| Sumario: | Critical thinking is necessary to properly edit a scientific article. However, in addition to questions about the language, we can also question the assumptions, documentation, and implications of the research in a process I call "analytical editing." A text with unverified assumptions, missing documentation, and unconsidered implications can lull readers into believing that they understand an article when they do not, creating the "illusion of certainty." Here, I present an example of the analyses needed to understand a single sentence-a case study, if you will, of analytical editing. A close look at the sentence raises several important questions about meaning, measurement, statistical analyses, presentation of data, and interpretation of results. Analytical editing requires a knowledge of several topics: the principles of measurement; research designs and activities; statistical reporting and interpretation; sources of error, confounding, and bias; and specialized forms of data display, such as receiving operating characteristics curves, Kaplan-Meier curves, and life tables. Substantive editors who can add analytical editing to their services-the learning curve is not that steep-can greatly increase both their professional skills and their value to authors.
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