Transcription and transposition errors are found everywhere, even in professional articles in newspapers or books. They can be missed by editors quite easily, just as they can be created quite easily. The most obvious cure for the errors is for the user to watch the screen when they type, and to proofread. If the entry is occurring in data capture forms, databases or subscription forms, the designer of the forms should use
input masks or
validation rules. Transcription and transposition errors may also occur in
syntax when
computer programming or
programming, within variable declarations or coding parameters. This should be checked by proofreading; some syntax errors may also be picked up by the program the author is using to write the code. Common
desktop publishing and
word processing applications use
spell checkers and
grammar checkers, which may pick up on some transcription/transposition errors; however, these tools cannot catch all errors, as some errors form new words which are grammatically correct. For instance, if the user wished to write "The fog was dense", but instead put "The dog was dense", a grammar and spell checker would not notify the user because both phrases are grammatically correct, as is the spelling of the word "dog". Unfortunately, this situation is likely to get worse before it gets better, as workload for users and workers using manual
direct data entry (DDE) devices increases.
Double entry (or more) may also be leveraged to minimize transcription or transposition error, but at the cost of a reduced number of entries per unit time. Mathematical transposition errors are easily identifiable. Add up the numbers that make up the difference and
the resultant number will always be evenly divisible by nine. For example, (72-27)/9 = 5. ==Auditing transcription errors in medical research databases==