Which statement best captures the ethical editing principle of preserving author voice?

• A. Shortens the text.
• B. Maintains authenticity and meaning; prevents distorting the author's intent.
• C. Allows adding new ideas.
• D. Ensures grammar perfection.

Answer: (B)

Preserving author voice means editing in a way that keeps the author’s unique style, tone, and intended meaning intact. The best statement reflects that goal by highlighting authenticity and meaning and by ensuring edits don’t distort what the author intended to convey. In practice, you fix errors or clarify ambiguities without reshaping sentences so the author would have written them differently, and you keep the original word choices, rhythm, and emphasis that give the text its character. Shortening can trim away nuance, adding new ideas shifts the message, and chasing perfect grammar can mute the living voice the author uses.