Academic Editing Services

academicediting.com

Editing background

I've been editing academic papers since 1986, when I helped produce two journals at Western Washington University. To date, I've edited over 700 research papers, 9 books, and 22 doctoral dissertations. Over 80% of those research papers have been published in English-language journals or anthologies.

From 1988 to 1994 I taught English, edited papers, wrote my own stories, and hosted a daily radio show in Mainland China and Taiwan. In Taipei I helped researchers at Academia Sinica and National Taiwan, National Zheng Zhi, Soochow, and Tsing Hua Universities to publish their manuscripts.

From 1994 to 1999, the majority of my clients were non-native speakers, mostly from Taiwan and Japan. Today my clients are evenly divided between native and non-native English speakers.

Teaching background

I was a writing teacher for three years in the evening degree program of National Zheng Zhi University in Taipei, and I spent two years teaching in the ESL program at the University of Washington in Seattle. Correcting all of those student papers helped me learn how to read between the lines and understand the intended meaning of writers whose first language is Chinese, Japanese, or Arabic.

I also have experience in the news media. For three years I produced stories for National Public Radio in the United States as a freelancer. I was a general assignment reporter, but most of my stories were science-oriented. This background allows me to work on papers that cover a wide range of topics. Occasionally I am faced with a paper that has a lot of jargon that I am not familiar with. In such cases, I will try my best to introduce the client to an editor who has experience in that particular field of study.

What does this experience mean?

It means that I can usually guess correctly what writers are trying to say, even if their English is faulty. I can take a paragraph such as this:

English language have been socially, politically, and culturally symbolized as Americanization. Historically, immigrants in the United States have lost their native language and culture for displacement of American ideology (Hakuta, 1986). Therefore, there has been a strong relationship between language and values and social and cultural identity in the United States. More importantly, adult immigrants have a tendency to be isolated from the host society because of severe discrimination (Fishman, 1989; Wong, 1987) even if many are highly motivated to acquire a second language and integrated into the new society (Schumann, 1986; Peirce, 1993).

and turn it into this:

Historically, US immigrants have been required to give up their native languages and cultures in return for accepting American ideology (Hakuta, 1986). Learning English stands as a social, political, and cultural symbol of Americanization, the result of influential relationships between language, values, and social and cultural identity. There is a tendency for adult immigrants to become isolated from their host societies because of racial and linguistic discrimination (Fishman, 1989; Wong, 1987), which often deters even the most highly motivated individuals from acquiring English and integrating into their new homelands (Pierce, 1993; Schumann, 1986).

In the case of a natural science paper, I can take this original:

Shrimp diseases causing a mass mortality, no culturing of tiger shrimp in cold winter in Taiwan, and shrimp haemocytes, like as other invertebrate haemocytes, are very easy to breakdown, change shape, and degranulate either during in vitro culture or following centrifugation (Martin and Graves, 1985; Soderhall and Smith, 1983; Soderhall and Cerenius, 1992). For the present study, the fixed haemocytes were separately used as the immunogen to develop MAbs, and as haemocyte samples to assay. They were prepared during culturing shrimp period, and stored in MCHBSS containing 10% DMSO at -70°C before examination.

and make it much more clear while still using technical language:

As with other invertebrates, shrimp haemocytes easily break down, change shape, and degranulate during in vitro culturing or following centrifugation (Martin & Graves, 1985; Soderhall & Cerenius, 1992; Soderhall & Smith, 1983). For the present study, fixed haemocytes were used separately as immunogen for the development of MAbs and as haemocyte samples for assays. They were prepared from cultured shrimp and stored in MCHBSS containing 10% DMSO at -70°C prior to examination.

How long will it take to edit your paper?

It depends on the quality of the first draft and what you want me to do. <>I ask new clients to send me a sample of their work, usually 5 to 10 pages. I revise as much as I can in 1 hour, and make an estimate based on that sample. There is no charge for this revision unless the client decides to hire me. Revising a sample serves two purposes: the writer gets a more precise cost/time estimate, and also gets to see what my editing style is.

For an estimate, please contact me at lindy@academicediting.com. It is important to contact me first to make sure I am available to meet your deadline.

I look forward to hearing from you!

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