You can restrict editing of a document, assuming that you are using Word 2003
or later.
From Word 2003 Help:
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Allow editing in a protected document
Applies to: Microsoft Office Word 2003
When you protect a document as read-only or for comments only, you can
designate parts of the document to be unrestricted. You can also grant
permission for specific individuals to modify the unrestricted parts of the
document.
On the Tools menu, click Protect Document.
In the Protect Document task pane, under Editing restrictions, select the
Allow only this type of editing in the document check box, and then click one
of the following options:
No changes (read only) Prevents users from changing the document.
Comments Allows users to insert comments (Insert menu, Comments command)
into the document. Users cannot change the content of the document.
Select the parts of the document that you want to be unrestricted.
For example, select a block of paragraphs, a heading, a sentence, or a word.
Do one of the following:
Allow anyone who opens the document to edit the part you selected
Select the Everyone check box in the Groups box.
Allow particular individuals to edit the part you selected
Click More users, and then enter the user names either by Microsoft Windows
user account or by e-mail address. Separate the names with a semicolon.
Click OK.
Select the check boxes next to the names of the individuals you are allowing
to edit the part you selected.
Note If you select more than one individual, the individuals are added as
an item to the Group box, so you can easily select them again without having
to select them individually.
Continue to select parts of the document and assign users permission to edit
them, as you want.
Under Start enforcement, click Yes, Start Enforcing Protection.
Do one of the following:
To assign a password to the document so that users who know the password can
remove the protection, type a password in the Enter new password (optional)
box, and then confirm the password.
To encrypt the document so that only authenticated owners of the document
can remove the protection, click User authentication.
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