This paper examines the phenomenon of effective editions (EEs) as used by respeakers during live assignments. While the term "editing" conventionally refers to the refinement of written text, live spoken language editing has been recognised as a regular practice in the context of intra- and interlingual respeaking (Romero-Fresco and Pöchhacker 2017). However, the existing definition of EEs can benefit from expansion, and there are benefits to be reaped from a more comprehensive exploration of the range of phenomena encompassed under this umbrella term. This paper endeavours to fill the gap by scrutinising instances of EEs from an extensive database gathered within the framework of the ESRC-funded SMART project (ES/T002530/1, 2020-2023) on interlingual respeaking. Based on bottom-up, empirical analysis, the authors propose a straightforward taxonomy of EEs, consisting of the main categories of condensation, re-expression, and compensation. The analysis reveals the pervasive nature of EEs, which also emerge as significant predictors of respeakers’ performance accuracy. The taxonomy they present is grounded in concrete examples and can facilitate a more equitable and pragmatic assessment of subtitle accuracy but also holds potential for refining (semi-)automated subtitle accuracy evaluation systems which are currently at prototypical stages (Bacigalupe and Romero-Fresco 2023). Furthermore, the proposed taxonomy is relevant for respeaker training and/or upskilling where proficiency in effective editing will lead to enhanced performance. Given the nascent status of research in this domain, the paper concludes by delineating prospective directions for further exploration of EEs.