Scholarly editions are reliable texts of literary or historical works .

They generally include an introduction where the editor will provide a historical context of the work and explain how the edition has been constructed and any textual decisions they have made .They will provide comment on the different variations of the text and a justification for the version of the text they have used.

Editors will explain any alterations they have made to the text - this is usually included in the introduction but explanatory annotations or notes might also be included throughout the text. Alterations may be minor such as changing punctuation or more substantial such as reorganising sections of the text