Formatting refers to the presentation of the document. A client’s initial impressions of a document are created on a quick glance through the document. A poorly formatted document fails to make an impact on the client. Translations intended for publication should be particularly well formatted, since these will be viewed by a mass audience.

I.Structural formatting

II.Non-structural formatting 

I.Structural formatting

Structural formatting contributes to enhancing the appearance of a document and making a document visually appealing and easy to read. It includes

font-Times New Roman

font styles, sizes and attributes (boldface, italics, color)

line spacing

tabs and indentations

bullets and numbering

line and page numbers

page setup

heading styles, etc.

NOTE:

Always turn off track changes when making structural changes.

All journals have different requirements and thus guidelines vary.

II.Non-structural formatting

Non-structural formatting is mainly related to language and style (editorial bias). It includes

word/character count restriction

abbreviation usage

reference-related changes

style guide-related changes

supplying necessary information

statistical usage (P vs. p vs. P vs. p; SD vs. S.D.)

any other textual modification, etc.