Line editing follows developmental editing in a documentation project. Line editors revise the material at the sentence level. They are responsible for ensuring that the text reads easily, flows, and maintains structure. When editing content intended for translation, or for an audience that includes readers with different native languages, line editors must enforce readability standards. Overcomplicated sentence structure or awkward phrasing can result in diluted meaning and increased translation costs. During Bibliosos multi-pass editing approach editors work to eliminate common problems such as these.

Line editors focus on the following tasks:

• Keep the issues noted by developmental editors and add new concerns about the content.
• Revise and add notes and terminology to the project-specific style sheet.
• Ensure parallel structure is used at heading, paragraph, and sentence levels.
• Query the author if gaps or factual inconsistencies exist in the material.
• Verify tense consistency, correct placement of modifiers, and language use.
• Flag redundant, inconsistent, and incorrect content.

Line editing is often combined with developmental editing to save project resources, time, and costs. It is usually performed as a separate step only in situations where the author (due to expertise and experience) does not require full, extensive developmental editing.