A perfect thesis is vital for overall success of the PhD journey. To make a thesis perfect in all senses, one needs to enhance it, edit the content and proofread the research document on the completion of the writing process.
However, it is more than common to see scholars facing difficulty in editing and proofreading their research paper at the last stage of their research work. Hence, at this stage it is advisable to engage second pair of qualified eyes to go through the research document. Substantive editing, proofreading and copy editing are the most popular among different kinds of editing.
Substantive editing, also known as structural editing, is the first step in the editing or revising process. This type of editing focuses on the content, organization, and presentation of the entire content, throughout the research document. Substantive editors help writers define their goals, identify their readers, and shape the manuscript in the best possible way.
- In the substantive editing process, the editors will
- Check if the organisation and the presentation are appropriate?
- Inspect if the title, tone and language used is effective or not?
- Does the content follow the logical flow, are the sentences organised in a structured manner.
- Is there a appropriate relation between 2 major points?
- And rearrangement of sentences wherever necessary.
- Is the argument or the plot clear and well-paced.
- Is there any repetition to be eliminated and is the ending effective and satisfying?
Copy editing is often confused with proofreading. The purpose of copy editing is to ensure proper word usage and fix phrasing, suggesting alternatives wherever necessary. The copy editor will
- Check for the correctly spelled words
- Checks for grammatical errors
- Eliminates superfluous words, sentences or sections.
- Check if the content and tone of the content suits the targeted audience and inspects if it can be improved without compromising original the writing style.
On the other hand, proofreading is a process of resolving grammatical, misspellings and typological errors in a research document.
- The professional proofreader reviews the document and checks for errors in spelling, word choice, grammar, punctuation, and english usage and nullifies all the errors.
- Proofreaders delete or add sentences or phrases so that the research paper is clearly presented.
Proofreading and editing a research paper before you turn it in can mean the difference and can reward you with an excellent grade. So before submitting the research paper to the review committee hire a professional editors/ proofreaders so that the research paper is judged for its content and not for poor language or silly mistakes.