I specialise in academic editing, including thesis editing for PhD candidates, editing academic articles, and editing for scholarly volumes and monographs.
Academic writing showcases the expertise of the researcher within their field. While the author focuses on presenting their knowledge of the subject and making original contributions, an academic editor can take the stress out of preparing research papers for submission and publication.
I am especially interested in academic work within the fields of communication, creative arts, education, humanities, social sciences, and business. I can also work confidently with academic writing in other subject areas. Don’t see your field of research here? Get in touch to discuss your needs and find out if I’m the right editor for you.
Thesis Editing
Are you a PhD candidate or Masters student with a research thesis? Allow me to take care of the finer details, such as grammar, spelling and punctuation, consistency of style and conventions, and perfecting references. Additionally, I can help you ensure your thesis meets your university’s submission guidelines. You have worked hard on your research—leave the fiddly bits to me.
I have been editing theses for Masters students and PhD candidates since 2019. Because thesis research papers are a type of assessment towards a degree, there are limitations to the services a professional editor can offer. In short, thesis editing may only include copy editing and proofreading services. This leaves content or structural editing in the hands of the author and their supervisor. To avoid the risk of collusion and other ethical issues, the Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) has set out guidelines for editing research theses. I adhere to these guidelines, which can be found on the IPEd website.
Did you know? There may be funding available to help cover the cost of thesis editing. Speak to your supervisor or ask your university to find out if you are eligible for a grant.
Journal Articles
Are you submitting a paper to a scholarly journal? I can help make sure your journal article is well structured and that the writing is error-free ahead of submission.
Most journals will have submission guidelines that can specify anything from how the paper should be formatted to which spelling conventions to use. Submission guidelines can vary from journal to journal and following them can improve your chances of publication or save you having to make changes and resubmit. As an academic editor, I can ensure these requirements are met and prepare the document for submission on your behalf.
In addition to working with academic authors to prepare their journal articles for submission, I have also worked for scholarly journals directly to copy edit and proofread multiple papers and entire volumes ahead of publication.
Edited Volumes
Have you written a paper to be included as a chapter in an edited volume? An edited volume (also known as an edited collection) consists of chapters written by different scholarly authors. While the papers are linked by a common theme, they each bring a unique perspective to the topic. These books are usually overseen by a project editor whose focus is to curate and coordinate the volume. While the project editor may give feedback on the content of the paper, the individual chapter authors are often responsible for ensuring their writing is of the highest quality prior to final submission.
I can reduce your workload by copy editing and proofreading your chapter, and ensuring it meets the collection’s formatting requirements before your deadline.
Monographs
Have you written a monograph, or are you turning your research into a monograph? If you are an academic writer aiming to publish your work as a book, an academic editor can help you prepare.
I can work with you to strengthen the content of your book, ensure the words on the page are edited to a high standard, and help you follow your preferred publisher’s submission requirements. Preparing a whole book for submission can be daunting. Allow me to help give you the best chance for success.
Referencing
There are so many different referencing styles. Referencing correctly helps to raise the integrity of your scholarly writing, ensures your sources are easy to identify and locate, and gives credit to the work of others who have shaped your research. Whether you are submitting a thesis, a journal article, a chapter for an edited volume, or a monograph of your own, referencing right is a must.
I can ensure that your reference list, bibliography, footnotes, endnotes, and in-text citations are correctly formatted to comply with the style of referencing you use. I can also assist in converting references from one style to another if such a change is required.
Referencing can be tedious. Each style follows a very particular format and even publishers using the same style may have specific in-house variations. Which parts should you capitalise? Should this be italicised? Should there be a comma here, or there? Save yourself the headache of getting it perfect by enlisting an editor like me.
BONNEE CRAWFORD EDITING 