As a copy editor, my goal is to help you, the author, shine by identifying and fixing word- and sentence-level problems that may detract from your message and the reader experience. Copy editing involves four tasks:
1. A technical edit ensures that basic issues with spelling, grammar, and punctuation have been identified and corrected. Issues with dates or numbers in tables that do not total correctly (or do not match the text) will be queried for your review. All manuscripts benefit from a technical edit prior to submission.
2. A stylistic edit focuses on conforming a text to a specific style. I am proficient in APA style (i.e., Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition) and am familiar with MLA (i.e., the Modern Language Association Style Manual) and CMOS (i.e., Chicago Manual of Style). I am also happy to edit to other stylistic conventions, including in-house style guidelines, upon request. If you are unsure about the conventions of a particular style, your manuscript may benefit from a stylistic edit.
3. I can also review your manuscript to ensure that related parts match each other—in other words, a correlation edit. This might include checking in-text citations against the reference list, in-text references to tables or figures to the tables and figures themselves, or titles and authors in the table of contents to the chapter manuscript. While some of these issues might become apparent in a general reading of the text, more focused attention to these concerns is usually warranted, especially after major revisions have been completed.
4. A substantive edit (sometimes called line editing) involves a closer look at the author’s language and word choice in an effort to improve logic and clarity and address larger problems of structure and organization. It may involve addressing passive voice, eliminating unintentionally repeated words and phrases, reducing wordiness, revising for more inclusive language, and noting awkward phrasing. In addition to these sentence-level issues, a substantive edit may improve overall flow and organization when the editor adds transitions within or between paragraphs, revises headers or titles to more accurately forecast the content, deletes text (i.e., sentences or paragraphs) that doesn’t advance the argument, suggests areas where additional support (i.e., citations, examples) may be needed, and notes improvements for the introduction or conclusion. A substantive edit helps hone the power of your writing by attending to your goals, your message, and your audience’s needs.
Before we begin working together, we will decide what level of edit you would like for your project (in other words, which of these tasks will be most useful to you). If you are unsure, I am happy to review a 5-page sample (1,250 to 1,500 words) of your journal manuscript or book chapter, make a recommendation about the level of edit required, and provide a cost estimate for the project. For longer manuscripts (e.g., a book or dissertation), I will review up to a 10-page sample (2,500 to 3,000 words).
For any combination of technical, stylistic, and correlation editing, rates are $11.75/page. Rates for manuscripts requiring a substantive edit are $15.50/page. Please note: one page = 250 words.