Posts Tagged ‘Professional Editing’
Sunday, May 22nd, 2011
 The definition of a white paper is somewhat broad. It initially referred to mainly government papers, which can later extended to include commercial documents. Nonetheless, a white paper is a term that describes an authoritative report or guide on a specific subject. Thus, they are often requested and used in politics, policy, business, academic and technical fields. In commercial use, the term encompasses documents used by businesses as a marketing or sales tool.
Whatever their origin, white papers are frequently cited in publications, especially in academic writing. Thus, the citation and referencing rules that apply to other sources information govern the use of white papers. Depending on the style guide chosen for the presentation of your thesis, different formats will apply. Hence when editing your thesis, you might find the guidelines given below useful, where the white paper citation and referencing formats applicable to some popular style guides are presented.
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Tags: editing, Professional Editing, writing
Posted in Editing Skills & Services | No Comments »
Saturday, March 5th, 2011
 You have that final research paper nearly done, and you want it as flawless as possible before submitting it to your professor. After careful investigation, you decide to hire an editing firm such as FirstEditing (www.firstediting.com) and have one of their professional academic editors help you.
But wait—what exactly does an academic editor do? What should you expect from your editor? Below are some tips on what a professional editor can, will and should do, as well as what s/he cannot, won’t and shouldn’t do.
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Tags: editing, Editing Skills & Services, editors, paper editing services, Professional Editing, professional editor, Technical Editing, writing tips
Posted in Dissertations | 1 Comment »
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011
 You’ve proofread and edited undergraduate papers and even graduate-level papers, but now you’re getting ready to work on the biggie: your master’s thesis or your doctoral dissertation. Panic sets in as you realize that this is beyond the scope of your previous academic editing experience…and maybe even skills, you’re thinking now. “What was I thinking?” you groan, clutching your head.
So what can you do, besides panic? Hire a professional editor to ensure your degree-culminating work is as error-free as possible. The professional editors at FirstEditing (www.firstediting.com) are experienced at working with theses and dissertations to polish them and make them suitable for submission to even the nit-pickiest prof.
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Tags: dissertation, editing, Professional Editing, professional editor, Thesis Editing, thesis editing secrets
Posted in Dissertations, Thesis/Research Writing | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
 A huge part of successful non-fiction writing is clarity of thought and the ability to get the information to the reader. Sure, good writing is important, but, unlike fiction, the facts and subject are key, and the efficiency with which that’s conveyed to a reader, are a top priority.
And, since the whole point of editing is clarity, it is one of the biggest tools in taking a non-fiction book from the writer’s computer to the publishing phase.
The best thoughts, the most thoroughly researched non-fiction book, will never make it to the publishing process if it’s full of typos, misspellings, grammatical errors, or poorly structured. First impressions are vital when pitching a book to a publisher. Yes, there are editors on the publishing end, too. But your non-fiction book will never make it to those editors if the initial look doesn’t pass muster.
There is a lot a writer can do to take that first step. When first editing a non-fiction book, computer tools like spell check and grammar check are particularly helpful. And there are plenty of on-line references.
owl.english.purdue.edu is a particularly helpful one for grammar and style issues. So is mla and apastyle for formatting research papers, including references and citations. And nothing can beat the classic The Elements of Style for rules for good and clear writing. While Elements doesn’t have a website, references to it can be found in many places online. Or go old school and buy a hard copy and keep it by your computer, as many professional editors do. You will find yourself referring to it often.
But even if you’ve diligently scoured your non-fiction book for errors, a second set of eyes is always essential. Particularly if you relied heavily on spell check, which is a tool, but not an automatic writing button that takes the place of common sense and editing knowledge. Someone needs to make sure that the word wanted in the text is were, not where. Or elicit, not illicit. (more…)
Tags: firstediting, firstediting.com, non fiction writing, Professional Editing, professional editor, writers
Posted in Fiction Editing, Writer's Tips | 2 Comments »
Sunday, February 27th, 2011
 Finally, after all those hours spent writing your dissertation or thesis, it is almost finished. But now you need some help to finalize the finished project – to polish up the text, ensure that all tables and figures are inserted properly, and that it is correctly formatted to the intended style – that’s where a dissertation editor comes in. With a PhD and/or academic experience, we know exactly what’s required for that final copy, the one that your committee and examiners will see.
I’m here to give you tips on how to ensure that your thesis or dissertation is the best it can be. Always start with the basics – does your thesis conform to your school’s or university’s formatting policy. If you don’t know if it has one, then check! If it is a standard style, such as APA, MLA, Chicago, and so on, then numerous online sites (owl.english.purdue.edu, mla, etc) can easily (more…)
Tags: dissertation, dissertation editing, editing, firstediting.com, Professional Editing, thesis, Thesis Editing, Thesis Planning
Posted in Dissertations, Thesis/Research Writing | No Comments »
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