By Cally Guerin
When I was at the Plagiarism Advice conference in the UK recently, the role of professional editors in doctoral theses came up in a discussion. I was taken aback by the surprise expressed by my UK counterparts that such a thing could be possible, even perfectly respectable, in Australia. It made me reflect (yet again!) on what best serves the candidate and the academy in this respect.
The Deans and Directors of Graduate Studies (DDOGs) and the Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) in Australia agreed on a set of guidelines for professional editing of theses in 2001. These have since been updated to take into account current digital technologies in order to allow editors to use track changes on theses. The details are available on their website.
Some myths about doctoral writing and editing
Editing is mostly for international students who use English as an Additional Language (EAL): Of course, for those students who are struggling with English grammar and sentence structure, an editor can tidy up their writing to ensure that the reader is not distracted by surface details of expression. Research by Mullins and Kiley and Carter into the examination of theses has shown that carefully proofed, polished documents are received well by examiners. Many people find it hard to notice errors in their own work, so this is an advantage for all students, not just EAL students.
PhD students are already good writers: We know perfectly well that some PhD students are already experienced writers, but others have not previously written long documents. Achieving high grades in exams focusing on multiple choice and short answer questions as an undergraduate requires very different skills from presenting a sustained argument over the course of a whole thesis. Even for those presenting a thesis by publication with a series of journal-length papers, the expectations of this level of writing can be somewhat mysterious. And then again, some students are comfortable communicating through formulae or diagrams, but struggle when it comes to writing prose.
Supervisors know how to help students develop their writing skills over the course of candidature: Certainly, some supervisors have an excellent understanding of how to teach writing, but others ‘correct’ their students’ writing without being able to articulate the grammatical or stylistic principles underlying the changes. Students can happily accept those changes, but do not necessarily in the process learn to be better writers without direct instruction about why the supervisors’ suggestions are better than their first attempt. Certainly some students will improve their own writing when working this way, but others need rather more. Lots of students and supervisors also tell me that supervisors simply don’t have time to focus on writing development for individual students.
But how much editing is too much?
The concerns expressed by my colleagues at the conference seemed to stem from anxiety that the editor might intervene in the writing too much, so that it was no longer the student’s own work. This is where the Guidelines mentioned above can be very helpful. The appropriate level of intervention is clearly spelt out there in relation to copyediting (clarity of expression, grammar, spelling, punctuation) and proofreading (checking for consistency, ensuring everything is complete, including accuracy in references). Professional editors should not comment on substance and structure, which is the domain of the supervisors and the students themselves. The details of what is included under each of these headings can be found in the Australian Standards for Editing Practice.
It would be interesting to hear about your experiences with academic editors – what has been most useful, and what has been disappointing (hopefully any negative experiences have been disappointing rather than devastating!).
DoctoralWriting SIG 
I am an Australian-based IPEd accredited editor and a trained academic editor. I have copyedited many academic theses. I wish to clarify some of the information provided here.
First, the Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) was not previously the Society of Editors. IPEd is a recently established national body, which replaced the Council of Australian Societies of Editors.
Second, editing a thesis is not about helping the student to ‘present a sustained argument over the course of a whole thesis’. The IPEd ‘Guidelines for editing research theses’ clearly describe and explain the extent and nature of editorial services that professional editors can provide when editing theses. The guidelines are clear about what is and is not acceptable intervention on the part of the editor. The guidelines state: ‘Professional editorial intervention should be restricted to copyediting and proofreading. This type of advice is covered in Standards D and E of ASEP.’ The guidelines go on to say, ‘The editor may draw attention to matters of substance and structure (Standard C) but should not provide solutions.’
Therefore, helping the student ‘to present a sustained argument over the course of a whole thesis’ is certainly not acceptable.
Hi Wendy,
Thanks for your response, and I apologise for the mistake about the change in name of IPEd. I’ll correct the posting. Was there another name previously? When I worked as an editor (admittedly, quite a few years ago now), I thought the national Australian organisation had a different name.
Your point about the sustained argument is quite right, of course. I was trying to make the point that for many students doctoral writing is quite different from the kinds of writing they have done before, and started going off at a bit of a tangent from my main point – a good example of what not to do in writing!
Cally
Hi Cally,
The previous organisation was called the Council of Australian Societies of Editors.
Thanks Wendy – I’ll remember for future discussions!
Thanks for a really interesting and thought-provoking post.
As an EAP (English for Academic Purposes) teacher in the UK, I’ve always felt a bit uneasy about international students having their work proofread or edited. I don’t think I have an issue with PhD students, but I get a bit more twitchy at Master’s level, which most of my students are.
I think it’s because for many international students, part of the cachet attached to getting a qualification from a UK university is around the inference it has that they have a very high level of English, esp. when thinking about future job prospects. Thus, if they had to have their work edited in order to get a pass, then can they really communicate in their chosen area effectively in English? Isn’t the idea of being able to communicate your ideas clearly and effectively part of what a university qualification recognizes?
Hi Julie, I agree that it’s not all that straight forward. I’m interested to hear more people’s views about this, as it is certainly a complex, vexed issue. For me, it’s partly about recognising everything else that has also been achieved in the research as well as all the is actually right in the writing in terms of structure, content, argument, voice, etc. I would even go so far as to say that I see missing articles, subject/verb agreement, verb forms, part of speech, etc. as just surface details — provided they don’t interfere with communicating the message. If the language issues are of the kind that make it very difficult to work out what the author is trying to say, then an editor can’t help anyway. So, particularly for doctoral students, I want to see the research itself presented in the best possible way. But I would also add that the more language development EAL students can get along the way, the better, so that they graduate with the best possible set of research skills in all areas.
I hope no one minds that I am recommending a book that I, myself have written, but my graduate students have told me that it was extremely helpful for them as they went through a process that is difficult for everyone. The title is _Writing the Successful Thesis and Dissertation: Entering the Conversation_ and it is published by Prentice Hall.
Hi Irene, it sounds like a great book. I’ll add it to our library so that others will come across it in this context. Thanks for sharing the information.
I used a copyeditor for my PhD thesis. For me the big advantage was that I didn’t have to worry about editing for grammar, word use, and consistency across the whole 300 page document at the same time as freaking out about getting ready to submit. I’m sure I could have done it myself but it would have taken much much longer and not been as thorough.
The feedback from my brilliant editor also made me notice some errors that I was making again and again without noticing, or had not even realised were errors!
One of the things I found difficult was actually finding an editor to work with, it seemed that the list of people the University had on file included a lot of people who thought they’d be able to edit because they themselves had written a thesis. I ended up going with an editor/copyeditor who I had been following on Twitter for a long time. She was based in the US but incredibly responsive and easy to work with. Thank god for email 🙂
Hi Emily, good to hear what you found most useful in the process. I worry about those leaflets I see pinned up on uni noticeboards advertising editing services. Who knows what their qualifications are, or how accurate their advice might be? There are certainly some people who don’t appreciate the specific skills and expertise that editing requires, or who are unaware of the different expectations in different disciplines. At my university I created a Register of Editors by circulating all staff and asking them to recommend editors who had worked for them in a professional capacity and whose work they were happy with. It’s not a guarantee, but gives at least some guidance to finding good editors who are familiar with disciplinary expectations. When you find a good editor, stick to them, as they can be a wonderful help in academic life!
I never imagined people offering editing services would simply pin their leaflets to university notice boards! You are right to wonder what their qualifications are or how accurate their advice may be.
This perceived (and real) lack of standards in editing (particularly freelance editing) was one of the main reasons for the establishment of IPEd (Institute of Professional Editors): to develop and manage an accreditation scheme for the editing profession, and to maintain and promote Australian standards for editing practice.
In 1998, the Australian standards for editing practice were developed. Accredited editors have demonstrated their professional competence and understanding of editing standards, skills and knowledge (as set out in the standards) by passing the IPEd accreditation exam. The IPEd exam is rigorous; candidates must score at least 80% to pass.
I suggest that students in the first instance seek out IPEd-accredited editors and only those who are experienced in academic editing — a very specialised field.
More information about IPEd and accredited editors can be found at the IPEd website: http://iped-editors.org/Accreditation.aspx
Thanks for this, Wendy. Do any of our other readers have suggestions about similar national organisations in other countries?
Most high level South African journals expect all authors, irrespective of their language background, to have a signed letter by an accredited editor verifying that it has been edited. This ensures that standards are upheld in terms of copyediting and proofreading and all authors are treated equally. I think that is the acceptable involvement of an editor and does not undermine the content of the author.
It’s an interesting requirement – certainly great for business from an editor’s point of view! I wonder if this kind of proofreading of journal articles used to be done in-house by an individual journal’s own staff, but now the cost of editing is being borne by the authors?
Thanks for the interesting post, Cally.
I have done editing and proof reading for other people and consider myself a careful writer, but I always like to have my own work proof read before I submit it to a journal, and I had my thesis proof read too. It’s so easy to miss little mistakes because we’re so familiar with our own work.
I completely agree – it’s very hard to read one’s own work accurately!
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Hi, Can you please advise? What is a reasonable level of mistakes to remain in a thesis after it has been professional copyedited by an accredited editor (Australian)?
I’m asking because I’ve had my thesis edited…but found several instances of spelling mistakes, inconsistency in straight quotes / smart quotes, alterations to verbatim quotes from participants and many citations without page numbers or inappropriately with page numbers! How to negotiate with an editor if you don’t think their work is meeting the Australian Standards?
This is a tricky question, but I know from my own experience that it is impossible to guarantee perfection. (One thing I’ve learnt from life is the moment you open something that has just been published, you are bound to find some kind of typo or error!!) Looking at the end result in your case, examiners are not likely to fail a thesis based on a few inconsistencies if the content itself is strong, so long as the whole document looks like it has been dealt with carefully. I suggest you contact the IPEd organisation directly to ask how they handle it, and also the degree of concern that they might have. When you say ‘accredited’, I assume you mean accredited by them?
Your question is timely, as our next post is about editing!
Hi anon
As a professional editor, I’d say that even an edited manuscript is likely to have one or two errors remaining in it somewhere, simply because even editors are human and can miss things. But a manuscript that’s been edited by an Accredited Editor shouldn’t have more than that – the pass mark for the accreditation exam is set at 80% for a good reason! If the manuscript was edited at speed, though, mistakes are more likely to creep through, even for an AE.
I’d advise checking your contract with the editor, as it may have a clause allowing you to contact them again to get these issues corrected at no further cost. Alternatively, you might be able to negotiate a reduced rate due to the work not being up to the agreed standard (again, if your contract includes these options). If your editor doesn’t use formal contracts, negotiation might be trickier and I’d advise looping your supervisor in on the discussion to help advocate for you. I can’t find any resources on the IPEd website (http://iped-editors.org/) that address your issue, but if you have a look around you might find something I’ve missed.
Kerrie.
Thanks Kerrie.
You’ve raised some good points but unfortunately I don’t think I will be able to resolve my problem.
I simply had a email chain that expressly said “in accordance with the Australian Standards part D & E” but these aren’t specific enough to say how many mistakes are ok or not ok.
I’ve written to IPEd for some advice, but if any other students are looking for a Professional Editor — after my experience I would advice on a very specific contract.
Thanks
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