The Thesis Edit

Do you want your thesis professionally edited but don’t know where to start? Both the Editors’ Association of Canada (Editors Canada) and your university provide guidelines for editing theses.

In the publication “Guidelines for Ethical Editing of Theses/Dissertations,” Editors Canada suggests you obtain written permission from your thesis supervisor before hiring an editor, and a permission agreement form is provided at the end of the publication. The various types of editing are also described.

Be sure to check the guidelines provided by your university, too. For example, The University of Waterloo’s “Editing of Graduate Theses” page does a great job providing students with clear editing advice.

For many students, a copy edit will probably do the trick. As your copy editor, I will perform the following operations at your discretion:

  • editing for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and usage
  • editing for consistency of style (establishing and maintaining consistency in things such as capitalization, abbreviations, and treatment of numbers)
  • editing for internal consistency of facts
  • editing for consistency of style of graphs, tables, and maps
  • indicating hierarchy of headings and subheadings

I will provide you with a contract that lists the above operations and any other ones you’d like performed. Editors Canada’s “Guidelines” provide a sample checklist for this.

As stipulated by Editors Canada and by universities, I won’t introduce new content or correct your citations, but I will call your attention to any problems by querying you. I will provide you with a marked-up file of your thesis in case your supervisor requests to see it. You may also be required to submit the contract with the editing details.

If you want your thesis edited, rest assured that, by hiring a professional editor, all the details will be taken care of.

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