Okay, so you’ve finished your long-awaited dissertation, but you feel that it needs some finishing touches. How do you find a good dissertation editor with a PhD?

Editor With a PhD

The most important issue is to ensure that you find a good dissertation editor with sound knowledge of what dissertation editing is all about. One who preferably has a PhD and if you’re lucky, some academic experience.

The editor must be familiar with what examiners and supervisors are looking for when they read your dissertation. Your editor needs to know where references are missing, or where there is a lack of justification for your statements. They should be able to guide you to what your examiners are seeking.

The next step in how to find a good dissertation editor is that they should be familiar with all of the academic reference styles, such as APA, MLA, Chicago, etc., to ensure that your dissertation is formatted to these styles.

Lots of websites can offer you the basics of the different style guides, for instance, english.purdue.edu or MLA.  I especially like the one from Purdue, as it gives you a guide to each of the different styles.

Your school should also provide you with a template or guideline for your dissertation. Again, you need to feel stress-free when you hand your dissertation over. So ensure your editor is on top of all of these different styles and will format your work to the correct one.

Find a Professional Editor With Experience in Your Field of Study

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, is don’t be afraid to ask about your editor’s experience.

Giving your dissertation to a professional editor is a big step. It may have taken you years to reach this stage, and you need to feel happy about it.

At FirstEditing, our dissertation editors have PhDs and are familiar with academic editing. So please feel free to ask all the questions you like, and we’ll be happy to answer them.

We know your dissertation is important to you. When you entrust us with your dissertation, it will be important to us too!

Originally posted 8/21/2010 and happily updated 10/29/2017. Thanks for reading!