Substantive editing
This edit is a crucial step in large or complex non-fiction projects and can help point writers in the right direction with their work. I’ll take an in-depth look at an early draft of your document to find big picture opportunities for strengthening its structure, content and style.
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Substantive editing aims to ensure that a document achieves its purpose. It does this by checking that information is appropriately focused, detailed and sequenced. Key messages might be drawn out, ideas developed, arguments investigated for logic and ambiguities untangled. Language, tone and the use of technical terms will be considered for their suitability to the audience. Substantive editing may involve shortening the document, suggesting the addition of material, or converting text to another format (e.g. list, table or diagram). The effective application of heading hierarchy will ensure the document is easy to navigate and the consideration of storytelling principles will help make it engaging to read.
See my post on substantive editing if you’d like to learn more.
Copyediting
Copyediting is what most people have in mind when they think about editing, and it’s indispensable to most written content. I’ll make a detailed inspection of the mechanics of the final draft of your document to ensure clarity of meaning and consistency of style at both the line and the document level.
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While copyediting is known for its correction of grammar, spelling and punctuation, it involves much more, such as improving word choice, syntax and sentence variability. If the subject matter has particular conventions, these will be applied, as will the requirements of the style manual or style guide in use. Elements such as tables and graphs will be reviewed, references cleaned up and facts checked. Solving structural and content problems isn’t the purpose of copyediting, though these will be flagged. Some of the edits made during a copyedit may seem insignificant on their own, but together they boost readability and the ease with which readers will understand your work. Copyediting is rules-based but requires instinct and judgement.
While a comprehensive edit includes both substantive editing and copyediting as separate stages, if you don’t have the time or budget for both, I can undertake copyediting that addresses some substantive aspects (those that wouldn’t necessitate major rewriting or reorganisation).
See my post on copyediting if you’d like to learn more.
Scientific and academic research editing
This thorough editorial review combines substantive editing and copyediting and is suited to research reports, journal articles and book chapters. I’ll address big issues and fix small mistakes that could, if left unattended to, undermine the credibility of your work or its chances of publication.
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Your text will be shaped into a coherent, cohesive story that readers will not only easily understand but also be engaged by. Potential problems in content, structure and expression relating to anything from data presentation to sentence construction will be investigated and improvements suggested. The prose will become more active and specific after vague words, negative compounds and excessive modifiers are replaced with precise nouns and strong verbs. Ambiguity has no place in research findings, so terminology will be looked at for consistency and noun strings for sense. If connections from one topic to the next aren’t logical and the flow of the argument isn’t smooth, paragraphs, and sentences within them, will be rearranged. Wordiness and redundancy obscuring your findings will be weeded out.
A check can be made that the manuscript meets any necessary requirements (e.g. of a journal or publication series), for example in number of words per section, heading hierarchy, unit and short form use, reference and citation style, and table and figure presentation; otherwise, standard conventions and internal consistency will be applied. And, of course, grammar, spelling, punctuation and other aspects of language usage are covered in this edit.
Please note that I don’t offer editing for student theses and dissertations.
Editorial and production support
I can help with the technical work involved in bringing a large project like a publication from concept through production to publication that may not be in your area of expertise. For example, I can:
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• Develop style sheets for projects
• Develop house style guides for organisations
• Write author guidelines
• Carry out photo research
• Advise on permissions for the use of copyright material
• Coordinate input from reviewers
• Evaluate manuscripts
• Run text through plagiarism detection software
• Compile abbreviations lists and glossaries
• Format Microsoft Word documents to specified requirements using templates
• Apply a polished look to documents that aren’t based on a template
• Prepare design briefs and work with designers
• Prepare material for and oversee layout or typesetting
• Write boilerplate text for high-throughput processes
• Provide advice on editorial and production processes
• Write guidelines to document best practice and train staff
• Check branding guidelines have been followed
• Select excerpts and quotes from a publication to use in promotional material
• Rewrite text to reach a new audience
