What does editing include?

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Every edit addresses all the following elements:

 

Language & Structure 

 

• Clarity of expression (diction and syntax; conciseness; elimination of redundancy)

• Optimal placement of ideas and flowing connections between clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections (known as line editing)

• For ESL (English as a second language) clients, correct use of idiom to produce comprehensible statements and a natural sound for native-English-speaking audiences

• Logic of the arguments, resolution of ambiguity, and identification of tautology or insufficient development*

• Structural coherence (across paragraphs, sections and chapters, with suggestions for the creation or elimination of sections, where desirable)*

• Appropriate tone (academic, corporate or general-audience)

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Mechanics

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• Grammar 

• Spelling

• Capitalization and typographical treatment (bold, italics, etc.)

• Punctuation 

• Typographical errors 

• Correct and consistent treatment of quotations and translations

• Correct and consistent treatment of numbers, dates, symbols, quantitative data, units of measurement, abbreviations, etc. 

• Correct and consistent use of discipline-specific terminology

• Correct and consistent treatment of proper names and titles of works 

• Hyperlinks (working and correct)

• Presence and completeness of all necessary elements of the work (such as an Acknowledgements section or title-page author IDs)

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In-Text Citations, References & Foot-/Endnotes
 

• Complete* and correct styling of sources in footnotes/endnotes, bibliographies and in-text citations to a chosen citation style (such as MLA or The Chicago Manual of Style), to an in-house style (of universities, journals, book publishers), or for consistency (where no particular style is required)

• Correct citational cross-referencing throughout 

• A check to ensure all sources mentioned in text also appear in the reference list, and vice versa ​​​

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Formatting 

Correct and consistent formatting and cross-referencing of such elements as:

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• Page layout (margins, spacing, pagination, etc.)

• Type specifications

• Heading hierarchy (indenting, capitalization, etc.)

• Figures (labels, captions, etc.)

• Tables (column and row headers, gridlines, data placement in cells, etc.) 

• Table of contents 

• Appendices

• Index (including correct alphabetization)

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Note: While I will ensure correct treatment in keeping with your requested style or with general editing conventions in the English-speaking world, I am not a graphic designer. For work that needs a high level of artistic presentation, please employ a design professional. 

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Style Sheet

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All edited documents are returned with a style sheet to help you maintain consistency on points of grammar; treatment of such things as terminology, dates, symbols and numbers; and any other matters of content pertinent to your work.

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Word Count

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Word count can be reduced to a specific minimum, if requested.

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What if I just want proofreading?

If you need your document checked for errors, citation styling, formatting and overall consistency in such elements as terminology, numbers and treatment of data, but you do not require the editor to pay attention to your document’s substantive content, its structure or your use of language, proofreading is available at a reduced fee. Proofreading includes all the elements listed above in the ‘What does editing include?’ section, with the general exception of the ‘Language & Structure’ items.

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A proofread will correct any outright errors or marked shortcomings in expression, but will typically leave your word choice, syntax, tone and overall structure in place. Proofreading will not feature line editing or elimination of redundancy (except in the most obvious instances, such as duplicate sentences or heavy overuse of particular words). It will not attend to logic, ambiguity or insufficiently developed arguments.

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For ESL (English as a second language) clients, proofreading will not address the correct use of English idiom. For this reason, proofreading is not generally suitable for ESL documents.

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* Thesis and student essay editing (and all other graded work)

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A well-edited thesis or essay is at an instant advantage in its crisp prose, consistent terminology and
formatting, and absence of any spelling and grammatical errors that can detract from the overall quality of the work in a grader’s eyes. 

I edit to the Guidelines for Editing Research Theses (2019) issued by Australia and New Zealand’s Institute of Professional Editors and approved by the Australian Council of Graduate Research. Under these guidelines, an editor will restrict their work to a pure copyedit. An editor may not rework a document on matters of content, substance or structure, but they may offer examples or comments pointing to how improvement may be achieved. Erroneous or illogical reasoning cannot be directly corrected, but it can be brought to the author’s attention (and ambiguous or insufficiently articulated statements can be improved or resolved). Errors of substantive fact cannot be corrected (although I will point out potential errors for the author’s action, and I will directly correct a purely typographical error: e.g., mention of the 5th Dynasty when the 25th Dynasty was clearly intended). Internal coherence will be ensured (e.g., I will call out an attribution of lapis lazuli’s first appearance to the Predynastic in the Introduction but to the reign of Djoser in chapter 1). An editor will not assist with interpretation of the research literature and data in graded work.

In graded work, while I will point out any missing data in your references (missing volume numbers, for example, or chapter titles omitted from the citation of an edited multi-author book), I will not complete them for you.  

I may ask you to confirm/provide evidence that you have your supervisor’s or institution’s permission to use an editor. I will abide by your university’s policy on using an editor’s services. 

Your university may pay to have your thesis professionally edited. I can provide a quotation and certification of my intended adherence to your institution’s thesis-/essay-editing guidelines or code of ethics. 

 

 

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​What I do not do: 

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• Paraphrase material to disguise plagiarism.

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• Fact-check substantive content, data or arguments (although I will alert you to potential factual errors or any apparent inconsistencies).

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• Check that citations are accurately cited against the original source. However, I will ensure that all citations make sense within the bounds of the information available in the document. For example, if you quote an archaeologist speaking in a 2024 article about the impact of the temporary cessation of fieldwork due to the 2020 pandemic, I will assume that 2024 is the correct year of publication. However, if the article’s year of publication is cited as 2019, I will bring to your attention that chronological impossibility. Likewise, if you name the authors of an article as ‘Garcia and Smith’ in the text body but in the bibliography the work appears as ‘Garcia and Jones’, I will alert you to the discrepancy. 

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• Compile your bibliography/reference list for you in a graded work. For nongraded documents (e.g., books
  or chapters), I can compile the bibliography/reference list, if desired. Such work will be charged at an
  hourly rate.

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• Guarantee a certain student grade, or acceptance by an academic journal or commercial publisher, or, in the case of promotional material, publication by a media outlet.

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• Source content or obtain permissions for reproduced material (e.g., illustrations or graphs).

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Confidentiality

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Your documents will never be shared or discussed by me with any subcontractor or third party unless I am required/authorized to do so by you. All of the editing is performed solely by me. Your work is kept entirely on a password-protected computer and on a hard-drive/USB back-up. No work is stored in the cloud unless necessary for collaborative projects. No cloud-based apps are utilized to translate or check your work. If requested, I will delete all copies of your work upon completion of the job (excepting style sheets).  

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Files will be transferred using the client’s preferred method—typically via a file-sharing service such as Dropbox (in which case the files will be removed within four weeks, with your approval, for optimal security, unless needed for a longer period).