Thesis and Dissertation Editing and Proofreading

Most people who contact with with a thesis or dissertation to edit are concerned with price and time. Thus is the nature of the game: theses and dissertations invariably have a deadline, and just as invariably, students and postgraduates will put off the work until just before the paper is due, and suddenly seek out an editor hastily.

There's nothing necessarily wrong with this; if you're an editor, you've got to be prepared to work long and hard on a moment's notice. I'll often be pleasantly surprised with 20,000 word paper that needs to be finished ASAP.

Even so - don't lose track of what's important in a thesis or dissertation. Sure, punctuation, grammar, spelling should all be flawless. However, at the same time and probably much more important is the content, that also needs to be checked. A few careful remarks by a capable editor can catch mistakes in logic or reasoning that would otherwise sink a thesis or dissertation.

Do it right! It's actually pretty simple.

1) The thesis or dissertation should have ONE main focus or topic, called the 'thesis statement' or main claim. It should be in the introduction, hopefully within the first couple of pages. It should be one sentence long, one paragraph at most. Often I've found bits and pieces of statements strewn throughout a dissertation - it must be all together, tight and focused, in the beginning. Find it, flag it, suggest a relocation if necessary.

2) Hopefully there will be a nice clean outline in the introduction, along the lines of "This is what we will argue. This is how we will argue it. First...then...next...after that...finally". It should be there; it's called the chapter outline and is usually required. If it's missing, flag it. It's easy to write, especially when the rest is finished.

3) Each chapter should have a focus. Each chapter should be introduced along the lines of "in the last chapter, we found/discovered/argued.... In this chapter, we will X, by A, B and C". Always provide a map. Tell readers what you want to do, how you're going to do it, and then DO it. This way your argument will be so much more powerful and convincing (even if it isn't really, it will seem as if it is.)

4) Include and cite references correctly, using the format you are required to use (tell the editor what it is; editors you should ask). MLA, Chicago, APA... they're all unique. Editors honestly don't have time to fix everything, so writers make sure they're pretty close to good - ie you tried your best. We'll catch little things, but can't completely rework everything.

5) CONCLUDE. Too many theses or dissertations simply die off quietly (probably because students secretly hope their advisors won't actually read the whole thing).

Even if they don't read your paper word-for-word, you can bet that they'll flip to the conclusion, which should recap your entire argument, paraphrase your main argument and evidences, and very definitively reiterate how and why you've actually proved what you set out to prove (or, been surprised by the results which suggested something you didn't set out to find.)

The conclusion is very important - a lot of the paper can be fluff. It's hard to be perfect everywhere. Make sure your very best and strongest writing is in the introduction and conclusion, make sure the rest sticks to the basic outline you proposed, and you'll be fine.

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