Always Read and Follow Authors' Instructions

Before you edit a paper, always, ALWAYS read the author’s instructions. Sometimes the comments will be very general like “thanks for editing,” but other times the author will leave specific instructions like “Please cut my paper down to 1000 words,” or "Can you tell me if my arguments support my thesis?" 

Some editors find that it helps to copy/paste the author’s instructions into the top of the document to refer to while editing. It's also great to specifically address what they wrote in their note in your closing comments when you can. Don't forget to double-check for a supplemental document too. Sometimes users will submit a note to the editor in a separate Word file. 

It’s a headache for everyone involved if you return an edited document that ignores the author’s instructions -- they'll contact us... we'll contact you... lots of emails will be sent to many parties... the whole nine yards -- so be sure to address a client's requests the first time to avoid the rigmarole.