Transcription Style Guide v5

Welcome to the Transcription Style Guide!

This guide explains Rev’s expectations for
transcript quality. In addition to this guide,
which covers the fundamental elements of a
quality transcript, we have a robust Help Center
for additional guidance.
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We trust you to deliver high-quality work.

Customers rely on your accurate and timely
transcription as a crucial part of their daily
work.
 Index 22

Accuracy Help Center Articles Additional Help Center Articles

Precision These are additional resources. They are also

Wrong Words
Spelling and Grammar
Verbatim vs Non-Verbatim
Inaudibles
Transcription Article Directory
linked throughout the guide.
Number Conventions
Allowable Omissions Hyphens and Ellipses
How to Research Effectively
Commas and Terminal Punctuation
Verbatim Example
How to Handle Foreign Language Quotation Marks

Formatting Single Translator for Multiple Speakers Filler Words (non-verbatim)

Provided Speaker Labels
Inferred Speaker Labels
Notation Tags
Dictation
Additional Information
Unworkable Projects
Project-Specific Instructions
How to Transcribe a Dictation How to Handle Profanity/Swearing
How to Handle Missing Audio
Christian Terminology
How to Avoid Incomplete Submissions
Capitalizing Titles and Roles
Lend an Ear
How to Tell if a Project is Verbatim
How to Handle Concerning Content
Grading
Project Quality Expectations
Grading Scale Troubleshooting a Problem
Rubric
 Accuracy Precision 3

Always transcribe the audio as spoken. Remember, the transcript should accurately reflect what was actually said in the audio file.
Although spoken word is not always grammatically correct, your transcript must preserve the integrity of the original speech. Do
not type what you think the speaker meant to say.

1. Always attribute what is being said to the correct speaker.

2. Do not omit content

a. Exception: Allowable Omissions

3. Never add content or paraphrase.

4. Never censor or edit expletives/profanity if the word is spoken.

a. If the word is censored with a sound or silenced in the audio, use a notation such as (beep) or (censored) to indicate
the censored word.

5. Egregious phonetic and pronunciation errors that inhibit readability or understanding may be corrected to help
readability.
a. Example: if a speaker pronounces “refrigerator, washer and dryer” as “refrigurator, warshar and dryear”, please use
the correct word and spelling based on the context of the audio.

6. Informal contractions may be corrected in non-verbatim projects to help readability.

a. Informal contractions are short forms of words that people use while speaking casually. You may change these to the
formal form when applicable if it would help with readability. (e.g. ’cause ➜ because // ‘em ➜ them // doin’ ➜ doing //
gonna ➜ going to // gotta ➜ got to // kinda ➜ kind of // wanna ➜ want to)
Accuracy Wrong Words 4

Always use context clues in the audio to type the correct word or phrase. If you are unsure of a word or phrase,
try researching, using Lend An Ear, or asking for a second opinion on the forum.

Examples

“aerospace” vs “arrow space” Always use context clues to write down the appropriate word. This is especially
“Botox” vs “boat ox” important for proper nouns or industry terminology.

“looked” vs “loved” Take your time while transcribing—a changed word could result in a drastic change
“kissed” vs “killed” in the meaning of a sentence.

“than” vs “then” Be mindful to use the correct form of a homophone.

“desert” vs “dessert” Sometimes even a single letter can completely change the meaning.
Accuracy Spelling & Grammar 5

1. Use standard U.S. spelling.

2. Always research words, phrases and proper nouns (names, companies, titles, etc.) you are unfamiliar with. Click
here for an article on how to research effectively. If you cannot confirm the spelling of a proper noun through
research, use your best guess and keep it consistent throughout the project.

3. Always reference glossary terms when provided. If a customer has provided glossary terms, they will display in
the left-hand menu of the editor.

4. Make sure to spell check for spelling and typographical errors.*

5. Use English grammar conventions while maintaining the integrity of what was spoken. We are unable to cover
and address specific guidelines regarding grammar. We expect you to have prior knowledge of, or be able to
research, American English grammar, capitalization, and punctuation guidelines. Additional resources are
available here.

Tip: Use our built-in spelling and

grammar check for underlined or
highlighted words.

* The spellcheck in the Editor is a very helpful tool to help catch errors, but it is still ultimately up to you to proof your document for spelling errors/incorrect word swaps.
Accuracy Verbatim vs. Non-Verbatim (default) 6

Verbatim:
In verbatim projects, transcribe exactly what you hear, including filler words, stutters, interjections (active listening) and
repetitions. Click here to see an example. You will be able to tell if a project is verbatim in Find Work (indicated in the TYPE
column) and in the editor (listed next to TYPE in the upper right corner, above the playback controls).

If the project was requested Verbatim but was not completed as such, the
project will be graded 1/1 for accuracy/formatting.

Non-Verbatim (default style):

In non-verbatim projects you should lightly edit for readability. See the next slide for more details. You should not change
the structure or meaning of the speech. Non-verbatim projects will not have an indicator in the TYPE column in Find Work
and are listed as NON-VERBATIM in the editor.

(continued on next page)

Accuracy Verbatim vs. Non-Verbatim (default) 7

Verbatim Non-Verbatim

Non-speech sounds (laughs) or (laughing) are the only non-speech sounds we capture, and only in
verbatim projects.

All OTHER non-speech sounds (e.g. coughs, sneezes, clapping, paper rustling, dog barks, car honks)
should not be transcribed.

Interjections or signs of active listening (e.g. Okay, Yeah, Mm-hmm) that interrupt a speaker.

Filler words (um, uh) also known as “verbal pauses”; other words such as like or you know may also
be used like this.

False starts / self-corrections that are quickly reworded, unless they provide additional context.
A complete sentence is not a false start. (see Example 3 & 4 on the next page)

Stutters (e.g. I think we should go to the, the m- m- movies.)

Explicit content or profanity should be captured as spoken (or as censored) in both default and
verbatim projects.

Singing should be noted only as (singing) in both default and verbatim projects; do not transcribe the
lyrics to a song in a transcript.

(continued on next page)

 Accuracy Verbatim vs. Non-Verbatim (default) 8

Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4

Leave the false start in Remove the false start in

default style because it default style because “My
provides context as to who mom” is introduced later.
called.

Verbatim And so, um, I guess… I I like, you know, called My mom was (laughs)… I My mom… I forgot to tell
think we should go to her, like, yesterday and, forgot to tell you, she called you, my mom called me
the, the m- m- movies um, like, she was, like, me yesterday. yesterday.
tonight ‘cause of the sleeping. Probably, she
discount (laughs). was just like, really tired.

Non-Verbatim I think we should go to I called her yesterday and My mom was… I forgot to I forgot to tell you, my
the movies tonight she was sleeping. tell you, she called me mom called me yesterday.
because of the Probably, she was just yesterday.
discount. really tired.
Accuracy Inaudibles 9

An inaudible tag should be used when unintelligible or inaudible words are spoken. This may happen due to difficult
audio quality, a sound (such as a car horn) obscuring the main speaker, or recording issues. This tag should never be
used in place of research when you are unfamiliar with a term.

● Excessive Inaudibles: If you are using an excessive number of inaudibles in a transcript (to the point where the
transcript would be unusable to the customer), unclaim and report the file as difficult audio.
● Incorrect use of the inaudible tag is an error
○ Using the tag when the word can be identified is an accuracy error.
○ Incorrectly formatting the tag is a formatting error, as explained under Notation Tags.

Tip: Inaudibles can often be solved with help from Lend an Ear. You can share your audio file and
helpful Revvers will listen in and try to hear the missing word(s).
Formatting Provided Speaker Labels 10

If a customer has provided speaker labels, they will appear in the information pane in the left-hand panel of the editor.
You must use them if:

The speaker is self-identified in the audio or video.

e.g. “My name is Arnold”

You can reasonably infer who is speaking if another speaker introduces the name.
e.g. “What do you think, Gustav?”

There is only one speaker and one name is provided.

You can use the process of elimination to assign the correct speaker names (e.g. one male name and one female
name match up with one male speaker and one female speaker).

If you cannot assign the provided speaker labels, follow the rules
outlined in Inferred Speaker Labels. Tip: If speaker labels are provided by the
customer, you will see them in the
left-hand menu or when you edit a
speaker.
Formatting Inferred Speaker Labels 11

A reasonable effort must be made to distinguish speakers using the rules below:
- Never create your own descriptive speaker labels (e.g. “Old man” or “Blue shirt guy”). This is extremely unprofessional
and will result in a 1 in Formatting.

Speaker label type Examples When to use

Speaker + Number Speaker 1, Speaker 2 Default and most common way of labeling speakers when the speaker’s
name cannot be reasonably inferred from the audio or video.

Speaker’s Name John Smith, Sara, If the speaker’s name can be reasonably inferred from the audio or video.
Professor Lee If labels were not provided by the customer, Speaker + Number is also
acceptable in this scenario.

Professional Role Interviewer, Doctor, (Optional) If the speaker’s name cannot be reasonably inferred from the
or Title Translator (example) transcript. Using Speaker + Number is also acceptable.

Group Label Students, Audience, Only when there are too many speakers to consistently track who says
Camera Crew, Speaker X what (e.g. classroom discussion, focus group). Do not use as a substitute
Group label examples for reasonable speaker identification.

Customer-provided speaker labels must be used whenever possible according to the rules on the previous page.
Formatting Notation Tags 12

If you encounter difficult or non-English audio, use one of the bracketed notation tags below, including a
timestamp of the audio location. Also take note of the parenthetical tags used for singing, laughter, and
censored content. Do not create a notation tag not listed below.

[inaudible Use when unintelligible or inaudible words are stated. Equivalent to a “blank” in medical
hh:mm:ss] transcription.

[foreign For any non-English portions of audio, indicate where they begin with a timestamp and either the
language name of the language (if known) or simply “foreign language”. DO NOT transcribe non-English audio.
hh:mm:ss]
If a translator is speaking on a respondent's behalf, there is no need to denote [foreign language
hh:mm:ss] every time that the respondent speaks. Example

(singing) Used in lieu of transcribing the lyrics to a song. Do not transcribe lyrics/singing.

(laughs) or Used to indicate laughter in verbatim files only.

(laughing)

(beep), Used to indicate words that have been intentionally censored in the audio (usually profanity or
(censored) redacted content). DO NOT censor content if it is spoken in the audio.
Formatting Dictation 13

Occasionally, customers dictate instructions to format the transcription while they are speaking. These instructions should
be followed when possible but never transcribed.

● Follow customer requests for spoken directions such as “new paragraph”, “comma”, “period” or “bullet point” (use a
dash). Do not type out the instruction.
● If a customer has clearly missed an instruction (e.g. “period” after a sentence has obviously concluded), it’s acceptable
to add it in to aid readability.
● As Rev does not support text formatting in the editor, ignore requests such as “bold”, “italics”, “underline” or
“strikethrough”.
● Additional guidance is available in our help center article.NEW

Dictation projects submitted with instructions typed out rather than following the above
guidelines will be scored a 1 for formatting.
Unworkable Projects 14

Certain types of projects are considered “unworkable” and should not be completed. You can unclaim a project by selecting
Unclaim in the Project dropdown in Line. Unclaim projects if they meet the criteria below.

If you submit a project that has no meaningful English audio content captured you will not be paid for the job and you may
receive a grade of 1/1 for accuracy and formatting.

IF... THEN...

There is no meaningful But there is foreign language Unclaim the project as “No English audio present”
English speech (non-English) speech

But there are some noises or Unclaim the project as “No audio present in entire
inaudible sounds file”

The content violates our Terms of Service Unclaim the project as “Contains explicit or
(pornography, excessively violent, hate speech, etc) disturbing content”
Project-Specific Instructions 15

Occasionally a project may have approved special instructions that deviate from our normal guidelines. These
instructions will be clearly marked as Special Instructions in the editor with either a yellow banner or in a
designated Special Instructions section in the left-hand menu. They will also appear on the Find Work page.

Customers will sometimes include separate instructions that go against our Style Guide in the glossary or
speaker name section. Any customer-provided requests that do not appear in the designated Special
Instructions section or banner and that go against our style guidelines should be ignored.

Not following official special instructions is considered an error and may

result in a score of 1/1.
 Grading Scale 16

A grade consists of scores in two categories: Accuracy and Formatting. You can view the
scoring rubric on the next page to see how graders will assess your work.

5 - Excellent Customer ready – Transcript is high-quality, having few if any errors.

Customer ready – Transcript is acceptable quality, and while there are some noticeable
4 - Good
errors present, the project is still customer-ready overall.

Not customer ready – A reasonable effort was made, but multiple edits would be needed
3 - Needs Improvement
before this is considered customer-ready.

Not customer ready – Some effort was made, but there are significant errors that would be
2 - Poor
time-consuming to correct before this is considered customer-ready.

1 - Very Poor Unusable – No reasonable or consistent effort was made.*

Keep in mind that both the severity and frequency of errors are taken into consideration when assigning a score.

* If you submit incomplete or unedited files your pay for the project will be removed, the project will be graded 1/1 for
accuracy and formatting, and your account may be closed without warning.
 Grading Rubric Keep in mind that both the severity and frequency of errors is taken into consideration when assigning a score. 17

5 - Excellent 4 - Good 3 - Needs Improvement 2 - Poor 1 - Unusable

Spoken audio is sometimes
Spoken audio is accurately misrepresented. Multiple Spoken audio is frequently
Spoken audio is accurately represented in the majority of accuracy and/or punctuation misrepresented. Multiple
represented throughout. the project. There may be some errors are present that accuracy and/or punctuation Project appears to be
While there may be small accuracy and punctuation errors moderately impact errors are present that incomplete, unedited, or
Accuracy errors, they do not impact that impact readability, but they readability, though the overall significantly impact capture is so poor that the
Does the text reflect the readability. are infrequent. capture shows intentional readability, though some final deliverable is unusable.
spoken audio? AND AND effort. intentional effort was made. This includes verbatim
Speech is correctly Speech is correctly attributed to AND/OR AND/OR projects captured in the
attributed to the speaker the speaker when clearly Speech is mostly correctly Speech is not correctly default style.
when clearly identifiable. identifiable, though there may be attributed to the speaker, attributed to the speaker, with
an occasional misattribution. though there may be more several misattributions.
frequent misattribution.
Project appears to be
Text is sometimes poorly
Text is poorly formatted. incomplete, unedited, or no
Text is appropriately formatted, formatted. Egregious notation
Text is appropriately Egregious notation tag or reasonable attempt was made
Formatting with no egregious notation tag or tag or labelling errors are
formatted, with no egregious labelling errors that to follow formatting
Is the text styled according labelling errors, though a few present and moderately
notation tag or labelling significantly impact readability guidelines. This includes
to Rev guidelines? errors that somewhat impact impact readability, though the
errors. are present, though some unformatted dictation
readability may be present. overall capture shows
intentional effort was made. projects and verbatim projects
intentional effort.
captured in the default style.

Overall Maximum
No reasonable or consistent
number of errors allowed 2 3 4 5+
effort made.
to achieve this score
(average per graded clip)

Audio Adjustment For any file rated Very or Extremely Difficult,1 point is added to the final accuracy score