Spelling

Merops can automatically correct spelling errors and alert unknown terms.

General preferences

Merops can automatically standardize (in either direction):

  • ‘z’ and ‘s’ spellings such as ‘idolized’ vs ‘idolised’
  • US and UK English differences

Specific preferences

Merops allows you to choose individual spelling preferences for over 200 words, e.g., aging or ageing.

Merops can be enhanced using a custom dictionary.

Grammar

Case changing

Merops can correct the capitalization of general text, applying ‘Sentence case’, while capitalizing proper nouns and initialisms.

The way ‘Title Case’ is applied is customizable, with different options for long prepositions, or words after colons.

Corrections

Merops can ensure all-capital abbreviations are given in full at first mention. This is applied in multiple scopes, so a word must be defined in an abstract and in general text.

Merops can automatically correct or alert grammatical, errors, including:

  • misuse of a/an
  • repeated words
  • incorrect word choice or word order

Writing style

Merops can apply rules relating to non-preferred writing style, including:

  • overly verbose language
  • gender biased language
  • colloquialisms
  • potentially offensive terms
  • tautology
  • informal contractions (e.g. don’t)

Punctuation

Merops can standardize the position of punctuation and spaces.

This process is clever enough to ensure that, for example, spaces are added after colons and semicolons, unless they form part of tight technical expressions (e.g. ratios, genetic terms).

Merops can standardize the formatting of punctuation signs. For example, species names should have a roman parentheses:

  • (Zoothera naevia)    should be     (Zoothera naevia)

Merops can standardize characters, such as an en rule in relationship pairs (e.g. doctor–patient relationship). Merops can standardize quotation marks according to publisher style or language convention, and can differentiate quotation marks within quotation marks.

Merops can standardize the use of full stops / periods with abbreviations, e.g.:

  • H.I.V. ↔ HIV
  • Tues ↔ Tues.
  • Blvd. ↔ Blvd

Non-English

Merops can standardize the formatting of loan words such as:
  • laissez faire
  • in situ
  • in vitro
  • ad nauseum
  • standardizes abbreviations/full terms

Abbreviated Latin, e.g., i.e., cf., etc.

Hyphenation

Merops can automatically standardize to publisher guidelines on hyphenation.

Prefixes

Merops can remove hyphens following standard prefixes (non-, pre-, post-, etc.). Each prefix is individually customizable.

Merops includes exceptions, including:

  • ‘double-letter’ rules (e.g. non-negotiable)
  • proper noun prefixes (e.g. pre-Roman)

Compound adjectives

Merops can standardize hyphenation of compound adjectives (e.g. ‘a short-term view’, but ‘in the long term’; it took 5 minutes’, but ‘it was a 5-minute conversation).