Academic editing involves editing documents for submission to colleges, schools, or universities, or as part of training or employment at an educational institution. These documents can be essays, dissertations, theses, papers, magazine articles, books, etc. The first step in academic editing is the same as for general editing, that is, making sure the language is correct in terms of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and syntax. Institutions, journals, and publishers often require a specific design, so make sure you know the format and guidelines to follow in your academic document.
Many institutions want their students to follow a particular style. Examples of this include Harvard, MLA, APA, Chicago, AMA, and Oxford. Lists of all of these guides can be found online, and it is important that these guidelines are followed as closely as possible.
Academic documents generally include references and a bibliography. Previous works must be cited correctly and you must follow the appropriate style in your document. Here is an example of an APA-style reference:
Berndt, T.J. (2002). Quality of friendship and social development. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 7-10.
All style guides have different rules about where the date should be, whether the author’s initials come before or after the last name, whether or not to use ampersands, etc. Therefore, it is imperative that checks are made against the style guide and the document itself. In academic writing, language must be precise, formal, follow a logical structure, and be supported by evidence. Academic editing services help writers ensure that the language used meets these criteria.
Most institutions and style guides will have an order that a dissertation, journal article, or other manuscript should follow. For a dissertation, there will be specifications of what should go on the title page, which can then be followed by a copyright page, acknowledgments, preface, abstract, table of contents with page numbers, list of tables, list of figures, list of illustrations, etc. This content will be followed by individual chapters, with an introduction and main body. Lastly, appendices (if applicable), endnotes (if applicable), and lastly, references will be presented.
As the specifications will vary for each academic document, it is important that your document is closely examined. Let your editor know what the specifications are when you submit the document so they understand your individual editing needs.
Academic editing ensures that your academic document follows the proper style, format, and presentation. The language used must be formal, follow a logical structure and be informative. The scholarly edition is often more structured than the regular edition because it involves following many guidelines and rules. It’s important to choose your editor carefully, making sure they have relevant experience and a great track record.