This process is more efficient in the first step of editing for me. So far, authors have had no problems with voice files, whereas, in the past, some have had difficulty with written comments using the Track Changes tool. This process works easily for me because the Scholar One Manuscript Central system I use creates a PDF of the entire manuscript during the submission process; however, if you use Word documents you can convert them to PDF and follow the same steps outlined above. Remember that the PDF files created within Manuscript Central must be saved to the hard drive in order to have the document rights enabled. Once the comments are completed and the commented file saved, you then have to send that commented file back to the author as an email attachment. To make sure I send the correct version back to the author, I rename the file by appending a standard VCF (voice-commented file) to the file name. While recording my comments, I try not to sound like my old 7th grade English teacher – the one who read Beowulf aloud in 4th period English class. Secretly, however, I wonder if memories of teachers past have something to do with the effectiveness of my pithy verbal comments. An author, hearing a disembodied voice admonish “rephrase to correct the dangling participle” might sit up straight, recall lessons learned long ago, and pay closer attention to the mechanics of writing a good sentence. Charon A. Pierson, PhD, RN, FAANP is the Editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the Editor of Nurse Author & Editor