Glossary
Clean verbatim
Clean verbatim is a transcript that removes filler words, stutters, repetitions and false starts while keeping the speaker's wording and meaning. It is the usual choice for reading, captions and coding, where hesitations add noise rather than information.
Updated October 17, 20262 cited facts, each traced to its source
Also called intelligent verbatim, non-verbatim, edited transcription.
Clean verbatim is a transcript style that keeps what the speaker meant and said, but removes the sounds and stumbles that make speech hard to read. It drops words such as "um" and "uh," repeated words, false starts and stutters. It keeps the speaker's own vocabulary and sentence structure. Other names for the same idea include "intelligent verbatim," "non-verbatim" and "edited transcription," and providers do not use these labels in the same way, so read a sample before you order.
Clean verbatim removes the stumbles, not the content
The rule is to keep the content and cut the noise. A clean transcript should read as the speaker's own words in written form. Where a speaker corrects themselves, the clean style keeps the final version. Where a speaker repeats a word for emphasis, the clean style usually keeps one copy. Clean verbatim usually leaves grammar as spoken, which separates clean verbatim from heavier editing, where the sentences are rewritten.
A concrete example
Take the same answer from the example in our verbatim transcription entry: "Um, so, I, I think we should, uh, wait until March." The clean version is "So, I think we should wait until March." Nothing that matters to the meaning is lost. The fillers, the repeated "I" and the hesitation are gone. A reader can follow the answer in one pass, which is the point of the style.
Why clean verbatim is the usual default
Most readers want a transcript that reads well, and clean verbatim delivers that without the time cost of a full record. Full verbatim work is slow: one study of qualitative interviews reported about six hours of work per hour of interview for verbatim transcripts 1. A clean transcript avoids much of that effort, and it is a common style for captions and articles. Editing a draft is also the job the BLS describes for medical transcriptionists, who review and correct machine drafts for accuracy and consistency in style 2.
Why it matters for dictation
Dictation tools are built to produce clean text. They insert punctuation, drop many fillers and leave the sentence as you meant it to read. That makes clean verbatim the natural style for dictated letters and notes. The risk is that the cleaning changes meaning. A tool that drops "not" or swaps "wait" for "weight" has made an error, not an edit, so check the output for meaning as well as for polish.
Accuracy scores also depend on the style. A clean reference has fewer words than a verbatim one, so a word error rate (WER) on a clean transcript is measured against different words. Only compare scores that used the same style. The person who produces a clean transcript is usually a transcriptionist working from a draft.
Related terms
- Verbatim transcription: the style that keeps every spoken word and sound.
- Timestamp: a time marker that can be added to a clean transcript for navigation.
- SubRip subtitle file (SRT): a caption format where clean wording is the norm.
Guides that cover it
Evidence
Every number on this page, with where it comes from. Open a fact to see the exact words in its source.
- 1.Gläser and Laudel found that verbatim transcription took an average of six hours for each hour of interview material in their own research projects, a figure Wollin-Giering and colleagues report in 2024.
Susanne Wollin-Giering et al., Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 25(1), Art. 8, 2024 · Original
- 2.
Related terms
- Transcription: How to Turn Audio and Video Into TextThe topic this term belongs to
- Closed captions (CC)Closed captions (CC) are a text version of a program's dialogue and relevant sounds that the viewer can turn on or off. The word closed means the viewer chooses whether to see them, which separates them from open captions.
- Forced alignmentForced alignment is the process of matching a known transcript to its audio so that each word or phone gets a start and end time. Unlike open speech recognition, it does not decide what was said; it only finds when each word was said.
- Open captionsOpen captions are text drawn onto the frames of a video, so every viewer sees them and nobody can switch them off. They are also called burned-in captions or hardcoded subtitles.
- SubRip subtitle file (SRT)A SubRip subtitle file, or SRT, is a plain-text file of numbered caption blocks. Each block has a start and end time in hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds, followed by the caption text. It is one of the most common caption formats on the internet.
- Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH)SDH stands for subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing. They show the dialogue plus the sound effects, music and speaker identification that a hearing viewer would get from the soundtrack.
- Timestamp (transcription)A timestamp in a transcript is a time marker, such as 00:12:15, that shows when the nearby text was spoken in the recording. Timestamps let readers jump to a passage, and they can be attached to whole segments or to single words, with different accuracy.
- Transcription foot pedalA transcription foot pedal is a switch that controls audio playback with the foot, so a transcriber can start, pause and rewind a recording while typing. It is also called a foot control or foot pedal.
- TranscriptionistA transcriptionist is a person who listens to recorded speech and types it as text, such as a clinician's dictated report. Speech recognition now writes first drafts, so much of the work has shifted to checking and correcting machine text.
- Turnaround time (TAT)Turnaround time (TAT) is how long a transcriber or service takes to deliver a finished transcript after an order is received. Court schedules define it in calendar days or hours, counted from the order.
- Verbatim transcriptionVerbatim transcription writes down exactly what is said, including filler words, false starts, repetitions and non-speech sounds, with no tidying. Researchers and legal teams use it when the way someone speaks is part of the record.
- WebVTT (VTT)WebVTT (Web Video Text Tracks, usually shortened to VTT) is a plain-text file format for timed captions and subtitles on the web. A .vtt file is a list of cues, and each cue gives a start time, an end time and the text to show.
Pages that use this term
- Transcription: How to Turn Audio and Video Into TextTopic
- Meeting Transcription: How It Works and What to UseGuide
- Voice Memo to Text: Built-In and Free OptionsGuide
- Transcribe Audio With Whisper, ChatGPT or GeminiGuide
- How to Transcribe an Interview: Audio to TextGuide
- Dictation for Journalists and Content CreatorsGuide
- How do you become a transcriptionist with no experience?Question
- How do you calculate your speaking speed in words per minute?Question
- How do you turn a meeting transcript into minutes?Question
- What does a good transcript look like?Question
- What is the difference between a meeting transcript and meeting minutes?Question
- What typing speed do you need for transcription?Question
- SubRip subtitle file (SRT)Glossary
- TranscriptionistGlossary
- Turnaround time (TAT)Glossary
- Verbatim transcriptionGlossary