ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on consistency and there will be only passing mention of consistency in matters such as page layout or the treatment of numerals. Creating consistency is a purely mechanical task that requires little thought, yet gives a feeling of accomplishment. As a result, some editors and revisers are tempted to devote considerable time to it. Achieving total consistency in translation work would mean: never translating a given source-text expression in one way in one passage and in another way in another passage and always translating differing terms or phrasings in the source text in different ways. The ideal approach to consistency, for both editors and revisers, is to arrange for texts to be consistent ahead of time, before the writing or translating begins. Inconsistency is only a problem if it creates a communication barrier. It is mainly a concern when a single text is divided among several translators.
