Academic
& Everyday Editing
Academic editing for faculty and students
There are horror stories in academia of students languishing in their coursework or dissertation proposal processes, simply because their writing is assessed as being insufficient for the expectations of committee members, professors, or the larger field itself. Recent clients have noted that their dissertation journey was "horrible" or that they felt abandoned during the writing phase.
Unfortunately, this is because many PhD students and candidates have received little instruction or guidance in effective academic writing and may become overwhelmed during this challenging journey. As a former Assistant Professor of Education, an adjunct faculty member in Global Leadership, a dissertation committee member and chair, I can offer you a highly skilled perspective and a wide range of experience and knowledge to help you through the academic writing endeavor. I bring an expertise in APA style, and over 15 years’ experience working with people in the academy.
My passion for assisting others in developing, polishing, refining, and finishing their academic writing leads me to work hard to help you succeed. I believe firmly in opening up opportunities in the Ivory tower, and I know that academic writing is a central tool in the process.
What makes doctoral level writing effective, clear, cohesive, and well-aligned with the expectations of your field? How can you become a more effective and productive academic writer?
Let me help you to answer those questions!
Services I offer:
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Brainstorming qualitative research ideas
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Understanding and constructing a dissertation proposal
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Creating and troubleshooting a literature review, academic article, or book chapter
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I can also assist with all phases of the dissertation journey through developmental reviews of your work from the proposal to the final dissertation or thesis.
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Let me help you move up and over that academic mountain!
Everyday editing
Everyone makes mistakes in their writing. Researchers at NYU published a short article on the ways that the brain processes language and the meaning of short sentences in our social media-reliant world (roughly at the speed of a blink of your eye!) and that this can result in the “filling in” of gaps or adjusting meaning while missing typos and grammatical errors (see source).
I was stunned to see evidence of this on the website of a major beauty company, the text focusing on holiday products and promotion read “staring” and very clearly should have said “starring”! Mistakes are an inevitable part of writing.
I find these mistakes so frequently on menus, websites, and in the grocery store, that I have started taking pictures of them and sharing on social media.
These mistakes cost you credibility and potentially even clients. People make judgments based on written texts, and texts that come across as “awkward” or “full of mistakes” impact the perception of you as well as your business and/or project. This is particularly important to pay attention to such as in the case of prepositions, (on versus by a date for example), and commas are notorious for changing the meaning of a sentence.
People/organizations are judged by the quality (and sometimes quantity) of their written output. Mistakes look unprofessional BUT also create questions in the minds of the readers about the capabilities and skills of the authors/organizations. Minor mistakes can be disastrous at worst and can also detract from the power of your writing and your message. The challenge is that so many of us have not been truly taught to write well, and we only discover this in last-minute situations where the stakes are high.
These many factors contribute to the need to work with skilled professionals to enhance, polish, refine, double-check and confirm the meaning of your written texts. We MUST have 4 “s” in the word “assess” and if we drop the final one, we have just embarrassed ourselves.
I am here to help. I have extensive experience with a wide range of texts (from course papers, to reports, to book chapters) and have been helping people focus on refining their language and writing for over 15 years. Much of my experience is in the realm of academia, but in addition to this, I have supported writers at all levels in 5 different countries. I have traditionally published two academic books and several book chapters, as well as articles and even poems.
Types of documents:
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Research articles
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Poster presentations
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Books
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Grant applications
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Reports
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Letters of application (fellowships, grants, graduate school, programs, funding)
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Conference proposals, posters, and PowerPoints
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Book chapters
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Research articles
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Course papers (VERY ethically)
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Comprehensive exams
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Research proposals
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Dissertation proposals
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Dissertations AND transforming dissertations into books
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Theses
