February 3rd, 2024 – The Differences Between Scopistry, Proofreading, And Transcription

There are many different jobs involved in the industry of transcript production. These jobs share a myriad of similarities and differences. With all these professions the result is a complete transcript, therefore there will be overlap between the jobs involved. Three jobs directly involved in this process are scopistry, proofreading, and transcription. These three unique jobs have their individual functions and are used in other industries outside of transcript production.  

Before we dive in, let’s discuss what it means to be a proofreader or a transcriptionist. I’ve already covered what it means to be a scopist in my post, “Is Being A Scopist A Good Fit For Me?.” So let’s skip that bit for now. Instead, let’s move on to proofreading. Proofreaders are the final step in transcript production. Their job is to check for any mistakes -grammar, punctuation, spelling, formatting, etc- that may have slipped through the cracks. Reedsyblog does a great job of explaining the job of a proofreader in this article. I recommend checking that out if you’re interested in learning more.

A transcriptionist has a different job description. They are professional typists who take what they hear from an audio file and convert that into a readable text document. This is a skill that can be transferred to many different industries such as legal, medical, or business.

For the sake of brevity and relevance, I am choosing to focus today’s discussion on the contrast involved in producing transcripts rather than across industries. I’ve narrowed down some of the main similarities and differences between these three professions into four main categories: equipment, location, transcript content, and skill expectations.

Equipment

Between scopistry, transcription, and proofreading, I have found that the hardware tends to be similar, but the software is very different. All three of these occupations require good headphones, a comfortable workstation, sometimes a foot pedal, a stable internet connection, and a reliable laptop, PC, or tablet. However, the software required for each profession varies. As a scopist or proofreader, you would use the major scoping software like Case CATalyst or Eclipse. As a transcriptionist, you’d use software more geared toward the audio like For The Record (FTR).

Location

Depending on your preferences, you may favor one of these jobs over the other based on the location. In the age of the internet, these professions can take clients from all over the world. They can also do so from the comfort of their own home. Scopists and proofreaders can do their job from home almost 100% of the time. Transcriptionists can also do their work from home, but some companies will hire contract transcriptionists to work from home and in-house transcriptionists to work in the office. This can be for a variety of reasons, but many relate to client privacy concerns. In most cases, scopistry, proofreading, and transcription all offer great work-from-home options.

Transcript Content

These last two categories are where I believe you can see the contrast between scopistry, proofreading, and transcription the most. In the transcript process, a court reporter -who has recorded the proceedings live- will give their transcript to a scopist, who then gives it to a proofreader.  A transcriptionist will receive previously recorded audio files and must translate the audio to text. This means that a scopist and a proofreader will receive already typed files. However, a transcriptionist must create the typed file, which is one of the greatest differences. Once the transcript has been typed, the similarities emerge. All professionals must listen to the audio files, ensure proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation, as well as research any unknown terms or spellings.

Skill Expectations

Due to the difference in receiving a typed file versus an audio file, the skill expectations of these professions will also show similarities and differences.

A transcriptionist must have a much faster typing speed. This is to keep up with the audio and get through the same number of pages as a proofreader or scopist would. Although all three professions must have a basic understanding of different accents, this skill is more important for a transcriptionist. A transcriptionist doesn’t have the typed file from the court reporter to reference.

A scopist must be able to read steno, which essentially equates to learning an entirely different language. Court reporters may give incomplete transcripts which require a scopist to listen to the audio, read the steno, and translate it. Proofreaders and transcriptionists are not required to learn this skill to do their jobs effectively.

Once typed files have been produced, all three professions must be able to format the transcript correctly (think paragraphing and speaker labels) and follow client preferences regarding things like stutters or leaving in incorrect grammar and vocabulary from the speakers.

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Scopistry, proofreading, and transcription are all interesting, valuable, and difficult in their own right. However similar they may be there are some incredibly stark differences between them as well. I hope you enjoyed reading this week’s post. If you did, make sure to leave a comment down below and check back for a new post on the Next Step Scopist blog!

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