there are several basic procedures that every copyeditor must follow: copyeditors need a system for marking changes to the author's text (marking), a process for querying the author and the editorial coordinator (querying), a method for keeping track of editorial decisions (recordkeeping), and procedures for incorporating the author's review of the copyediting into a final manuscript or electronic files (cleanup). these systems were originally developed in an era before that of the computer, but over time these procedures were adapted to exist in a digital on-screen space.