Reviewing the Galley
Proofreading is not re-editing the manuscript — your goal is to catch errors that were introduced during typesetting, not to suggest new wording. This page describes what to look for in each galley format and how to keep track of the corrections you find.
General Approach
Before diving into format-specific checks, read through the galley once in full without marking anything. This gives you a sense of the article's structure and makes it easier to spot inconsistencies on your focused second pass.
If the Layout Editor has made the copyedited manuscript available in Production Ready Files, skim it before reviewing the galley. This helps you distinguish typesetting errors from issues that were already present in the manuscript.
Checking PDF Galleys
Typography
| Item | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Fonts | Consistent font family and size throughout body text, headings, captions, and footnotes |
| Spacing | No double spaces, irregular line spacing, or unexpected blank lines |
| Hyphenation | Hyphenated words split correctly across lines; no incorrect breaks mid-word |
| Special characters | Accented letters, Greek symbols, mathematical operators, and em-dashes rendered correctly |
| Quotation marks | Curly (typographic) quotes used consistently; no stray straight quotes |
Formatting
- Headings: Check that Heading 1, 2, and 3 styles are applied consistently and match the journal's style guide.
- Bold and italic: Confirm emphasis is applied only where the manuscript intends it.
- Lists: Bulleted and numbered lists are indented and punctuated consistently.
- Footnotes/endnotes: Numbered correctly and placed on the correct page.
Tables
| Item | What to check |
|---|---|
| Column alignment | Numbers right-aligned; text left- or centre-aligned per journal style |
| Borders | Lines present where expected; no extra or missing borders |
| Header row | Bold or shaded header row clearly distinguishes column labels from data |
| Caption | Table number and caption appear above the table (per most style guides) |
| Continued tables | Multi-page tables labelled "continued" on subsequent pages |
Figures and Images
- Figure numbers and captions appear below the figure.
- Images are sharp and not pixelated or stretched.
- Captions match the figure described.
- Colour figures reproduce acceptably in greyscale if the journal publishes print copies.
Page Flow
- No widows (a single line at the top of a page) or orphans (a single line at the bottom).
- Section headings are not stranded at the bottom of a page without at least two lines of body text following them.
- Page numbers are present, correctly sequenced, and positioned consistently.
Metadata on the First Page
The first page (or header/footer) typically includes:
| Element | Check |
|---|---|
| Article title | Matches the accepted manuscript exactly |
| Author names | Correct spelling, correct order, affiliations accurate |
| DOI / journal name | Formatted correctly; DOI is not broken across a line |
| Volume, issue, year | Correct values supplied by the editor |
| Received / accepted dates | Present if required by journal style |
If any metadata is wrong, note it in your corrections list with the exact text that should appear. Do not assume the Layout Editor will notice — metadata errors can persist to the published record.
References
- Reference list style matches the journal's citation style (APA, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.).
- Author names, titles, volume/issue numbers, and page ranges are correct.
- DOIs in the reference list are live (where possible, copy-paste a sample into your browser to verify).
Checking HTML Galleys
Hyperlinks
- Click every hyperlink in the article body, including DOIs in the reference list.
- Confirm the link opens the correct resource and does not return a 404 or redirect to an unrelated page.
- Report broken links with the anchor text and expected URL.
Heading Hierarchy
HTML heading levels convey document structure to screen readers and search engines.
| Expected hierarchy | Issue to flag |
|---|---|
<h1> — article title | Missing or used for a sub-section |
<h2> — major sections | Skipped from <h1> directly to <h3> |
<h3> — sub-sections | <h3> used before any <h2> is established |
Use your browser's developer tools (F12 → Elements) or an accessibility checker to inspect heading structure quickly.
Responsive Display
Resize your browser window to simulate mobile and tablet screen sizes:
- Tables should scroll horizontally on narrow screens rather than overflowing out of view.
- Images should scale down proportionally.
- No text should overlap or be clipped.
In Chrome or Firefox, press F12, then click the Toggle Device Toolbar icon (Ctrl+Shift+M / Cmd+Shift+M) to simulate phone or tablet widths without needing a physical device.
Other HTML Checks
| Item | What to verify |
|---|---|
| Special characters | Mathematical symbols, Greek letters, and diacritics display correctly |
| Tables | Columns aligned; no merged cells misaligned; header row visually distinct |
| Figure alt text | Images have descriptive alt text (check via Inspect Element) |
| Footnotes | Back-links from footnote to the in-text superscript work |
Checking XML Galleys
XML galleys (e.g., JATS XML) are primarily machine-readable, but Proofreaders may still be asked to review them for accuracy.
| Area | What to check |
|---|---|
| Article metadata | Title, author names, affiliations, and abstract match the accepted manuscript |
| Section tagging | Body sections correctly tagged as <sec>, figures as <fig>, tables as <table-wrap> |
| Reference list | Each reference has a complete <mixed-citation> or <element-citation> entry |
| Special characters | Unicode characters or XML entities render as the intended glyph when the XML is opened in a browser |
If you are not familiar with XML, you can open the file in a browser — it will render the raw markup. Focus on whether text content (titles, author names, abstract) looks correct rather than on the XML tags themselves. Flag anything that looks out of place.
Using Annotation Tools
Adobe Acrobat Reader / Preview (PDF)
- Open the PDF in your annotation-capable viewer.
- Use Highlight to mark the location of an error.
- Use Sticky Note (Comment) to describe the error and your suggested correction.
- Use Strikethrough for text that should be deleted.
- Save the annotated PDF — you will attach it to the OJS discussion thread.
Browser Annotation (HTML)
Tools such as Hypothesis allow you to annotate HTML pages in the browser. Alternatively, take labelled screenshots of problem areas and attach them to the discussion thread.
Preparing a Corrections List
As you review, compile corrections in a structured list. A clear list makes it much easier for the Layout Editor to locate and fix each issue quickly.
Recommended Format
For each error, record:
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Format | |
| Page / Location | Page 4, paragraph 2 |
| Element | Body text |
| Error | "recieve" (misspelling) |
| Suggested fix | Change to "receive" |
You can keep this list in a plain-text file, a word-processing document, or directly as a structured OJS discussion message. See Reporting Corrections for guidance on submitting it.
Further Reading
- Learning OJS – Production & Publication — How galleys are created and managed
- PKP Community Forum — Community Q&A for OJS users