Because the Stenovate platform is specifically designed to streamline collaboration between your favorite (or new) scopists and proofreaders, our support team is frequently asked, "Should I clean up my file before sending it to a scopist?"

Here's the short answer: Yes.

Wait! Before anyone gets their pitchfork, keep reading to find out why we recommend a pre-scope tidy.

We've seen reporters fret about sending their "raw" transcript files to a scopist, even though we'd estimate that 98% of stenographers and voice writers are writing real-time, at least for themselves, on every transcript.

We get it. Being vulnerable and potentially scrutinized or judged based on your writing ability is scary. But here's the thing...

Scopists know we're not perfect. And they understand that we're paying them to clean up the file. That's the whole point of hiring a scopist! So let us be clear:

The goal of doing a pre-scope cleanup is, actually, not for the sake of your scopist. It's for YOU! However, your scopist will probably love you for it!

The purpose of cleaning up a file is simple: a better dictionary.

A pre-scope cleanup is not mandatory, but every transcript is a new opportunity to improve your writing and have cleaner results the next time you sit down at your machine. If you're continually building your dictionary, your real-time will also improve.

A cleaner dictionary opens the door to better work opportunities, increased income, and saved time (more free time)! With cleaner writing, rough drafts become easier, real-time becomes possible, and clients are happier. All around, it's a total win-win-win!

While you scan through your transcript to add new dictionary entries, you'll likely find other areas with quick fixes or portions of dropped words that you can quickly add.

Some scopists charge a growth fee for transcripts that grow more than a certain amount (usually 10%). For context, that would be a 100-page transcript growing to 110 pages by the time scoping is complete. A pre-scope cleanup can reduce the amount your transcript grows, saving you money.

In addition, if you develop a great habit of doing a pre-scope cleanup right after the file is complete and delegating the transcript immediately, you can also save yourself from expedited scoping fees on a transcript you're receiving regular turnaround rates.

Repeating that the goal of the pre-scope cleanup is not for your scopist, it certainly doesn't mean they don't benefit too! Naturally, scopists will gravitate towards reporters with cleaner transcripts because, obviously, it makes their job easier.

Transcripts with fewer untranslated words also allow the scopist to hone in on the small words around the previous untran. Seeing a glaring error ahead can influence anyone, reporter or scopist, to focus more on the big error coming up instead of potentially smaller changes between where they're at and the untran ahead.

In other words, transcript teammates are more likely to happily accept your work (possibly before another reporter who doesn't dictionary build). Plus, a per-scope cleanup leaves less room for error.

This will be entirely dependent upon a few variables, including:

If you have a 50-page car accident, the cleanup may only take a few minutes. If you have a 300-page expert witness in a specialty you haven't written about before, you may need to take up to an hour.

The clean-up goal should be roughly 5 pages per minute or less.

If you're tidying up slower than 5 pages per minute, you're likely doing more of a deep scope than you originally intended (and defeating the purpose). At this point, you're basically scoping it yourself, and you might as well save the money and scope it yourself now that you're creating a file that needs minimal effort.

If you're staying focused on dictionary building only, you should be zipping through less than 5 pages per minute. To help you wrap your brain around the maximum time-effort ratio, we made a short list:

Again, the goal of a pre-scope cleanup is dictionary building, NOT adding drops, verifying spellings, fixing formatting, etc.

It's easy to get distracted by small imperfections that your Type A, court reporter personality will immediately want to fix before turning the transcript over to your scopist, but RESIST THE URGE!

Do your best to turn on pre-scope tunnel vision by keeping your eyes peeled for untranslated text and opportunities to make dictionary entries. An example of a non-untran opportunity would be defining plater faceitis as plantar fasciitis.

Most CAT software can scan to trouble spots. For example, in Case CATalyst, you can select what to scan for and use F8 to jump to the next spot. In Eclipse, you can use the multiscan tool.

At the end of the day, a pre-scope cleanup is ultimately an opportunity for you to elevate your reporting skills and set you up for future success!

There's a variety of benefits to tidying up your transcript before handing it off, including, but not limited to:

While a pre-scope cleanup is not mandatory and certainly does not replace the work of a scopist, it's most definitely time well spent for your clients, your scopist, and most of all, YOU!

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