Editing Services for Academics Texts
I provide editing services for a range of academic texts, including scholarly book proposals, book chapters and full manuscripts, journal articles, and conference papers.
Copyediting
I carefully examine your manuscript to ensure it consistently adheres to your chosen editorial style. Here is what I do:
- Check for and correct any errors in grammar, spelling, hyphenation, capitalisation, punctuation, usage, and diction
- Check for consistency throughout the entire manuscript in terms of texts and visuals, e.g., the treatment of numbers and numerals; quotations; special elements such as headings or tables; the use of acronyms and abbreviations; italics and bold type
- Particularly for longer manuscripts, prepare or follow a style sheet, and make sure any recorded decisions are applied consistently
If agreed on, the scope of my copyediting may also include content editing, tasks related to permissions, and markup (tagging, style coding). However, fact-checking, formatting, design, indexing, and reading for sensitivity and/or authenticity are not part of this service.
Line Editing
When line editing, I focus on refining your text on the sentence and paragraph levels. Unlike copyediting, line editing is not about catching mechanical errors in your manuscript but it involves making stylistic improvements to your writing. The goal is to make sure the manuscript is coherent and well-paced, and that it flows well. While considering the reader, the medium, and purpose of the manuscript, I perform tasks such as:
- Revising the writing to enhance the tone, mood, and voice
- Modifying the length and structure of sentences and paragraphs
- Eliminating redundancies due to extraneous wording or unnecessary repetitions
- Eliminating jargon, clichés, and euphemisms
Developmental Editing
Developmental editing involves assessing the full manuscript to improve its organisation, structure, and content. If you are in the early stages of the writing process, I help you organise and outline your ideas. If you have already written a first draft, I look at the overall organisation of the text as well as its different sections – sometimes down to the paragraph or even sentence level. Keeping the intended reader in mind, I make suggestions on how to revise or reorder the material, as well as where to expand or cut something.
Manuscript Assessment
For manuscript assessment, you can choose between a standard or a comprehensive assessment. What you get: I read your manuscript and assess it in terms of its content, structure, and style. For the standard assessment, I write up my feedback in an editorial letter, providing suggestions and resources. With the comprehensive assessment, I provide in-depth feedback and also write comments on the manuscript itself.
Proofreading
If you have had your manuscript copyedited and formatted, proofreading is the final step of the process. This step is to make sure the manuscript is ready to print and no errors remain in any of the textual or visual elements. While proofreading and copyediting are often confused with each other and sometimes presumed to be the same, they are not interchangeable. As your proofreader, I provide the final set of eyes to catch often very minor mistakes that have slipped through.
If you are an academic who uses LaTex, I am happy to work with you via OverLeaf.
Coaching for Academic Writers
While editing services typically focus on a specific document, coaching is about you, the writer. The goal is to provide you with the tools and practices for growth and long-term success. The coaching is tailored to your individual needs and may involve one session or several.
I can assist you with:
- The craft of academic writing: Looking at various writing samples, I will identify the strengths and weaknesses in your writing. I provide you with advice, strategies, and resources to develop as an academic writer.
- Your publishing pipeline: If you’re like most people, having a long-term plan for writing and publishing will increase your productivity. I help you set up a publishing pipeline for managing your writing by identifying your goal, motivation, and targets for publishing.
- Project management: Struggling to manage your work or a specific project? I can assist with finding ways to speed up processes, hold yourself accountable, deal with writer’s block, and more.
Academic Job Applications
I offer editing services for academic job applications for soon-to-graduate PhD student looking to work in academia or a post-doc applying for tenure-track positions. You can choose between a Standard Job Application Service (CV + cover letter) and a Premium Job Application Service (CV, cover letter, plus teaching statement, research statement, and/or diversity statement). I don’t just edit each document on their own, but I look at them as a comprehensive package, ensuring they work together to present you as a highly suitable candidate for the position you are applying to.
Bespoke Services
Have something else in mind? Get in touch to see how I can best assist you.