I’ve been teaching various composition classes from remedial writing to advanced comp at the university level for seven years. I teach at an APA school, and since all of those classes deal with one element or another of APA style and formatting, I’ve grown adept at helping students craft effective academic writing and format their papers appropriately. I also work with doctoral students as a freelance doctoral dissertation APA editor.
Is this academically honest? Yes. I’m not an academic ghostwriter. I do not do the research or write the paper. I simply help you revise, edit, and format your work to the best of your ability. Working with me is also a learning opportunity. If you approach the process as such, your writing for your next assignment or publication will be improved.
It is important to note that APA is concerned with format (how the document looks) and style (how it is written).
Client and student papers include topics in education, business, and psychology.
Services listed in typical chronological order within the revision and editing processes.
Academic Developmental Editing:
($0.01 – $0.02 a word)
A developmental edit is concerned with the big picture, to make sure that the paper presents the necessary information in the best order to make a compelling case for your hypothesis.
I can review a complete paper if it is available, or if you want feedback before completing an entire draft, I can review opening sections, an abstract, an outline, and even your pre-drafting notes.
You will receive feedback on the:
- strength of thesis statements
- organization of information
- use of research
- effectiveness and logic of the argument
When I provide a developmental edit, I’ll focus on the argument in favor of style and grammar. Feedback includes an editorial letter that addresses the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities in the paper based on the criteria mentioned above and will include occasional line notes in order to draw your attention to sections that exemplify the issues discussed in the letter.
APA Substantive / Line Editing:
($0.02 – $0.025 a word)
You’ve worked with an academic developmental editor, a trusted peer review group, your instructor, and/or your institution’s writing center, and you’ve locked down your paper’s thesis, organizing, and argument.
Now you’re ready to go through the paper to clean up the line-by-line stuff. While a copy edit will prepare your paper for submission, a line edit will dig deep into the style, how the words are arranged. This is the editorial stage that you can learn much from in order to become a stronger academic wordsmith, and if you approach it as a learning experience, your next project will demonstrate the results.
You will receive feedback on the:
- clarity of subject, logic, and consistency
- grammar and syntax
- citation guidelines from the APA 6th-Edition Manual, which includes mechanical and stylistic issues
Suggestions for rewriting to improve readability and effective usage of research are included. I will always note opportunities you have to make your arguments more effective and compelling. This is also the stage when proper citation usage will be checked–are they both mechanically correct and clearly attributing information? I’ll also confirm that your in-text citations and your references sheet match up.
While I won’t focus on big-picture issues, I will let you know if I don’t believe things are working. I’ll recommend that you go back to your editor, instructor, and/or research partners, or we can create a new contract and work together to fix those problems through a developmental edit.
Academic Copyediting:
($0.01 – $0.0175 a word)
You’ve already worked with an editor to make sure that the big-picture components of your paper are working. You’ve worked through the paper to clean up issues on the page, paragraph, sentence, and phrase levels. Your citations are clear and accurate.
Now you’re almost ready to turn in that paper for review, grading, or publication. Send me your near-final paper, and I will look for those nasty typos that like to avoid detection from eyes that have grown used to the words (here’s why). I will stay on the look out (whoops, that should be “lookout,” the noun form) for minor errors and inconsistencies.
You will receive a file with the following issues corrected or commented on:
- typographical errors
- punctuation errors
- misspellings (or word-choice errors)
- formatting inconsistencies
While I will focus on mechanical and technical issues, if I believe the paper still needs major work in either developmental or line editing, I’ll recommend that you go back to your editor, instructor, and/or research partners and discuss that with them . . . or we can create a new contract and work together to fix those problems. I can either provide a light critique or we can work together from the earlier stages of editing.
APA Formatting:
($0.0025 – $0.01 a word)
If all you need is for your paper to be formatted for APA, then this is the service for you. The low end of the charge scale is if you’ve already been attempting APA format, there are no special formatting requirements from your institution/target publication, and the document requires little work to fix–I’m basically double-checking the document. The higher range is for projects that have not been formatted for APA, have many institution-specific directions, and need more communication between us in order to make sure everything is formatted properly.