The benefits of having more than 1500 editors available to you are clearly visible when it comes to editing documents from a very specialised field, or at different levels of academic achievement. We try hard to match your edit with an editor who has experience and knowledge in your particular area.
SCIENTIFIC EDITING
We understand the need for an expert scientific editor
Scientific writing and editing is often the bane of any scientist's life. After months or even years spent on research, no scientist likes to find that attention to their results is being hampered by the quality of their expression in English. An important part of a scientist's work, however, is the ability to communicate their work and findings to their peers as well as to the general public, and our scientific editing service exists for the sole purpose of making this part of thei job as simple as possible for scientific researchers.
An important part of a scientists work however is the ability to communicate their work and findings with their peers as well as society at large, and scientific editing exists for the sole purpose of making this part of their job as simple as possible.
How we can help you
With over 1500 editors we can provide you with an expert editor who has a background in the sciences and more often than not experience in your particular specialisation. Subject -specific knowledge plus the excellent writing skills or experts command contributes to the highest quality of editing offered by any company.
Our Expert Editor
Here is one of our specialist scientific editors explaining how he approaches the typical edit of a scientific document.
In this piece I'd like to discuss a few of the basic principles of scientific editing that I've picked up from my own experience.
- Fresh pair of eyes and quick overview
My first approach is to read quickly through any manuscript - fixing spelling and grammatical mistakes. This gives me a quick overview of the material and helps me to determine what the paper is about and also to fix a lot of small mistakes that I might overlook later in the editing process. It also gives me a feel for how well the paper is written, how well the different parts of it 'flow' into each other, and how cohesive the paper is on the whole.
- Scientific Consistency
The next thing I always check for is the level of scientific consistency throughout the paper. It is crucial that the same technical term is used throughout to describe something -scientific papers often use a lot of scientific shorthand, such as abbreviations, jargon, symbols and so on, and it can be very easy to get these mixed up. My job is to make sure that they remain consistent and meaningful throughout the paper.
- Format and structure
Scientific papers and essays have a very established format or sequence of parts which must be adhered to if the piece is to receive a high grade at submission.
I ensure the first section accurately defines the problem and illustrates awareness of any existing work in the field - discussed its shortcomings and advantages. This section should include the reason for carrying out the work under discussion - i.e. what the advantages of the new proposed method are. This should be a solid beginning.
The next part should contain the bulk of the writing, discussing the methods used for the study, data collection and theoretical explanation of methods in detail.
Finally the results should be discussed as well as a possible comparison of results with other methods. On my second read I try and make sure that these components are all in the correct order. If they are not I will proceed to rewrite them where I think they should be.
- Clarity
I cannot stress enough how important it is to ensure that the writing does not contradict itself, that something said in the first paragraph of the first page does not disagree with a point made further into the document. This is more frequent than most people imagine, and while it is usually just a careless mistake, it can make the whole paper seem confusing and worse, fallacious.
- Style
Having checked for structure and substance my final checkpoint is style. Writing for academic scientific purposes is often a hard stylistic task. It should not read too informally as that risks it not being taken seriously, but it should also not be too rigid and dull. I try to preserve the academic tone of the paper, but also to increase its 'readability' until I am happy that it satisfies both requirements.
Over these two reads I aim to put the paper together in the best structure possible. I will typically re-read it for consistency and whenever possible check that the discussion agrees with the results and that the piece overall reads in a logically consistent manner. With structure, substance and style taken care of, I send the piece back to the author with my changes and suggestions, and with best wishes for the future of the piece.
PHD EDITING
We understand the need for an expert PhD editor
One of the benefits of having your PhD edited with us is that unlike you, your editor has not spent three or more years researching your specific subject area. On being faced with the work for the first time, it is much easier for them to focus on major structural issues, and editing is particularly useful for improving style and or picking up on the misspellings and grammatical mistakes that creep into long pieces which have often undergone much revision and re-ordering.
How we can help
Although PhD subjects tend, by definition, to be very specialised we can often place your edit in the hands of an editor who has academic expertise in your field of study. You ca be certain that your editor will have a general understanding of the content along with well-honed and exceptional writing skills.
A fresh pair of eyes
The editor's approach allows a ruthless streak to develop where required. Writers often become attached to their projects, the value of which is often much enhanced by a ruthless cut to fit the required word count. Your editor will leave the kernel - and discard the chaff.
A clear message
In addition, your editor will actively look for errors of style and substance. Is the numbering of tables consistent? Is the page number referred to accurate? Is this the right graph? Do these sums make sense? However, the most important questions your editor will ask themselves are 'What is the writer trying to say here? Do I understand what is being said here? Is there a better way to put it so the message is clearer?
Let us shape your content
Your editor is usually concerned more concerned with form and layout; you provide the ideas and it is the task of your editor to grasp these ideas and to ensure that they are expressed appropriately and to the standard required.
Our Services
Editing at the Ph.D level can comprise a number of different tasks and there is no set format. Services required can range from a full proofread to a paraphrase of a section or an application of the correct formatting. Checking references is a always a very necessary procedure and often better when not done by the writer. If you are stuck for am abstract or a conclusion these can also be provided.
Your work
It is important to remember that your editor will not have totally immersed themselves in the subject as you have so if, for example, an introduction is required, you should send the whole thesis.
Our editors are highly versatile and will always complete the tasks to the highest standards expected of an Oxbridge Editor.
Also, as we provide a totally personalised service, remember that the more information we have to give to your editor - the better the job that can be done.
