Dissertations & capstones

  • Proofreading

  • Editing

  • Formatting

  • APA Compliance

What I do: 

  • Editing: I do light to medium copy editing. I check spelling, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure, as well as do minor rewriting (substituting a word or changing a sentence around for clarity). I find most PhD and EdD students are good enough writers that they do not need more in-depth editing than this. However, I make lots of comments on issues such as disorganization, confusing text, repetition, etc...
  • APA compliance: I ensure in-text citations and references are correct and that APA writing conventions (all the mechanics of chapter 6 of the manual) are followed. I have expert command of APA 7.
  • Formatting: I format the document following the APA manual and your university’s guidelines and/or template—everything from the title page to your last appendix, including an auto-update table of contents, list of tables, and list of figures.
  • If you request it, I will check whether all references are cited in text and vice versa. I can also look up missing information from references, but I do not create new citations.
  • Specializations: Most dissertations I edit are in the fields of education, psychology/counseling, and business, but I am comfortable with all subjects in the social sciences.
  • Documents must be in Word. I recommend you don't write your dissertation in Google Docs. In my experience, it's a huge formatting mess when you transfer it to Word.

Turnaround time: This depends on how many projects I have, but generally I return a dissertation within 1-2 weeks.

What I don’t do:

  • I am committed to academic honesty, so I do not do any new writing or heavy rewriting. However, I point out illogical statements, disorganization, areas that need clarification, etc...
  • Coaching on writing, research, or the dissertation process other than suggestions using the comment feature.
  • Working with tables at the cell level. I do the captions, continue headers onto the next page, and can flip tables landscape, sometimes resize them, and of course copy edit the contents, but I do not create tables or reformat them. The structure of your tables need to be ready to go when the dissertation is submitted to me.
  • Copy and paste different parts together. Please have it all assembled when I receive it, or plan to insert items when you get it back from me.
  • Create references from hyperlinks or in-text citations.