How to Choose What Level of Editing You Need
All researchers face rejection at one time or another. Not all proposals are selected for funding, and not all manuscripts are published after the first submission. This reality is a fact of life as a researcher.
There are many reasons why manuscripts and grants and rejected. The approach may not be sound, or the rationale may be weak. But one of the most common reasons for rejection is poor writing.
To prevent poor writing from limiting your success, you can work with a professional editor. In general, a fresh pair of eyes can be helpful. But a professional editor has a trained pair of eyes. A good editor will help you share your ideas in a clear and compelling way.
While all writers can benefit from working with an editor, not all writers need the same kind of help. There are different levels of editing that each has a different focus. How do you know what kind of editing help you need?
Levels of Editing
There are three main levels of editing: substantive editing, editing, and copyediting. Each of these levels incorporates the lower levels and can be customized to meet your individual needs.
Substantive Editing
Substantive editing is also called developmental editing. It focuses on ensuring that your content is well presented in a clear, concise, and compelling way.
Substantive editing addresses the following questions:
Does the title convey the research well?
Does the abstract clearly describe the background, rationale, aim, general approach, principal findings, conclusions, and significance of the work?
Is there enough background information to understand what is being proposed or what has been done? Is all of the information relevant?
Is the rationale clear?
Are the research question and/or hypotheses clearly stated?
Is the significance or potential impact of the work clear?
Are the methods explained well enough that they could be repeated by other researchers?
Do the results support the conclusions? Are the conclusions overdrawn?
Are the limitations discussed?
Are there any inconsistencies or repetitiveness in the content?
Does each section include relevant information?
Are the ideas explained in a logical order?
Does a single voice come through in the writing?
Are the tone, formality, and readability appropriate for the targeted readers?
Are the tables and figures presented in the most effective way?
After substantive editing, your document will be ready for editing.
Stylistic Editing
Stylistic editing has a sharper focus than copyediting (to be discussed later). It looks at sentences and paragraphs to correct language errors, inconsistencies, repetition, and awkward phrases that disrupt the flow of your writing.
Stylistic editing addresses the following questions:
Are the same terms and ideas used consistently?
Are there any repetitive or redundant words, phrases, or sections?
Are the correct terms used?
Are there any wordy phrases that can be eliminated?
Is there excessive use of the passive voice that can be reduced?
Are there shorter words that can be substituted for longer ones?
Does each sentence deal with one idea? Does each paragraph discuss one topic?
Does the document fit within the page or word limits?
Do the callouts refer to the correct tables and figures?
Are the tables formatted consistently?
After editing, your document will be ready for copyediting.
Copyediting
Proofreading and copyediting are often thought to be the same, but they are slightly different. Proofreading generally refers to minor edits that correct a proof from the publisher. Copyediting, however, is a lighter style of editing that focuses on removing language errors and inconsistencies.
Copyediting addresses the following questions:
Are the words spelled correctly?
Is the grammar correct?
Are the punctuation and capitalization correct?
Are all of the abbreviations defined when first used?
Does the writing consistently use US or UK English?
Are any sentences too long?
Is the document in the required format (e.g., fonts, margins)?
Understanding Your Needs
To choose the right kind of editing help, you need to know what your strengths and weakness are as a writer. Do you struggle to organize your ideas in a logical way? You might consider substantive editing. Do you overuse passive voice or wordy phrases? Editing might be right for you. Do you just want to make sure your writing does not contain any grammatical errors? Then copyediting might be the way to go.
If you are working with a good editor, they will tailor their editing to meet your needs. Do you want them to do a copyedit but also improve the passive voice and shorten the text? They can do that. Do you want them to do a substantive edit but not give you any advice on the figures? They can do that too. Do you want them to do a substantive edit on an early draft and then a copyedit closer to submission? You bet. They are there to support you in the best way for you.
Getting the Right Support
Many researchers believe they are great writers. While they are very good at their research, they are rarely trained on how to write. You may think that you only need copyediting, when you really need more. If you only correct spelling and punctuation mistakes in a poorly structured manuscript, then you will still have a poorly structured manuscript.
When getting ready to work with an editor, consider your strengths and weaknesses as a writer. You can also ask your editor to quickly review your writing to point out any weaknesses that they see. Then you can work with your editor to customize their level of editing to meet your needs. They are there to support you, no matter what you need.
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