apa dissertation editor

APA Editing Services

Let an expert edit and format your paper in apa style.

Scribbr’s experienced APA experts are here to help you with proofreading your text, formatting your document, and correctly citing your sources in APA Style.

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Revisions within 12 hours, 100% happiness or a refund or re-edit.

APA Proofreading & Editing

Get your paper back, free of language errors and inconsistencies.

An experienced  editor  gives feedback on consistency, tone, and bias-free language, and directly improves things like:

• Spelling and grammar
• Punctuation and abbreviations
• Capitalization
• Sentence structure

You can rest assured that, when using our APA Editing Service , your text follows APA standards and the conventions of your field.

Add-on services

Customize your apa editing package to get the help you need, apa citation editing, apa paper formatting, structure check, clarity check.

ensures your in-text citations and references are correctly formatted according to APA style and cross-checked.

Your citation expert will:

• Format your reference page (margins, indents, spacing)
• Edit citations and references to your APA style requirements
• Provide feedback on incomplete citations and references
• Cross-check citations with references for inconsistencies

Citation Editing costs $2.75 per source and can be purchased separately or in combination with Proofreading & Editing .

Note that this service can also be purchased standalone.

Ensures a professional look and feel of your document that meets APA formatting requirements.

Your formatting expert will apply the 7th edition APA Style guidelines to all elements in your paper, including:

• Margins, spacing, and indentation
• Body text and headings
• Page numbers
• Abstract and keywords
• Explanatory footnotes

APA Paper Formatting  costs $1.20 per page and can be purchased separately or in combination with Proofreading & Editing .

Ensures sections and chapters are structured and focused and your writing is free of redundancies.

• Through in-text feedback, your editor will help:
• Organize and focus individual chapters and sections
• Eliminate repetitive and redundant information
• Perfect transitions between sentences and paragraphs
• Align titles and headings with the section’s content

You’ll also receive a personalized Structure Check Report meant to help you identify missing elements in each chapter or section and prioritize improvements.

Ensures ideas are presented clearly, your arguments are consistent, and your audience can follow along.

Through in-text comments and checklists, your editor will:

• Make sure your text tells a clear and logical story
• Check that you’ve clearly presented concepts, ideas, and key terms
• Make sure your key takeaways and conclusions are front and center
• Highlight contradictions within the text
• Ensure you’re keeping your audience’s needs in mind

Get matched with the perfect APA editor - and editing team

When you submit your document to Scribbr, you can rest assured that only the most qualified APA editors and citation and paper formatting experts will work on it.

All our 800+ editors have passed the challenging Scribbr Academy, which has a passing rate of only 2%. We handpick your editor based on several criteria, including editing style, field of study, and document type.

In addition, all of our APA citation and paper formatting experts have completed extensive courses and edit more than 100 citations and format more than 500 pages a week!

Emily - editor

I have a bachelor's in electrical engineering and a master's in psychology and am pursuing a PhD in neuroscience.

Janice - editor

I have a PhD in German studies, an MS in library science, and extensive experience teaching undergraduate students.

Kathrin - formatting expert

I have a bachelor's degree in psychology and am currently pursuing a master's degree in health & medical psychology. I specialize in APA citation editing and paper formatting.

Callum - editor

I am an ESL teacher and academic editor with a research background in the humanities, arts, and culture.

Richa - editor

I have a doctorate in biology and studied a range of life science subjects. I specialize in editing academic texts.

Luuk - formatting expert

I studied European studies and always followed APA style for my papers. I specialize in APA citation editing and paper formatting.

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Fantastic service!!

“Excellent review of a paper that was deciding my grade. I appreciate both the edits and the feedback to increase my knowledge of correct APA formatting and accurate citations. I needed the paper returned quickly, and the team worked hard to make sure I had what I needed. I just got my grade back, A+. I would 100% use this service again, it was worth every penny!!!!!!”

How it works

Stay in control throughout the paper editing process, upload any time.

Upload your document and easily select the pages that need editing. Next, choose your turnaround time and services and explain your situation and needs to the editor.

Stay in the loop

After placing your order you can keep track of our progress. From finding your perfect editor to potential hand-overs to formatting or citation experts.

Revise and submit

You’ll receive back your document with tracked changes and feedback as well as a personal letter from your editor. The last step is submitting your work with confidence!

Scribbr & academic integrity

Scribbr is committed to protecting academic integrity. Our proofreading service, our AI writing tools ( plagiarism checker , paraphrasing tool , grammar checker , summarizer,  Citation Generator ) as well as our free Knowledge Base content are designed to help students produce quality academic papers.

We make every effort to prevent our software from being used for fraudulent or manipulative purposes.

Your questions, answered.

Our APA experts default to APA 7 for editing and formatting. For the Citation Editing Service you are able to choose between APA 6 and 7.

The fastest turnaround time is 12 hours.

You can upload your document at any time and choose between three deadlines:

At Scribbr, we promise to make every customer 100% happy with the service we offer. Our philosophy: Your complaint is always justified – no denial, no doubts.

Our customer support team is here to find the solution that helps you the most, whether that’s a free new edit or a refund for the service.

Scribbr specializes in editing study-related documents . We proofread:

• PhD dissertations
• Research proposals
• Personal statements
• Admission essays
• Motivation letters
• Reflection papers
• Journal articles
• Capstone projects

Yes, if your document is longer than 20,000 words, you will get a sample of approximately 2,000 words. This sample edit gives you a first impression of the editor’s editing style and a chance to ask questions and give feedback.

How does the sample edit work?

You will receive the sample edit within 12 hours after placing your order. You then have 24 hours to let us know if you’re happy with the sample or if there’s something you would like the editor to do differently.

Read more about how the sample edit works

Your editor is on stand-by and ready to start editing your paper.

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Finishing your paper with scribbr’s top-rated guides, how to write your paper in apa style, how to cite in apa format, how to format your paper in apa style.

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APA Formatting by Professionally Trained PhD Editors

Save time. our phd staff can do the apa formatting for you. compliance with any submission guidelines guaranteed..

Submit Your Documents for a Quote

APA 7th editing formatting can be excruciatingly detailed and difficult to implement; our editors have years of experience with APA formatting and can save you the time and frustration of doing it yourself.

Dr. Lauren Saunders, Vice President of Editing and Research

Meet Our Team

APA 7th Edition Formatting

The apa 7th edition style guide is the most commonly used formatting and style guide for theses and dissertations—and it is also one of the most difficult to learn and implement accurately., we have a team of phd-educated experts in apa-style formatting with years of professional experience, who will ensure that your thesis or academic paper adheres to apa style formatting guidelines., we can ensure your document adheres to your institutions formatting guidelines at the same time. save time and let us do the formatting for you , formatting in-text citations and references per apa style, cross checking to ensure all citations are included in the reference section and vice versa., formatting tables, figures, graphs, and charts per apa style, formatting table of contents, list of tables, list of figures, and preliminary pages per apa style, formatting margins, fonts, pagination, and other typographical issues per apa style, formatting headings, running head, and headers per apa style, adjusting numbers, acronyms, titles, names, and other terms for consistency per apa style, ready to get started, see samples of our apa formatting and editing below.

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Heavy Developmental Editing

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Proofreading

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The staff at Dissertation Editor were professional and prompt with their responses. The editors consistently provided great feedback and suggestions to enhance the overall quality of my paper. I highly recommend their services.

- Linda S.  

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Dissertation Editor

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PROFESSIONAL EDITING

At Dissertation by Design, we understand the importance of flawless academic writing in your dissertation or thesis. That’s why we offer a dedicated team of professional editors and academics with academic writing and formatting expertise. Our editors are ready to support you in those final stages of writing, ensuring that your dissertation is polished and ready for submission, allowing you to confidently meet your deadlines.

If you are in the initial stages of your academic journey and require assistance with APA or MLA citation formats, we highly recommend utilizing PERRLA software. Through our partnership, you can obtain PERRLA at a $20 discount. To secure your promotional code, please click here. You will receive the code within 24 hours.

What Sets Our Editing Services Apart

Personalized Assistance : You can access our team of editors after we return your edited proposal or dissertation. Our editors are committed to providing exceptional customer service, answering your questions, and guiding you through any remaining challenges to help you complete your dissertation on time.

Three Levels of Editing: We offer three levels of editing to cater to your specific needs:

• APA Editing: Our APA editing service focuses on ensuring that your dissertation adheres to the strict formatting guidelines of the APA style. Our editors will meticulously review your document, checking citations, references, headings, and overall compliance with APA guidelines. (See below for pricing)
• Developmental Editing: If you require more substantial support, our developmental editing service is designed to enhance the overall structure, clarity, and coherence of your dissertation. Our editors will provide insightful feedback and suggestions to strengthen your argument, improve the flow of your ideas, and enhance the readability of your work. (See below for pricing)
• Proofreading: Our proofreading service is ideal for those who seek a final check for grammar, punctuation, spelling, and typographical errors. Our editors will meticulously review your dissertation, ensuring that it is error-free and ready for submission. (See below for pricing)

Risk-Free Satisfaction Guarantee: We stand by the quality of our work and are committed to your satisfaction. If your committee requests revisions related to the editing we performed, we will make those revisions at no extra fee. We are dedicated to ensuring that your edited dissertation meets the expectations of your committee.

Flexible Turnaround Times: We understand that you may be working under tight deadlines. Our standard turnaround times are provided below. However, if you require expedited editing services, we are happy to accommodate your needs for an additional fee.

Click here to download our document outlining how editing works with Dissertation by Design.

Apa editing.

APA editing includes correcting typos, misspellings, punctuation, grammar, style, syntax, phrasing, transition, flow, and scholarly tone according to APA style guidelines. Our APA style experts will also format the following elements of your document:

• Margins, page numbers, spacing, and font
• Reference list entries, including crosschecking them with in-text citations*
• Lists of tables and figures
• Table of contents 

*Note: This service does not include researching and verifying references for accuracy. Our professional editors flag references and in-text citations that are incomplete or do not match. It is the client’s responsibility to verify references for accuracy.

Rate: $0.044 USD per word 

Turnaround time ~ 5-7 business days for proposals and 10-14 business days for complete dissertations

Ideal Timeline:

• Allow 10-14 days for editing and formatting
• Allocate 2-7 days to review edits and address comments left by the editor
• Reserve 4-7 days to work with the editor to correct post-editing revisions

DEVELOPMENTAL EDITING

Developmental support involves critical analysis of content or organization. 

Professional writers/scholars: We are happy to perform developmental editing to nonstudent scholars and writers in the early stages of drafting a document for professional publication. 

Students: We provide developmental feedback for clients completing a thesis, proposal, or dissertation only as part of our coaching service. If you’d like to learn more about this service, click here to read about coaching or to schedule a free consultation. 

Rate: $90 USD per hour

DISSERTATION PROOFREADING

Proofreading involves reviewing the final proof of an article or book to be sure spelling, punctuation, grammar, and formatting are consistent and accurate. 

Professional writers/scholars: We are happy to perform p roofreading for scholars in the final stage of the editing process before professional publication. Proofreading occurs after all professional copyediting revisions have been completed and the work is in its final form before publication.

Students: Proofreading for students completing a thesis, proposal, or dissertation occurs as part of the APA editing process. We do not provide dissertation proofreading as a separate service for students.  

Rate: Estimates provided on a per-job basis.

Turnaround time ~ 3-5 business days

MISCELLANEOUS DISSERTATION EDITING SERVICES

We offer a variety of assorted dissertation editing services including, but not limited to:

• Reference list editing and formatting
• Citation cross-checking
• ProQuest formatting
• Table of Contents assembly
• Table formatting
• Lists of tables and figures assembly

Rate: $90/hr USD

To receive a quote and purchase dissertation editing services:

Complete the below editing service request form and attach your doctoral dissertation or thesis as a Word file. Please specify any unique formatting needs in the message box provided. We recommend that you include a 24-hour buffer period between the return date and submitting the final doctoral dissertation or thesis to your committee so that you have time to review and address all edits and comments.

We will call you to review your request and issue an invoice via email within 24 hours. We require full payment in advance or a 25% down payment to hold time on the calendar for future dissertation work. If you are in a rush or have questions, please call us at (984) 221.8217.

Download our free guide on how to overcome the top 10 challenges common to doctoral candidates and graduate sooner.

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Frequently Asked Questions

A deep-dive into the apa style guide, how it differs from other guides, and when to hire an apa editor.

This article explains what an APA style guide is, when and why you need it, when you should consider hiring an APA editor, and what to look for if you choose to hire an editor. This article also compares the APA style guide with other guides you may encounter.

We spend the majority of our academic years consuming the findings and research of others. Your dissertation marks a pivot to becoming an information producer. Your research may impact the decisions of others and future research in your area of expertise. Congratulations on this pivot from consumer to producer.

What is a "style"?

A style is simply a set of rules for writing. Style rules vary according to audience. Many organizations create their own style guides. For example, the U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual sets standards for government documents. Some professions use style guides created by others. For example, journalists use the Associated Press Stylebook or the BBC News Style Guide . Microsoft and Apple have their own style guides that others can follow when writing about products sold by those respective companies.

Academic style guides show scholars how to write and format their scholarly dissertations, theses, journal articles, and research papers.

Some style guides offer deep and very specific guidance about every nuance of your paper. These guides can define fine details like the title page layout, distance of the header from the margin, placement of page numbers, or rules on hyphenating prefixes. Other style guides focus on just one aspect of writing, such as how to format legal citations.

For example, any copy editor with an English degree can make your writing grammatically correct. But, will they ensure facts are adequately presented to back your analysis? Will they ensure your sources are cited? Will they guarantee your paper follows the dissertation structure: abstract, acknowledgments, table of contents, introduction, discussion, analysis, findings and conclusion, references, and appendices? Will they understand the intent of each section of the paper and make sure your content supports the intent? Will they ensure your document is a pleasure to read and something you can be proud to present?

The purpose of a style guide

Style is a big deal in academia. By the time you get to graduate school, you have most likely written many papers. Odds are, somewhere in your graduate school experience, you have been told your writing needs to follow a particular "style."

No matter how you feel about rules, scholarly writing is one instance where you absolutely need to uncover the rules for academic writing at your institution and follow them. Most universities choose a style guide for the entire institution. Others leave the choice of style guide up to the school or the department.

Here are a few reasons why you need a style:

Following style guidelines helps your readers understand your argument. Having a uniform style helps readers (and reviewers) find and follow the main points of your paper. Making it easy for readers to follow your argument means you may be more likely to persuade them to take action in your favor (such as approving your proposal or manuscript).

Following style guidelines helps your professors give you credit for your work. Many higher educational institutions require students to follow a specific style. Papers that depart from the prescribed style may be rejected for lack of compliance with style guidelines.

Following style guidelines can help you avoid plagiarism. As scholarly writers, we are expected to give credit to the work of previous authors. Giving credit involves citing the source of each paraphrased idea, quote, table, or figure and providing detailed information about each source in a list of references.

One very important element in any style is the format of in-text citations and list of sources (references). Each style guide may use a slightly different format. By following your university's style guide, you are communicating to the reader and your dissertation committee about your desire to avoid plagiarism.

Most reputable universities have strict citation policies to motivate students to avoid the risk of plagiarism, which can carry severe academic and professional consequences.

In addition, citing one's sources allows readers to look up your sources for more information and further reading.

Where do I get a style?

If you are in a graduate school program, most departments will not allow you to choose your preference of style guide. It is your responsibility to find out what style guidelines apply to your particular field at your institution. Do this before you start writing so you can plan your document accordingly.

Just like you, your advisor, chairperson, and committee members are required to follow the institutional style guidelines. However, there is always room for interpretation. If you find that you and your reviewers differ on the interpretation of a style rule, you have two choices: acquiesce to your reviewers or be ready to support your interpretation with page numbers or paragraph numbers from the style guide.

Popular style guides

• APA STYLE . American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication Manual of the American Psychology Association (7th ed.). ISBN: 9781433832161 (paperback). APA style is a set of style guidelines published for scholarly writers by the American Psychology Association. First published in 1929, the APA style manual is commonly applied in the social and behavioral sciences, including the fields of business, education, and psychology.
• BLUEBOOK STYLE . Harvard Law Review Association. (2010). The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (19th ed.). For writers of legal papers. ISBN: 978-0615361161.
• CHICAGO STYLE . The University of Chicago Press. Chicago Manual of Style (CMS; 16th ed.). ISBN: 9780226104201). Publishers often use CMS. For academic writers, CMS is used primarily in non-journalistic subjects such as history and the arts. CMS offers two main formats for citing sources. One version uses footnotes or endnotes and a bibliography. The other version, which uses parenthetical author-date in-text references and a corresponding reference list, is similar to APA citation format.
• HARVARD STYLE . Harvard style is an author-date referencing system similar to the one used by APA. There is no specific style manual and the style is not affiliated with Harvard University. However, Harvard referencing style is often used in universities in the United Kingdom.
• MLA STYLE . Modern Language Association (MLA). MLA Style Manual (3rd ed. ISBN: 9780873522977) and MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th ed. ISBN: 9781603290241). MLA style is used primarily in language, literature, and the humanities. MLA is similar to APA style. Differences include the format of in-text citations and the format of references. The title of the reference list is usually "Works Cited."
• TURABIAN STYLE . Turabian, K. L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (8th ed.). University of Chicago Press. ISBN: 9780226816388. Used in non-journalistic subjects, including history and the arts. Turabian simplified Chicago style for students. Turabian is sometimes referred to as "CMS-lite."

Introduction to the APA style guide

APA style is the most common guide for academic writing in the social and behavioral sciences disciplines. In addition, many academic journals require APA style for submissions.

The manual is published by the American Psychological Association. The official name of the style guide is Publication Manual of the American Psychology Association, but it is commonly known as the APA style manual, or just "APA." The manual was updated in 2020 to the 7th edition.

Writing. The APA style manual offers specific guidance on almost any topic writers encounter, including the basics of how to punctuate and capitalize, when to italicize, when to abbreviate, and how to use commas, colons, and brackets. Writers will also find examples of properly formatted tables, figures, and captions. The 2020 edition includes new guidance specifically for authors of theses and dissertations.

Format. APA guidelines include recommendations for font style and size (any legible, widely available font is acceptable), line spacing (double-space everything with the exception of content in tables and figures, footnotes, and equations), paragraph indentation (first line, one-half inch), and pagination (sequentially, placed in the upper-right corner with or without a running head, depending on your institution’s requirements).

Citations and references. APA uses a parenthetical author-date format to cite sources in the text and a corresponding list of references placed at the end of the body of the paper. The APA manual offers clear examples of how to cite virtually any source, from journal articles and books to legal references and online videos. The 2020 edition now allows works with three or more authors to be written with et al. in every citation.

The APA style manual is available from most bookstores and can be ordered online from multiple vendors. At this time, there is no Web version of the manual, although APA maintains a searchable blog written by APA experts who answer questions posed by scholars, students, and other writers.

APA resources

• Publication Manual of the American Psychology Association, 7th ed. (2020). ISBN: 9781433832161 (paperback).
• APA blog: http://blog.apastyle.org/
• APA website: https://www.apa.org/

Differences between popular style guides

Style guides differ in their handling of many aspects of writing and formatting, including spelling and punctuation. The main concerns for scholarly writers involve citation and reference list formats.

Spelling. The style guides have a few differences in terms of spelling, particularly with regard to numbers. APA style requires writers to spell out numbers in letters if they are below 10 or if they begin a sentence. Numbers 10 and above are written numerically. For example, "The researchers tested a sample of 22 children using two versions of the test instrument." CMS and Turabian, on the other hand, require that most numbers be written out rather than presented numerically (e.g., one, ten, twelve, twenty, one hundred sixty-two, two thousand, 2,341, 199,452).

Punctuation. Most academic style guides and publishers use the Oxford (serial) comma (e.g., "The researchers offered the children red, blue, and green pencils." In contrast, journalistic style guides do not use the Oxford comma (e.g., "The researchers offered the children red, blue and green pencils"). Placement of commas and periods in relation to quotation marks (inside or outside) depends on geographical location (American English or United Kingdom English), rather than on style guidelines.

Number of spaces between sentences. A big change starting with the 7th edition is that APA prefers one space after terminal punctuation. Many institutions and departments, however, still prefer writers use two spaces. Always confirm with your institution on its preference. In some cases, the writer can choose in which case it is important to be consistent in your use of punctuation and spacing throughout your document.

Citation format. An important area where style guides differ is in the treatment of citations. Some style guides use footnotes or end notes, for example, Chicago/Turabian and Bluebook styles, rather than in-text citations (sometimes called the author-date referencing style, typical in APA, MLA, and Harvard style). Table 1 below shows examples of subtle differences between citation formats in APA, CMS/Turabian (author-date format), MLA, Harvard, and Bluebook styles.

Keep in mind that the purpose of a citation is to give your reader the means to locate the sources providing the support for the thoughts, claims, quotes, images, or models that you use in your paper. It's important to format your citations correctly; however, it is more important that you cite your sources, no matter what format you use. Failing to cite your sources places you at risk of plagiarism, which can have serious consequences.

Reference list format. Style guides also differ somewhat in the content and format of the list of references. Apart from the name of the list itself (APA: "References"; MLA: "Works Cited"; CMS/Turabian: "Bibliography" or "References," depending on the CMS citation style chosen), lists are formatted differently. Some are listed in alphabetical order; others are numbered and appear in the order in which the sources are cited in the paper. Many sources will include a URL.

Remember, the purpose of the list of references is to provide enough information so your reader can look up the source to find out more about it. Before you submit your paper, make sure all your URLs are accurate, current, and reasonably accessible to a scholarly audience.

The format of a typical entry for a source from a book is shown in Table 2 for APA, CMS/Turabian (both author-date and footnote/endnote formats), MLA, Harvard, and Bluebook styles. APA’s preferred format for DOIs and URLs has been updated for the 7th edition in 2020.

Heading levels and formats. APA 7th edition in 2020 has been updated with revisions to the five possible heading levels used in APA-style documents.

How APA may differ from your university's dissertation handbook

Authors of the APA style guide wrote the guide for writers of journal articles . In the 2020 edition, they recognized that authors of theses and dissertations have different requirements. However, your institutional style guidelines may differ from strict APA style guidelines.

Here are examples of differences between APA style and institutional style:

• APA guidelines require the page number appear in the upper-right corner throughout the entire document. However, many institutional style guides require page numbers to be centered at the bottom of the page for the front matter of the document (abstract, acknowledgments, table of contents, lists of tables, etc.) and then moved to the upper right corner for the remainder of the document. Some institutional guides require the page number to appear at bottom center for the entire document.
• Margins in APA style are set at one inch all around. However, many institutions increase the width of the left margin to allow for binding.
• APA requires double-spacing throughout the document, including figure captions, table titles, footnotes, and the list of references. The only exception is within figures and tables, which can use single-spacing to improve readability. Many institutions, on the other hand, prefer single-spacing for footnotes, figure captions, table titles, and the list of references. Entries in the list of references are often single-spaced, with one blank line between entries.
• Block quotes (40 or more words) should be double-spaced in APA style, but many institutions require block quotes to be single-spaced with one blank line above and below the text block.
• APA still allows five levels of headings, but they have been revised for the 2020 edition. Some institutions require dissertation chapter titles to be Level 1 headings. Others consider chapter titles Level 0 headings.

Institutional guidelines may deviate from APA style for a number of reasons. One common reason is simply readability: a block quote can be easier to read when it is single-spaced. Similarly, double-spaced reference lists take up much less space when they are single-spaced. In the case of the location of page numbers, some institutions require that all text, including page numbers, be placed inside the margins to meet printing and publishing requirements. Some of the differences can be attributed to institutional style preferences, for example, the formatting of title pages and headings.

Your institutional and departmental guidelines take precedence over the style guide. Refer to your institution's dissertation handbook to learn the differences between institution style and the preferred style guide. As a rule, the guidelines of the entity that will approve or publish your writing always take precedence.

Purchase your own copy of the style guide and study it closely. In most instances, your institution, department, chairperson, and committee members have final say over style. However, not all reviewers are familiar with the nuances of APA guidelines. You may be required to cite page numbers to defend your style and format choices.

What can I expect from an APA editor?

Professional editors should always proofread and copy edit. Know the difference between the two and always choose an editor who does both.

Besides editing for grammar, spelling, punctuation, structure, and overall readability, in terms of style, an editor can:

• Check that your work complies with your institutional style guidelines and the guidelines of your institution's preferred style manual
• Set up your Word document with appropriate heading levels (using Word styles) to generate an accurate Table of Contents
• Add numbered table titles and figure captions and generate accurate lists of tables and figures
• Set section breaks where needed to differentiate front matter from the body of your paper
• Set section breaks to separate landscape orientation pages from portrait orientation pages
• Ensure page numbers are in the correct locations and formats
• Set proper line spacing and paragraph indentation
• Remove extra spaces and tabs
• Set up customized Word styles to handle block quotations and other text artifacts according to your style guidelines
• Format figures and tables to comply with style guidelines

Should I hire an editor or do it myself?

Whether you hire an editor to help with style and formatting depends on your working style, your resource constraints, and the feedback you are receiving from the gatekeepers (i.e., advisors, chairperson, or committee).

Think about the following questions when deciding whether to engage editing yourself or hiring a professional editor:

What is your preferred working style, and what type of mindset do you have?

• Are you a hands-on person?
• Are you a detail-oriented person?
• Are you a big-picture strategist?

Some people love learning the rules because it gives them a sense of control. Others prefer to leave the details to others because that gives them a sense of freedom and allows focus on the big picture. Determine what type of person you are and whether you have the capacity or desire to learn a style guide.

How much time do you have?

• Do you have time to learn the style guidelines?
• Do you have the desire to learn about the details?
• Do you feel you are more productive by focusing your time and energy on writing or researching?

If you have time, you should study the style manual to at least have a passing familiarity with it. This is true even if you don't have the time or inclination to study it in depth.

If you are really under a time crunch, it's time to call a professional editor.

What kind of feedback are you getting from your advisor/chairperson/committee members?

• Is your advisory team indicating that your paper's style and format are acceptable?
• Is your advisory team telling you to hire an editor to clean up your format?
• Is the feedback by your advisory committee in your paper primarily content-focused or grammar, syntax, and formatting focused?

Some scholars have language barriers. Others don't possess expert writing skills. Even strong writers can benefit from an objective editor. If your committee members think you need help from an editor, get help. Don't let a fixable problem balloon into a roadblock for getting your paper approved or on to the next stage.

Our dissertation process

Our editing service employs experts with the APA style guide. Here's what our process looks like..

• Email us a draft of your dissertation.
• We will review your paper and provide an estimate of time and cost. Your writing style is a major factor in determining the time required and types of edits we will need to make. Beware of estimates from other services that give you a per-word quote without reviewing your entire dissertation.
• If you decide to proceed with Gramlee, we will email an invoice that you can pay online using Credit Card or PayPal.
• We will begin editing and aim to send you a revised version of the first 10,000 words in 48 hours. We want your feedback about our editing approach with your paper. Doing this early allows us to adjust our strategy if needed. This transparency also gives you a window into our editing process.
• The senior editor will complete their edits and email you a final revised dissertation. We use the Track Changes feature in Microsoft Word so you can see every change and comment.
• You will always have access to our editors afterwards in case you have questions.

Our editors can manage up to 10,000 words per day. Experience shows us that exceeding this threshold leads to editing fatigue and deterioration in quality. Yes, you guessed right: services that promise lightening-fast edits are in business to maximize profits over a quality final product that you will be proud of.

To get started, please email us with your paper attached . We will give you an estimate within twelve (12) hours. Please mention code APAEDIT in your email to get a 10% discount. It's our way of saying "thank you" for reading this article.

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Table 1. EXAMPLE OF DIFFERENCES WITH IN-TEXT CITATION STYLES FOR A BOOK

Smith (2015)

(Smith, 2015)

"quote" (Smith, 2015, p. 76)

(Smith 2015)

"quote" (Smith 2015, 76)

quote" (Smith, 2015, p. 76)

Bluebook style usually incorporates the citations into the text: See Lehman, 418 U.S. at 307 (1974).

Two authors

Smith and Jones (2015)

(Smith & Jones, 2015)

"quote" (Smith & Jones, p. 5)

(Smith and Jones 2015)

"quote" (Smith and Jones 2015, 5)

Smith and Jones (5)

(Smith and Jones 5)

(Smith and Jones, 2015)

"quote" (Smith and Jones, 2015, p.5)

See H. Roger Grant & Charles H. Bohi, The Country Railroad Station in America 8-9 (1978).

Multiple authors

Smith et al. (2015)

(Smith et al., 2015)

"quote" (Smith et al., 2015, p. 8)

For three or more authors: (Smith et al., 2015, p. 8)

Note: APA 7th Ed in 2020 requires "et al." to be used when there are three or more authors even on first menton .

Smith, Jones, and Tsu (2015)

(Smith, Jones, and Tsu 2015)

"quote" (Smith, Jones, and Tsu 2015, 8)

For four or more authors:

(Smith et al. 2015, 8)

Smith, Jones, and Tsu (8)

(Smith, Jones, and Tsu 8)

(Smith, Jones, and Tsu, 2015)

"quote" (Smith, Jones, and Tsu, 2015, p.8)

"quote" (Smith et al., p.8)

See H. Roger Grant, Charles H. Bohi, & R. Smith, The Navy 15-22 (2002).

Table 2. EXAMPLES OF DIFFERENCES WITH FOOTNOTE AND/OR REFERENCE LIST STYLES FOR A BOOK

In addition to APA editing, here's a list of other areas we edit for

Gramlee guarantees your paper will not be rejected for reasons related to structure, writing, documentation, or linguistic professionalism. Here is a list of things we edit for:

• Punctuation
• Subject/verb agreements
• Tense consistency
• Word or phrase redundancy
• Active versus passive voice
• Brevity and eliminating sentences that add no value
• Keeps locale and subject matter in mind
• Ensures your writing does not invade political and cultural sensitivities
• Diction and appropriate language for your subject and audience
• Sentence structure
• Proper use of paragraphs
• Logical layout and sequence of paragraphs
• Table of Contents, List of Figures/Charts/Tables, Abstract
• Ensure that you credit others’ ideas and do not accidentally present as your own
• Proper format for citations
• American English or British English (we can edit for either)
• Overall flow and readability of the dissertation

I saved months on the editing process of my dissertation. They are an exceptional editing service that is current with APA and academic dissertation standards. I highly recommend Gramlee to any doctoral student.

Aaron G. Dissertation Topic: Smart Buildings Design Theory

I know my dissertation wasn't easy to edit. You were consistent and sharp. My voice is preserved, and my research is now clearer and more presentable. I have a deep appreciation for you!

Mr. Alazri Dissertation Topic: Marketability of Tourism Small Business

The work was perfect. The staff really cared about me and my paper. They took the time to contact me with any questions and wanted to make sure I was happy. I have bookmarked Gramlee for my future editing needs.

Chris M. Dissertation Topic: Education Reform using Common Core Standards

After 10 months and numerous revisions by other companies, Gramlee's editors were able to get me to the next step in my doctoral study process within 48 hours! First-class service.

Leroy D. Dissertation Topic: Cyber Security Training for the Department of Defense

The editor's notes and suggestions were very comprehensive and constructive. Your company clearly stated what I could and could not expect from an editing service. Thank you for your services.

Loretta T. Dissertation Topic: A Phenomenological Study of the Homework Practices in the Self-Contained Special Education Classroom

The edits really helped with clarity and accuracy. The comments were both helpful and encouraging. Thank you for all your help!

Ann A. Dissertation Topic: Displacement, Religious Radicalisation, and the Role of Education in Palestinian Terrorism, and the Transferrable Implications for Global Terrorism

To get an estimate of time and costs to edit your dissertation, please email us with your paper attached . We will give you an estimate within twelve (12) hours.

Dissertation Editing & Proofreading Service

Let's get your dissertation defense ready!

Choose the dissertation editing service you need

Take a pick based on your unique requirements, including the level of editor intervention your manuscript requires, your dissertation submission deadline, and other details.

Make your dissertation error free and submission ready

Suitable for writers who need thorough proofreading to eliminate grammar & spelling mistakes in their dissertations & ensure stylistic consistency.

• Correction of spelling errors
• Grammatical accuracy
• Precise punctuation
• Stylistic consistency
• US/UK English style
• Style guide adherence (APA, MLA, CMOS)
• Expert tips on academic style and conventions

Improve the overall presentation of your dissertation

A thorough dissertation editing with a deeper intervention to enhance clarity and coherence. Recommended for writers who need help to enhance their writing. 

• Accurate word/phrase choice
• Paraphrasing for clarity and concision
• Smooth transition at paragraph and section levels
• Smooth transitions at sentence and paragraph levels
• Elimination of redundancy
• Advanced tips on content, style, and conventions
• Commentary on content placement, transition, and logical consistency

Make your dissertation stand out

Grammar & punctuation, academic style, remarks & comments, clarity check, structure check.

100% Reassurance of Quality

• High quality editors
• 24x7 customer support
• Error free theses
• Free Q&A service

Add-on Services

Plagiarism check.

Our comprehensive plagiarism check, powered by iThenticate, detects unintentional repetition or plagiarism so that you can submit your dissertation with confidence.

Reference Formatting

Our experts will ensure that your in-text citations and references are in the prescribed style as per the institutional guidelines or style guides (e.g., APA, MLA, & CMOS).

Certificate of Editing

You will be provided with a downloadable certificate that states that your dissertation has been proofread & edited by a professional English language editor. 

Thesis Expert Summary Report

Our experts provide you with feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of your dissertation as well as your writing style, giving you unique insight about your dissertation and your writing.

Expert Ratings

A numerical report card for your dissertation made by your expert editor to evaluate aspects such as punctuation, grammar, style, word choice, flow & clarity, and references & citations.

Thesis Formatting

We format your dissertation by applying templates, page layouts, table style, typesetting, etc., by following your institutional guidelines or your preferred style guide (e.g., APA, MLA, and CMOS).

Meet your Ph.D. & Master's expert dissertation editors

We select the best dissertation editing expert matching your needs based on your field of study, choice of service, and preferences. The expert works on your dissertation and sends you the edited dissertation ready for submission. If our experts have any queries or suggestions, they will pass them on to you so you can implement them before submission. 

Areas of Expertise

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Frequently Asked Questions

Should i choose thesis pro or thesis essentials +.

Thesis Essentials provides a thorough grammar and language revision so you won't have to worry about basic language mistakes. It is suitable for students who are confident in their writing and/or under close guidance from their research advisers. Thesis Pro gives you a more holistic editing that not only ensures your manuscript is free of error but also enhances its content presentation.

Is editing my dissertation considered cheating? +

No! It's not cheating. Many teachers demand that their students use professional editing services to check the material for formatting and technical issues. Our service is not about creating unique content—which would be deemed plagiarism—but rather about enhancing the narrative and clarity of existing articles.

How much does dissertation editing cost? +

The starting price for Enago's dissertation editing service is $0.02 per word. Each dissertation editor on Enago's team pays close attention to a number of things, such as grammar, narrative, formatting errors, page layout, sources and citations, and annotated bibliography.

Do you offer editing services for dissertations to students? +

Without a doubt! Enago has designed the dissertation editing service to match the needs of students and independent researchers. 

How does Enago Thesis Editing work? +

We have a 4-step process to give you a stress-free dissertation editing experience. You can g et a quotation within 1 hour, pay for your editing, and we’ll let you know once your dissertation is ready. We are available 24x7, 365 days (even on public holidays).

Are you ready for professional dissertation editing?

Soria Academic Services

Professional academic editing in apa style, research design assistance, qualitative and quantitative data analysis .

I specialize in

Editing master's degree and doctorate degree dissertations in fields like leadership, education, higher education, business, healthcare, technology, psychology, and more, providing guidance on research design and methodology, locating academic resources, analyzing quantitative and qualitative data, transcribing interview or focus group recordings, using american psychological association (apa) documentation style (6th or 7th edition), i am committed to helping students achieve success on their educational journey​, dissertation editing fees, i charge a flat fee of $200 to edit dissertations, which includes, proofreading for grammar and punctuation, editing for apa documentation style , locating missing references, fixing incorrect citations, creating style sheets for table of contents, ...regardless of dissertation length or the time it takes to conduct those editing tasks (it usually takes 5-6 hours to edit a 100-page dissertation). my turnaround time is 2-3 days. , data analysis or other research services: contact me for a quote, the dissertation editing process, contact me for availability (email: soriakrista at gmail dot com), send me your dissertation in microsoft word, i will edit your dissertation and send you proof of the edits upon completion (20 pages of your dissertation in .pdf form so you can see the edits in track changes), after i receive payment (via paypal), i will send you two copies of your dissertation: one with track changes accepted and the other with track changes intact, my name is krista soria and i have worked in higher education for 20+ years as an admission advisor, trio advisor, data analyst, faculty, and director of student affairs assessment. i have a phd from the university of minnesota and i am currently an assistant professor at the university of idaho. i am an experienced researcher (using quantitative and qualitative methodologies); undergraduate and graduate instructor in topics including technical writing, research methods, higher education administration, student affairs assessment, and leadership; and graduate student advisor who sits on multiple dissertation committees. .

Dr. Soria CV

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Our Top 18 APA Style Editing Service Professionals

Find experienced editors who can perfect your apa style usage.

ServiceScape APA Style editors know every detail and nuance of the APA Publication Manual and can ensure that your paper, thesis, dissertation, or manuscript adheres to all aspects of the style guide. Rest assured that when we are done, your APA Style will be flawless along with the rest of your writing.

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2. WriteWatchman

[Elite] 4,691 Client Reviews 140,296 Pages Edited

Professor at Cincinnati State University

7. ProfessorH

[Elite] 503 Client Reviews 21,892 Pages Edited

Ph.D. in Communications from Pennsylvania State University

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[Elite] 285 Client Reviews 14,501 Pages Edited

Editor at Elsevier Inc.

14. mgmediting

273 Client Reviews 7,610 Pages Edited

M.A. in English from the University of Louisiana

What We Bring to the Table

ServiceScape is built on 24 years worth of experience, working on over 340,000 projects with over 98,000 clients. Join the thousands of people who have chosen ServiceScape to find the best and brightest talent.

APA Style can be tricky, but we know all the tricks

Does your university department or journal require APA Style? Following APA Style guidelines can be laborious. Understanding all of the APA format and citation elements demands not only an encyclopedic knowledge of the Publication Manual, but also extensive real-world practice and experience. We know your work is too important to be held up by the time-consuming task of formatting your title page, abstract, headings, in-text citations, quotations, reference list, tables, figures, and appendices in APA Style.

Our APA Style editors are here to help! They know all the APA rules that can be so tricky to remember — how to quote online sources with no page numbers, how to ensure each citation correctly matches the corresponding reference, how to cite multiple sources and multiple authors, how and when to use serial commas, and many, many more.

Ensuring your work perfectly meets all the requirements of APA Style can feel like a full-time job. Don't let this necessary but tedious step undermine the potential of your writing or take valuable time away from your work. Just focus on what you do best and trust our qualified APA Style editors to do the same. They will make sure your writing follows each and every APA standard, leaving you and your audience free to focus on the most important thing — the content of your work.

Our APA Style editors can correct it all

We are a dedicated team of experienced APA Style editors who can ensure that your writing follows every aspect and guideline of the APA Publication Manual. We guarantee that the following will be checked and corrected:

• Table of contents
• Introduction
• Reference list
• Supplemental materials
• Page header
• Special characters
• Line spacing
• Paragraph alignment
• Paragraph indentation
• Document and page length
• Accessibility
• Heading levels
• Heading labels
• Section levels
• Section labels
• Abstract standards
• Introduction standards
• Theoretical framework standards
• Literature review standards
• Methodology standards
• Researcher's role and positionality standards
• Data collection standards
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• Quantitative research standards
• Qualitative research standards
• Mixed methods research standards
• Presentation of findings standards
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• Implication standards
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• Mathematics
• Voice and mood
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• First, second, third person
• Anthropomorphism
• Logical comparisons
• Singular “they”
• Confidence intervals
• Borders and shading
• Long or wide tables
• Relation between tables
• Accessible use of color
• Relation between figures
• Photographs
• Electrophysiological data
• Radiological data
• Genetic data
• Other biological data
• Citation level
• Classroom or intranet sources
• Parenthetical and narrative paraphrasing
• Personal communications
• Quotations from existing sources
• Quotations from research participants
• Secondary sources
• Multiple works
• Specific parts of a source
• Unknown or anonymous author
• Multiple authors
• Works with the same author and date
• Authors with the same surname
• Websites, periodicals, common software, and apps
• Short or in-line quotes
• Block quotes
• Format and order
• Archival documents
• Database information
• DOIs and URLs
• Corresponding in-text citations
• Historical context
• Intersectionality
• Precision in research terms
• Racial and ethnic identity
• Sexual orientation
• Socioeconomic status

ServiceScape APA Style editors use their extensive knowledge and skills to ensure that your APA Style is the very best it can be.

We can also address other issues in your writing

Our experienced editors provide a second set of eyes to not only spot APA Style mistakes but also enhance your writing so that it conveys your ideas in a compelling manner. After your APA Style usage is perfected, we will move on to other aspects of your work, enhancing your academic writing while offering our honest opinions on your methodology. Specifically, our editors will:

• Correct errors in spelling, grammar, syntax, tense, and sentence structure
• Improve readability, clarity, and flow
• Ensure tonal consistency
• Enhance your word choice and vocabulary
• Check for consistency with different regional English spelling conventions, including American, British, Canadian, and Australian English
• Remove redundant and unnecessary content to focus your writing
• Review your reasoning, challenge your assertions when necessary, and ensure that your ideas are fully developed

In addition, you can communicate with your editor before, during, and after your project. Just send a message or set up a teleconference whenever you like, and your chosen editor will be there for you every step of the way.

Find the perfect editor to cite your sources correctly

Our APA Style editors are all rated and reviewed by clients just like you. Many have received hundreds or even thousands of ratings. With our extensive list of APA Style experts, you are sure to find an APA Style editor with a background and skill set that exceeds your expectations.

Check out our APA Style editors today to find the one who is right for you.

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• Browse our directory to find the editor you want to hire.
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You will have the option to either select a predefined service or create a custom project. If you select a predefined service, you can pay for your project immediately by using a credit card, U.S. bank transfer, or PayPal®. After your payment method has been approved, the editor will start working on the project as soon as possible and will deliver it by the due date you selected. If you select a custom project, the editor will provide you with a service proposal that will have a unique price for the unique service you require.

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• Browse our directory to find an editor you'd like to ask for a free sample.
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If the editor accepts your free sample request, you will receive the sample edited version within a couple of days.

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• Browse our directory to find the editor you'd like to contact.
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We will contact you right away about availability and set up the teleconference for all parties involved.

You can find ratings and reviews from past clients within most editor profiles. Just find your editor and click on the "View Profile" button to see them. You can also read ServiceScape ratings and reviews on eKomi . In addition, ServiceScape has been featured in several publications and websites, including The Wall Street Journal , Los Angeles Times , UpWork , HuffPost , Indeed , and The Ladders .

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Dissertation Editing Services: Everything You Need to Know

If you’re unsure about the quality of your dissertation writing, it’s best to get it reviewed by an expert editor. But you may have lots of questions about how this works. Do you need professional dissertation editing services? What process do they follow? What are the best dissertation proofreading services and how can you choose the right one for yourself?

In this article, we’ve answered all these questions and more. From checks to find out if a company is legit to your expected dissertation editing costs, we’ve covered it all. So without further ado, let’s get into it.  

What Are Dissertation Editing Services?

Dissertation editing services are professional services that help students refine their dissertations before submitting them. Companies that provide these services for students and researchers are also called “dissertation editing services”. Depending on the type of review, they check your thesis for coherence, clarity, syntax, grammar, and word choice.

While understanding professional editing services for dissertations, you may wonder how they work. These companies employ hundreds of academic editors from diverse fields. They use advanced software and a skilled team to assign each dissertation to an expert from the field. This way, you don’t have to waste your time hunting for a dissertation editor and you still get expert feedback.

But are dissertation proofreading and editing services really that important? Could you do without them?

Why Choose Dissertation Editing Services?

You should choose dissertation editing services because your dissertation is the most important academic text you’ll ever work on. It’s your responsibility to ensure that it’s written and formatted as perfectly as possible, and you will lose marks if there are errors in the document!

Plus, your dissertation is your original contribution to your field of study. It has to be the best reflection of your research, or it’ll undermine all your hard work. Due diligence in editing and proofreading your dissertation elevates its quality and conveys your sincerity to your work.

But why not edit your dissertation yourself? Well, there are several disadvantages of self-editing. There are even more advantages of dissertation editing services. So, what do dissertation editing services offer?

Dissertation editing services:

• Catch the most minute errors you’ll likely miss, even with several reviews.
• Improve the clarity and coherence of your writing.
• Ensure accuracy in research methods, argument logic, and use of technical terms.
• Offer expert feedback to improve your document further.
• Elevate the overall impact and quality of your dissertation, helping you score higher.

But how does this process work? A dissertation is a lengthy document, so dissertation proofreading services take a layered approach.

Dissertation Editing Process

The dissertation editing process moves from macro-level edits to micro-level edits. So, document-spanning issues such as coherence and argument clarity are considered first. More specific issues such as grammar and spelling mistakes are fixed at the end to avoid repeated work. 

Depending on the scope of the editing step and the issues looked at, there are four major types of editing. They’re undertaken in a specific order, but various services may offer them in different formats.

Types of Dissertation Editing

The four types of dissertation editing are substantive or developmental editing, line editing, copy editing, and proofreading. Does your dissertation need all four steps? Let’s take a look.

1. Substantive Editing

Substantive editing, also known as content editing or developmental editing, focuses on the content of your dissertation. It improves the structure and flow of the entire document, examining its clarity and coherence. 

A substantive editor:

• Examines the logical development of your argument.
• Ensures that your writing is clear and has a smooth flow.
• Checks the validity of your methodology and data points.
• Removes any ambiguous, redundant, or repetitive sections.
• Ensures that your dissertation aligns with your research objectives.

The substantive editor will leave comments on the document, highlighting problematic areas and suggesting improvements. Since you’re the writer, you decide which comments to work on and which ones to ignore, if any. 

2. Line Editing

Line editing is a line-by-line edit that improves the clarity, flow, and effectiveness of your academic sentences. This is a more stylistic review, focusing on meaning, tone, and word choice than grammar or punctuation. So if you want to ensure that your dissertation is engaging, coherent, and well-written, you need a line editor.

A line editor checks your dissertation for the following:

• Clear expression of the intended meaning
• Word choice and sentence structure
• Smooth flow between sentences and paragraphs
• Consistency in tone and style
• Pacing (sentence length, density of data, etc.)
• Overt language errors (not the main focus)

This step is crucial for ESL students and researchers as well as anyone who’s unsure of their writing abilities. However, providers of dissertation editing services often combine line editing with copy editing, since both these steps address overlapping concerns.

3. Copy Editing

Copy editing for a dissertation is a meticulous process that focuses on the mechanical aspects of writing such as grammar, spelling, and punctuation. In its pure form, copy editing doesn’t pay much attention to stylistic or technical aspects of your writing. So, a copy editor will fix the language errors in a sentence but not inconsistencies in writing style or pacing.

Just because dissertation copy editing is mechanical doesn’t mean it has a narrow scope, though. A copy editor checks not only writing but also graphic elements, formatting style, and referencing. A copy editor undertakes the following tasks:

• Correcting errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and sentence construction.
• Ensuring proper sentence structure with subject-verb agreement.
• Making the text clear and readable.
• Checking the use of technical terms, abbreviations, and acronyms.
• Reviewing the labeling, formatting, relevance, and overall fitness of tables, figures, and images.
• Ensuring that the dissertation follows the prescribed style guidelines (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.).
• Reviewing in-text citations and entries on the reference list; cross-checking them for accuracy and missing details.
• Checking for overall consistency in the document (formatting, word choice, and style).
• Undertaking a basic review of the page layout.

As you can see, a copy editor plays a crucial role in removing several kinds of errors from your dissertation. Compared to this, a line editor’s review seems smaller in scope. So, most dissertation copy editing service providers combine it with line editing. They correct language errors and add comments for stylistic improvements.

4. Proofreading

Dissertation proofreading is the final review that highlights any errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and formatting. It looks only for surface-level mistakes, such as typographical or language-related errors. So, it’s like copy editing in a sense but with a smaller scope.

Proofreading removes any lingering errors that may distract readers or undermine your hard work. It may seem like a minor step, but it’s an essential quality check and your last defense against any superficial errors. You should proofread your dissertation once all other editing steps are complete to avoid rework.

Proofreading highlights the following errors in your dissertation:

• Spelling mistakes and typos
• Punctuation errors
• Any obvious grammar errors
• Incorrect abbreviations and acronyms
• Errors in labeling or formatting tables and figures
• Referencing errors
• Problems with page formatting (such as improper margins and missing headers)

Since a dissertation proofreader has to catch such minute errors, proofreading is a painstaking and detail-oriented task. Dissertation proofreading services hire trained experts to undertake this step, saving you time and effort.

What Is Dissertation Referencing?

Dissertation referencing is the process of adding references to your dissertation. While researching, you’re bound to use information from a variety of sources, all of which you must credit in your thesis. Whether you follow the MLA style or APA format, you must add and correctly format your in-text citations and reference list entries.

Professional dissertation editors and proofreaders don’t usually undertake this step for you. They may fix one or two incorrect or missing citations, but they don’t write your reference list for you. If any APA dissertation editing services undertake this task, they may charge an additional price.

What Is Dissertation Formatting?

Dissertation formatting is the process of formatting your pages and text according to the style guidelines prescribed by your university. This is usually the MLA format for humanities students, APA format for STEM students, and Chicago style for students of business and history. Incorrect formatting in your dissertation may result in a lower score.

Like referencing, an editor does not undertake dissertation formatting for you unless as a separate task. Some companies do offer dissertation referencing and formatting services in addition to editing and proofreading.

Choosing an Editing Service: What to Look For

Now that you know what dissertation editing is, why it’s important, and how it works, it’s time to find out how to choose an editing service. There are several dissertation review services out there, old and new. Older firms have experience but are often more expensive, while newer companies are more affordable but aren’t well-known. So what signs should you look for?

1. Reviews and Recommendations

Personal recommendations from your peers or seniors are the best method when choosing an editing service. If a company has worked for them, it probably understands the requirements of your subject or university. Some universities also have tie-ups with doctoral dissertation editing services, so you should check if yours has one.

The next step is to check the company’s online reviews. Even a quick look at the reviews will give you a good idea of a company’s strengths and weaknesses. You can then make a more informed choice based on these testimonials.

Shortlist a few editing services from this initial check and refine that list as you find out more about them.

2. A Helpful but Realistic Support Team

All good editing firms have a support team that communicates your requirements to the editing team. The support staff also helps you place your order and guides you through the editing process. Ideally, the person communicating with you should be friendly, confident, and knowledgeable, but not pushy.

If you’re being rushed into placing an order or being offered dubious discounts, you should proceed with caution. So, make sure that the support team knows what they’re doing and can be relied upon. You should also remember to be very clear about your requirements and priorities in your document. This will help them target those issues in your dissertation and you won’t have to ask for any revisions.

3. Transparency and Confidentiality

Dissertation editing services must be transparent about their editing process and measures to ensure document confidentiality. At the end of your first call with the company, you should have clarity about the people who will work on your document and the process they’ll follow. If you can’t be sure of this, ask the support team for clarification. If you don’t get a satisfying answer, it’s probably best to avoid working with that particular service.

Another important aspect of dissertation editing is confidentiality. Almost all editing services have their editors sign NDAs at the time of joining, so you shouldn’t worry about that. One thing to look for, however, is the security measures the company undertakes to protect your document from outside threats. This includes 192-bit or 256-bit encryption methods, which are popularly used by dissertation editing companies.

4. Free Work Sample

Always ask for a sample edit. Editing companies don’t usually offer a sample edit unless you approach them with a major document. Since a dissertation qualifies as such, any firm worth its name should be good to offer you a one-page or 300-word free edit.

This sample edit will tell you a lot about a company’s work ethic, quality of edits, and professionalism. If you’ve shortlisted a few companies, the sample edit is probably the most reliable metric to base your final decision on. However, company policies keep changing and some established firms may have stopped offering sample edits. In this case, you’ll have to decide based on the three factors listed above.

5. A Good Offer

The final consideration is one for your pocket. Getting dissertation editing help can get expensive, and most companies understand the financial constraints on students. So, you’re likely to find big discounts during the dissertation season. If waiting that long isn’t an option for you, don’t hesitate to ask the support staff!

Once you have a quote from a few companies, compare their pros and cons and you’ll be able to choose the best dissertation editing service for you.

Be sure to enquire about the company’s revision policy. If you’re unhappy with the edit, you should be able to receive a partial or full refund. Most editing services offer one or two free revisions, so make sure to use those and get the best version of your document!

Now that we know how to choose a dissertation editing service, what are some well-known firms that fit the bill? Let’s take a look.

The Top Dissertation Editing Services of 2024

Of the many premium dissertation editing services out there, some stand out as the best of the best. In this list, we’ve considered quality of services, pricing, turnaround time, and editorial team. So, here are the best dissertation editing services of 2024:

An established name in academic editing, Scribbr is particularly popular among college students due to its online tools and resources. Their expertise and experience don’t come cheap, but you can rest assured that your dissertation will be well-edited. The best thing is that you can ask them to focus on certain aspects of your document.

If you know that your writing isn’t clear or that your structure needs to be refined, you can opt for the relevant checks. These come with a hike in price but may be helpful for those who have received targeted feedback from professors before. After all, structure, cohesion, and clarity are important factors that affect your overall grade.

Scribbr can return your edited dissertation in 12 hours to 7 days. At around $835 for a 15,000-word dissertation, however, dissertation editing with Scribbr will cost you a pretty penny.

2. Cambridge Proofreading

Cambridge Proofreading has been offering dissertation editing services for over 11 years. They employ more than 300 academic editors, all of whom are native speakers from the US and UK. Their system deletes all documents after 15 days of closing an order, which helps keep your dissertation confidential.

Cambridge Proofreading has expertise in editing dissertations from diverse fields, from astrophysics to philosophy. Recently they’ve also launched a service where they humanize AI-generated text. This is an additional boost for many students, helping them get more work done in less time.

Their dissertation editing process is fairly straightforward, but they stand out in terms of pricing. They charge dissertation editing rates of $28.90 per 1,000 words for a 24-hour delivery and $25.90 per 1,000 words for a 48-hour delivery. In terms of both the cost and turnaround time, this is excellent!

3. Scribendi

Scribendi was established in 1997, making it one of the oldest top dissertation editing companies. They have a separate approach to ESL writers, paying more attention to those documents. With 287 editors working at the firm, they should be able to pair you with an expert from your field.

Sribendi has ISO certification and prioritizes customer satisfaction. They can deliver your document in as little time as four hours! This isn’t feasible for longer documents like dissertations, however. For example, they can deliver a 15,000-word dissertation in 48 hours to 7 days. Their price range for this is $558–$615, putting them on the slightly expensive side of things.

You can use their dissertation editing service to refine not only complete theses but also dissertation and thesis proposals.

4. TrueEditors

Although a relatively newer company, TrueEditors is a robust and affordable dissertation editing service. They have more than 155 academic experts onboard from a diverse range of academic disciplines. The best thing is that their edit also includes dissertation referencing, dissertation formatting, and a plagiarism check!

TrueEditors offers five prices depending on the time duration. They can deliver your edited dissertation in 48 hours, but the price will be higher. If you opt for a delivery time of ten days, however, the price will be much lower.

Aside from editing and proofreading a dissertation, TrueEditors also offers:

• Paraphrasing & Rewriting
• Content Writing
• Translation

These additional services are especially useful to ESL students, who may struggle to express their ideas as eloquently in English.

Enago employs highly qualified editors and proofreaders to work on your dissertation. They offer dissertation editing services in two packages: Thesis Essentials and Thesis Pro. The Thesis Essentials package is limited to grammar, punctuation, academic style,  and expert commentary. You can get thesis formatting, reference formatting, plagiarism check, and one revision with this package as add-ons.

The Thesis Pro package includes everything in Essentials but adds a clarity check, structure check, and advanced commentary. Reference formatting and one revision round are free with this package. If you’re not sure about editing with Enago, you can get their sample edit of 200 words. They only offer this if your dissertation is over 10,000 words.

This overview of the best dissertation editing services must have given you an idea about the process and pricing. But let’s take a closer look at the average dissertation proofreading cost.

How Much Does it Cost to Edit a Dissertation?

It can cost between $400–$850 to edit a dissertation of 15,000 words. However, the cost of dissertation editing varies based on document length, complexity, and your requirements. Undergraduate and master’s dissertations, for instance, will be about 8,000–15,000 words long. PhD dissertations, on the other hand, can reach about 80,000–100,000 words in length, which hikes up the price dramatically.

Similarly, a specialized structure and quality check is likely to add a few hundred dollars to the editing cost. If you want the editing service to handle referencing and formatting on top of that, the cost will increase. The cost of dissertation editing is directly proportional to the amount of work the editor undertakes.

It’s always best to edit and proofread your dissertation a few times yourself and get an initial review from your instructor. You can then look for PhD dissertation editing services based on their feedback. If you know exactly what you need an editor to do, you’ll have to pay only for the essentials.

How Can I Get a Dissertation Editing Quote?

You can get a dissertation editing quote by visiting a company’s website. Most online dissertation editing services have their pricing readily available on their web pages. You can simply type the word count of your dissertation and get a tentative figure. Some companies ask you to upload your dissertation before offering a quote.

If you’d like to know more about a company and their style of work, you can reach out to their support team. These days, most companies have chatbots on their website and you can use them to get in touch with the team. This is a better way to get a quote since you can tell them your requirements and obtain a much better offer.

Can I Get a Discount on Dissertation Editing Services?

Yes, you can definitely get a discount on dissertation editing services. Almost every editing company will offer you a 5% to 10% discount on your first order. Some also have student discounts of up to 15%. Plus, most companies have offers going on throughout the year, such as Black Friday, Holiday Season, and Easter discounts.

If you’ve been working on your dissertation in advance, you’re likely to have a document ready when one of the big offers comes around. If you’re in a time crunch, though, you’ll probably have to make do with a 10% discount.

How Long Does it Take to Proofread a Dissertation?

It may take anywhere from 12 hours to 7 days to proofread a dissertation. If you pay for a premium dissertation editing service, they may even deliver the proofread document in a few hours! But less turnaround time usually means more expensive services. So, the time it takes to proofread a dissertation largely depends on your editing budget!

Do Dissertation Editing Services Offer Error-Free Dissertations?

Yes, dissertation editing services offer error-free dissertations—that’s their purpose! This doesn’t mean that no error can bypass an editor; such a claim would be impossible to live up to. However, dissertation editing and proofreading services undertake several reviews to find and remove as many errors as they can. This, in turn, almost always leaves your document completely error-free!

Is it Safe to Send a Dissertation for Editing Services?

Yes, it’s completely safe to send a dissertation to editing services! It is not only academically ethical but expected that you get your dissertation professionally edited. Editing companies undertake several measures to protect your document, from encryption methods to NDAs. Rest assured, your dissertation is safe in your editors’ hands!

What Types of Documents Can You Use Dissertation Editing Services For?

You can use dissertation editing services for complete theses and dissertations as well as partial drafts. Some services also consider thesis and dissertation proposals under dissertation editing services.

Who Will Be Editing My Dissertation?

An editor with expertise in your subject who matches your editing requirements will edit your dissertation. Since dissertation editing services are legally obligated to protect the identities of their editors, you can’t interact with them firsthand. You can, however, request the support staff to pair you up with a specific type of editor.

-Isabell S.

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The Dissertation Editing Process

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What Do Our Dissertation Editing Services Include?

Expert proofreading.

Dissertation proofreading includes correction for:

• Word-order mistakes, sentence structure, and grammar
• Spelling and punctuation issues
• Improper use of units, symbols, numerals, and abbreviations
• Formatting inconsistencies and incorrect terminology

We guarantee 100% language accuracy —your edited paper will be error-free and meet the high standards expected of Master and PhD students.

Alterations for Vocabulary & Style

Wordvice's dissertation editors enhance the style, clarity, and tone of your writing in the following ways:

• Changing vocabulary and unnatural expressions
• Rephrasing to enhance logical flow and readability
• Improving structure and overall consistency
• Providing comments and feedback to explain revisions

Our dissertation editors also apply the formatting style required by your institution ( APA , MLA , Chicago , etc.)

Satisfaction Guarantee

Our dissertation editing services provide more than just quality editing. We have a range of features that make students keep coming back to us:

• Editor expertise with proofreading dissertations
• Editor expertise in your subject matter
• Direct communication with your editor
• A range of turnaround times (from 9 hours to 7 days)

You can stay in touch with your editor via our messaging system, and we guarantee delivery by the selected time to make sure you meet your submission deadline.

Who Are Our Dissertation Editors?

Professional editing for any master’s or phd dissertation, authors love our dissertation editing services.

Dissertation Editing Services Reviews

• Ronald Yates "Best dissertation editor EVER!" I submitted my dissertation to Wordvice before handing it in, and my editor Carla G. did such an amazing job - it was much more helpful than I had expected! She was very thorough and left many detailed suggestions in the manuscript that helped me immensely with organizing and strengthening my arguments. I got my dissertation back on time and felt very self-assured when I finally handed it in. Thank you for your very professional help.
• Chen Xi "Will use Wordvice again" Wordvice saved my master's thesis! I was stressed out because I thought I couldn't get everything done before my deadline, but my editor was so fast and their comments guided me really well through the last phase of polishing my writing. It sounds much more academic now, and I learned a lot from the feedback my editor gave me. I will definitely use Wordvice again for my dissertation!

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Dissertation Editing

• Not Just APA Editing
• Online University Expertise
• Reference Audit

Precision Consulting was featured in the 2010 edition of Inc 500, establishing us as one of the 500 fastest-growing, privately owned companies in the United States.

Dissertation Editing – Precision Consulting

Precision Consulting has a team of experienced dissertation editors who come to us from top universities, such as Harvard, Princeton, Yale, McGill, Cambridge, and Oxford (for our international clients). When they join our editing team after completing a highly competitive screening process, these editors are already experts at preparing documents for submission and publication. They then undergo a rigorous training program to ensure they are fully familiarized with the complexities of APA 7 and other major style guides, as well as with the university-specific requirements many of our clients must follow in order to receive full and final approval of their completed studies.

Dissertation Editing – References and Formatting

Comprehensive dissertation editing.

For researchers at the final stage of the dissertation or thesis journey (or those who want to provide a polished final draft for initial review), we’re proud to offer our comprehensive editing service. This extensive support includes sentence-level editing, formatting to style such as APA, and a reference audit.  Sentence-level editing includes attention to common proofreading needs, such as spelling, typos, and punctuation. In addition, final-stage dissertations commonly also require fine-tuning to ensure perfect grammar and sentence structure, and also to create a nice flow of content and to establish a scholarly tone. This sentence-level editing ensures that your writing has a smooth and polished presentation, meeting all scholarly writing expectations of your chair and other reviewers.  In addition to this sentence-level editing, you can be assured that all of your university’s formatting requirements will be addressed throughout, including formatting to APA 7 style, which is actually the style that we work within most frequently. We address the gamut of detailed formatting rules applying to all segments of your dissertation, from body text and headings to references, citations, tables, and figures. Note that if your program has not yet adopted APA 7, we can provide formatting to APA 6 upon your specific request.

There are 3 ways to initiate contact with us:

• Please review and submit the following form. Someone from our team will contact you within 1 hour (during business hours), or at your requested time.
• Alternatively, our consulting team is available via telephone Monday through Friday from 8:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M Eastern Time (5:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M Pacific Time), and from 8:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. Eastern Time on Saturday (5:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M Pacific Time). Feel free to call us on (702) 708-1411 !
• We also pride ourselves on our very prompt and in-depth e-mail responses, 365 days per year. We normally answer all urgent queries very promptly, including late-night and weekend requests. You can email us at [email protected]

Please be prepared to discuss the specifics of your project, your timeline for assistance, and any other relevant information regarding your proposed consultation. We respect the confidentiality of your project and will, at your request, supply you with a Non-Disclosure Agreement before discussing specifics.

Editing to Your University’s Requirements

Universities often impose their own specific requirements as well, which we also absolutely take into account. We’re familiar with the very exact specifications for the major online universities , in particular, and are also able to adjust our work to account for any other formatting guidelines outside of standard APA editing.

Reference Audits

Another form of assistance commonly required at the final stages of dissertation editing is the reference audit. This involves checking all citations in your work to make sure each has a corresponding source in the references list. Then, it also involves checking each source in the references list to ensure it is cited at least once in your dissertation. To the extent possible, this also includes identifying and including any missing sources in the references list.

The Dissertation Editing Process

We’re extremely proud of our comprehensive three-stage dissertation editing service for our clients, and here’s a closer look at this support in detail:

• Anthropomorphism
• Capitalization
• Consistency of style
• Contractions
• Effect vs. affect
• First-person elimination
• Identifying overly-subjective tone
• Over-quotation
• Parallelism
• Passive voice
• Punctuation
• Removing relative time reference
• Scholarly precision and tone
• Series commas
• Subject-verb agreement
• APA numbered lists
• Appendix formatting
• Automatic lists of tables and figures
• Automatic table of contents
• Body formatting
• Creating proper headers and footers
• Figure and table captions
• Front matter set-up
• Block quotes
• Preparing approval sheets
• Proper spacing
• Removing bullets and bolding
• Table formatting
• In-text citations, reference lists, and/or footnotes
• Identify missing references
• Construct your bibliography from scratch from your written draft
• Organize citations in bibliographic systems like EndNote and RefWorks

At Precision, we provide APA editing and other editing services to clients at every stage of the process and on every budget. Many of our dissertation editing clients are those in the final stages of their doctoral journey and feeling the financial pressure of many semesters of tuition. This is actually why we switched to a case-by-case approach for determining both the scope and cost of each client’s project–so we can work with your goals, timeline, and budget to meet your specific dissertation editing needs at an ideal (affordable) cost.  Our team of dissertation editors is experienced with editing everything from coursework and prospectuses, to concept papers, proposals, and final dissertations. This expertise means we’re able to provide in-depth, comprehensive editing services on a faster turnaround than any other dissertation editing service.

We know many of our dissertation editing clients are on a deadline, and so we’re committed to reviewing your work and providing a detailed plan and quote for assistance that same day–meaning that no matter how short your timeline, we can absolutely assist.

Once we review your draft and come up with a plan to edit and format your completed draft, we can provide you with a quote for our comprehensive editing support. Because of our extensive experience in academic and dissertation editing, we’re able to guarantee our work until approval. This means that our initial quote always includes any necessary revisions! In other words, if you receive any additional editing feedback or final adjustments from your committee or university reviewers, we can address all of that for you in full, at no additional cost.

Let’s keep it a secret…

Hi there! In this video I’m going to talk with you about editing and formatting, which are essential steps in refining your thesis or dissertation manuscript so that this work meets the standards of your university. If you’ve moved very far into the graduate research process, you’ve undoubtedly discovered that thesis or dissertation editing and formatting are required throughout the process, but definitely at both the proposal and final approval stages. Also, editing and formatting are essential to preparing any manuscripts you submit for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

So no matter where you are in your career as a researcher, editing and formatting are ongoing requirements if your work is to be successful. As for journal articles, though, do note that this video is only about editing and formatting, and if you’re interested in learning more about how we can assist more broadly with your journal article manuscripts, be sure to have a look at our video on Journal Publication.

Although there are many styles that might be applied within scholarly writing, I’ll be talking today about the one that is most commonly used in graduate level research, which is APA style. Now, for someone with an editor’s disposition, editing to APA–in particular, reference and citation formatting–can be a comforting ritual, in that there is exactly one way to do everything. There are some distinct advantages to use of such consistency in formatting your citations and references, which is why going to the trouble of completing your APA formatting perfectly is worth the effort.

For one, this consistency ensures that any future reader of your work, English speaker or not, whether living in the U.S. or on the moon, can locate the work you are citing or referencing (provided that the internet service on the moon is sufficiently developed to support access to research databases, but that’s a minor detail). There are also elements of space saving and presentation that apply within APA style (such as our dear friend the ampersand, which we’ll talk about in a bit).

Although some lovely people who are inherently detail-oriented might find the specificity and consistency of APA style comforting, there are those of us who find the minute requirements related to every little space and semicolon to be maddeningly strict. But, I hope that my explanation of the particulars of editing your dissertation to APA style to be helpful, and with some practice, you can definitely get the hang of it. And yet, if you’re finding that you would like more personalized help with your dissertation, thesis, or journal article with APA or editing to other styles like Chicago or Harvard, feel welcome to give us a call or send a quick email to learn more.

So, let’s get into the specifics of formatting and editing to meet APA style. Because we provide editing services to thesis and doctoral candidates so often, we have developed a system for comprehensive editing that you might also find very helpful as you prepare your work for review. As a general approach to our work with thesis and dissertation manuscripts (both at proposal and final stages), we take a 4-tiered approach to dissertation editing: These 4 tiers are:

• APA formatting (which also incorporates any university-specific formatting requirements),
• sentence-level editing,
• references formatting, and
• a thorough reference audit.

Let’s start off by talking about the first tier, which is APA formatting. To make this video as helpful as possible, we’ve actually asked our best APA editors for some key tips to share, and I hope you find these helpful! Getting the formatting right on your thesis or dissertation can be a total headache, which you’ve likely figured out by now. Even if you hire an APA editor, he or she may have varying comfort levels navigating formatting in Microsoft Word. So here are a few key areas to make sure you double check before you submit your draft for final review. APA uses a system of progressive headings, which are formatted differently depending on the level of the heading.

As you create subsections within your larger sections throughout your dissertation or thesis, you need to use progressive levels of headings to visually convey the overall organization of content in your chapters. So, if you are working within a section headed with a level 1 heading, and you create a subsection within this larger section, then you would progress to a level 2 heading. If you created a subsection within that section, then you would progress to a level 3 heading, and so on. Each level of heading has its own particular formatting, which of course has to be followed to a “t.” Here are the formatting specifications for APA levels 1 through 5. Notice that each level differs in terms of:

• bold versus normal font
• italicized versus non-italicized font
• title versus sentence case
• whether it ends with a period or not
• and placement on the page and in relation to the text.

Let’s look at some examples to give a sense of how these different levels of headings should look in your work. In this example of a slightly narcissistic dissertation, you can see examples of level 1, 2, and 3. Note that these progress to show that “Impressive features of my dissertation” — as a level 2 heading — is a subsection of the larger section “My awesome dissertation,” — which is a level 1 heading. Similarly, you can see that “Perfect APA formatting” — as a level 3 heading — is a subsection of the “Impressive Features of my dissertation” section, which is a level 2. So, what this indicates is that formatting your headings isn’t just about getting the stylistic features correct, but that it’s also about having a solid command of the organization of your content throughout the work.

For APA headings, your headings toolbar in Word is definitely your best friend. If you go into this toolbar, you’ll see that you can add new heading styles, and then as you write your headings throughout your dissertation, all you’ll have to do is select the heading and then click on the APA level you want from the toolbar, and it will format it perfectly.

It saves you a bit of time and also makes things easier when it comes to setting up an automated table of contents, which we’ll talk about a bit later. I’ve showed you correct examples of APA headings, but it might also be instructive to check out an incorrect example and then think about what about needs to be corrected to mesh with APA style. So, have a look at this one: What do you notice here? Well, what I see is that this heading is sort of a hybrid of levels 2 and 3, and such mixing of formatting is not OK under APA style, or any other style for that matter.

Notice that the heading is in title case, like a level 2, but it’s indented and the text starts on the same line immediately following, like a level 3. Also, it ends with a colon, which isn’t used for any APA headings. Let’s see how we would format this if it were a level 2 heading. Using bold font is perfect for either level, but if this were level 2, we would place it flush left on the line above the paragraph, and it would not end with any form of punctuation. Can you see the differences between the incorrect heading up top and the corrected one below? On the other hand, if this were to be level 3, it would not be in title case, as in the incorrect heading up top here. Instead, it would need to be indented, use sentence case, and end with a period, just like it does in this example on the bottom.

As I’m sure is clear by now, APA style is quite detailed, and with our experience with the major online universities, we know that their reviewers can be especially picky about formatting of headings, right down to every detail. Taking care of your headings in terms of both stylistic formatting and also determining which is the correct level to use, is something that we can definitely help you out with if you’re struggling with this or just don’t have the time to worry about these little details.

Another one of these little details you’ll need to take care of as part of formatting your dissertation is setting up paragraph spacing. Taking the time to set up your paragraph spacing will help you to avoid another issue we see quite a lot in our dissertation editing–ghost spaces! APA or dissertation editors use the term “ghost spaces” to refer to those empty lines that sometimes seem to pop up magically between your paragraphs. And, when you’re working on a document that is well over 100 pages, it can so easy to miss these before you submit for review — but, invariably, your reviewers will catch these and require that they’re fixed before approval. To prevent this issue, click on the “Format” button and select “Paragraph.” Make sure that the “Special option is set to “None,” that the before and after spacing is set to 0, and that line spacing is set to double. It’s just that easy!

Another important part of formatting is setting up your table of contents. As I mentioned earlier, once you’ve formatted all of your headings correctly, you can now fairly easily create an automated Table of Contents. Most universities require an automated Table of Contents to be added to your proposal or finished research, as this aids in quick referencing for your reader. Microsoft Word has a number of preset Table of Contents formats, but any experienced dissertation editor knows that none of these is APA compliant. Thus, it is up to you to create an automated Table of Contents in the correct format. To do this, go to the Modify tab, then TOC1, and set to 0 before and after, with no Special elements, and double spacing. Then select TOC2 and click options for indenting ½ inch, 0 before and after, and double spaced. For an APA-compliant table of contents, you should include only headings that are formatted to levels 1 and 2. Be sure to also select Time New Roman 12 as your font.

This is what makes setting up your APA levels in the heading bar such a great time-saver in the end, because you can just right-click on the table of contents any time to select the option to update your table of contents after making updates to your work. And, if you notice that long segments of text are showing up in your table of contents after you update it, that probably means you accidentally set these segments as headings. There’s certainly a bit of a learning curve the first time you go through these steps for headings, spacing, and table of contents formatting, and if our experienced APA editors can assist you in any way with adjusting your formatting in Word, please let us know!

Moving on, let’s talk about the another main issue to be sure you address as you complete the final formatting and editing of your dissertation: Tables and Figures. The primary formatting issues we encounter in dissertation editing here are title placement and formatting of lines in tables. We all know that the results of your statistical analysis need to be presented in tables and figures. And, if you are conducting a qualitative study, you might not think that tables are so important for your work.

But, with our specialization in qualitative analysis, we know that presenting your thematic findings in tables is required, and these must be formatted with the same attention to APA style as those in a quantitative study. For title placement under APA style, you need to place a numbered table title above the table, with the table and number on a line above the italicized title. Also, the table itself should have no vertical lines, and just 3 horizontal lines. Finally, tables should fit on one page. Let’s have a look at an example of an APA-formatted table.

Notice that the table and number are not italicized but the title itself is. Also, in this table, notice that there are just 3 horizontal lines and no vertical lines at all. For figures, we place the title underneath the figure, and in contrast to tables, the figure number and title are placed on the same line. Italicize the table and number, but put the actual title in normal font. Again, let’s look at an example of a figure formatted to APA style here. Noted that the figure number and title are below the figure, that figure and the number are italicized but the title is not.

Also, as with tables, figures should be formatted to fit within a single page, as this is a requirement of APA style. There are some exceptions, but typically longer tables and figures that go over a page should appear in your appendices, not the body of the text. Formatting your tables and figures to meet APA style requirements can definitely be tricky, and if you’d like to talk to a dissertation consultant about how we can help with this, feel welcome to reach out.

One important thing to consider here, is that even the most meticulous dissertation editors may overlook a misaligned heading or an incorrect Figure Title during one full review. This is why we make the commitment to stick with you through revisions when we provide help with editing your dissertation. And, with our experience with the major online universities, we know that this comes in handy given how picky their reviewers tend to be!

Okay, let’s move forward from the first tier of APA formatting to the second tier of our approach, which is sentence-level editing. Many thesis and doctoral candidates do not realize that obtaining a professional edit for their work at both the proposal and final approval stage is an expected step in developing their studies. And, this type of assistance with your thesis or dissertation is not only very common, but it is actually often required.

This next segment should help to clarify what is meant by sentence-level editing, which I’m hoping you find helpful as you complete this type of editing in your own work. Sentence-level editing involves reading through your work on a line-by-line basis to identify any errors in grammar, spelling, or sentence structure, which we will then correct. This also involves editing for correct verb tense, which can be a real challenge when switching from proposal to final dissertation stage. Use of correct verb tense is also important when reporting the past findings of different studies versus current implications of research you discuss. This form of editing also addresses little errors such as typos and punctuation mistakes. Finally, we can edit for issues such as excessive use of passive voice and anthropomorphism, which are contrary to APA and strongly frowned upon by many of the major online universities.

Let’s talk about some examples here to clarify what exactly sentence-level editing entails. Errors in grammar and sentence structure are actually very common in thesis and dissertation manuscripts, and they’re nothing to be embarrassed about. The truth is that the ways that we are expected to write to meet scholarly standards are often quite different from how we normally express ourselves on an everyday basis. This means that you are essentially having to translate your normal way of communicating into what often seems like a foreign language when writing up your research. Here is an example from a hypothetical chapter 5 to consider: “The Role of District Oversight: One participant shared that their experiences with the school district during MTSS implementation was not helpful, and that they struggled with data-based decision making due to lack of training, insufficient planning time, and they were understaffed.

This perspective was confirmed by other’s in the sample, who stated a poorly developed plan of implementation at the district level. Previous research also found that elementary school teachers in multiple states indicated that a lack of district oversight and coordination had adversely impacted their abilities to conduct data-based decision making and other aspects of MTSS programs in their schools (Emersen & Jones, 2014; Zorgon, 2017).” Not so bad, right? Well, actually, this little passage is full of errors that would definitely keep this work from being approved, and we see these kinds of issues all the time through our dissertation consulting with clients.

Even though the qualitative analysis has been done nicely, and the findings have been tied back in with the research literature on the topic, there are several areas that will need to be fixed through editing and formatting before this work has a chance of approval. This is a very common area where we help out with the presentation of dissertation and thesis studies. And, even though I won’t get into specifics about qualitative research and analysis in this video, if you want to learn more about this great method and how to apply it in your study, have a look at our Qualitative Methods video!

Now, returning to our example, what needs to be fixed? Let start with grammar. Have a look at this sentence: “This perspective was confirmed by other’s in the sample, who stated a poorly developed plan of implementation at the district level.” Note here that this sentence kind of seems like it’s going somewhere, but it ends in an incomplete state. Sometimes this happens after you’ve written hundreds of pages about your research, and you quite simply forget to finish your sentence. To complete this sentence, you might say something like, “…who stated a poorly developed plan of implementation at the district level left them feeling confused and under-prepared to carry out data-based processes.” What else can we find in this sentence?

Well, for one it uses the possessive form of “other’s” when it should just use the plural form “others.” Also, this is an example of passive voice, where it reads, “This perspective was confirmed by…” To edit this to achieve active voice, we might instead say, “Other participants shared perspectives that were consistent with this sentiment…” Believe it or not, there are even more errors in this little passage. Let’s look a little more closely at this sentence: “One participant shared that their experiences with the school district during MTSS implementation was not helpful, and that they struggled with data-based decision making due to lack of training, insufficient planning time, and they were understaffed.”

First of all, the pronoun “their” is plural and so does not match your singular subject, “one participant.” The difficulty this writer is probably trying to work around is the discouragement from using gender-specific pronouns in graduate research manuscripts to refer to subjects that are gender-neutral. But, what you can do here is actually talk about the participant more specifically, using then a gender-specific pronoun, which is perfectly acceptable. This might read, “Participant 12 shared that her experiences…” What else is problematic in this sentence? Look at the phrase that goes, “…their experiences with the school district during MTSS implementation was not helpful…” Do you notice that “experiences” is plural, but that the corresponding verb “was” is not? This is subject-verb disagreement, and of course we would need to say that these “experiences…were not helpful” to be correct here. How about sentence structure?

Check out this bit of the sentence: “…and that they struggled with data-based decision making due to lack of training, insufficient planning time, and they were understaffed.” Notice that “they were understaffed” does not fit in with the previous two factors in the series. This is a failure to establish parallel construction, and might be fixed by saying, “…and that they struggled with data-based decision making due to lack of training, insufficient planning time, and understaffing.” Let’s look at one more error in this passage that is actually quite common. Consider this phrase: “Previous research also found that elementary school teachers…” This sounds just fine, doesn’t it? But, it’s actually an example of anthropomorphism, which means that you’re attributing distinctly human behaviors to non-humans.

If you think about this, you’ll recognize that “research” is not human, but researchers of course are human. Given this, it is technically incorrect to state that research “found” anything. You’ll see this quite a bit in the peer-reviewed literature, and so it might be surprising to find that it is strongly discouraged in master’s or doctoral research at many universities. So, how do we get around this? One common way to do this is to revise the phrase so that the relevant human actors are in the active role. So, we might instead say, “Multiple researchers have previously found that…”

We’re a bit unusual among data analytics companies given that we also specialize in qualitative research, but because of this we know that many programs prefer that you speak of yourself as the researcher in first person — or by saying “I” did this or that in my study. This is another great way of avoiding anthropomorphism as well. As you can see from the many errors in just this one little passage, editing your dissertation to meet the expectations of your reviewers can be an extremely detailed and time consuming process.

With our experience providing dissertation help to clients as they work toward degrees from the major online universities, we know for certain that they each carry their own particular and always picky requirements for editing. If you working on your proposal or finished dissertation or thesis, and you are finding that no matter how many times you submit, you just can’t get it right, give us a call or send an email to learn how we can help. We can definitely provide you with a thorough sentence-level edit to really shine up your work, and we’ll stick with you with revisions to make sure you move forward with your research.

Moving on to the third tier now, we’re going to talk specifically about references formatting, which also includes attention to citations, and then later on I’ll explain the reference audit. Formatting the references list to APA style is a task that is so incredibly detailed, and so it’s no wonder that this is a super common area where we’re asked to provide assistance for candidates working on their dissertations or thesis research.

So, let’s start by discussing some different types of examples, so that you can see how these should look when formatted properly. This first example that you see here is a reference list entry for a book. Note several things here: The entry begins with the last name of the author, followed by his/her initial(s). Be sure to include a period after each initial and exactly one space between initials and surrounding information. You next put the year of publication, followed by a period. The title of the work follows and is italicized. It is in sentence case, with only the first word and all proper nouns capitalized.

Note, however, that the first word after the colon is also capitalized, which is a detail that online sources almost always get wrong — so be careful to proofread for such errors when you cut and paste your references from online sources. Next comes city and state (or country) of publication, followed by a colon. Following the location comes the name of the publisher, and the entry ends with a period. This formatting applies for all books that you use as sources, but you’ll definitely want to note that a different formatting style applies to different types of sources. So, to illustrate this, let’s move on to our next example!

This example that you see here is a journal article, which is the most common type of source you will be referencing. Present the author’s name in the same way as you would for a book, along with the date of publication. The title is in sentence case as with the book reference, but notice that in contrast to the book title, you do NOT italicize the title of a journal article. Present the full title of the journal without abbreviations. And, be sure to Italicize it. After the journal name, insert a comma, then put the volume number, also italicized. If there is an issue number, you’ll want to put that in parentheses, without an intervening space and not italicized, immediately after the volume number.

Thus, if this article by Cross and Funke was published in volume 76, issue number 4 of the Journal of Innovation in Education, we would put the 76 in italics and then the non-italicized 4 in parentheses immediately following the volume. See how crazily detailed APA is? Next, put page numbers where applicable, including both the first and last pages of the article. But, for journal articles, just use the page numbers alone, without “p.” or anything of that kind. And then immediately following the last page number, end the entry with a period. Finally, where available, always include the doi number for journal reference entries.

Moving forward, let’s now talk about editing to APA style in cases where you’re using sources with multiple authors, and also for when you’re using sources other than scholarly articles or monographs. At this point in our discussion, you might not be at all surprised to learn that APA style has different rules for formatting sources depending on the number of authors. Specifically, for sources that have two to seven authors, you’ll want to list all authors, with the last name followed by initials, one space between initials when there are multiples, using the serial, or Oxford comma, and preceding the name of the last author with an ampersand.

To illustrate this, let’s look at a couple of examples. Our first example is a source authored by: Jerry, M., & Tom, C. — watch the punctuation carefully. Notice that even in this source with two authors, we still include a comma after the first author. This is different from the rule for citations, which can be kind of confusing. Now, consider the punctuation and spacing in this source authored by Duck, D., Duck, H., Duck, D., & Duck, L. Again, there are commas after each author leading up to the ampersand. For those sources that have more than seven authors, use this format: As you can see in this example, you’ll list the first six authors, Chapman, Cleese, Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin, followed by an ellipsis (…) and then Thatotherguy, which is actually the last author’s name, even if he is actually the fifteenth author. Never list more than seven authors, as this represents an unforgivable violation of all things APA.

No matter what your focus or method, you’ve probably noticed that it’s become more commonplace for studies to have 3-5 and sometimes six or more authors. If you’re completing quantitative or qualitative research and are feeling a bit bewildered navigating in-text citation rules for your many sources, we can certainly draw on our APA editing expertise to help with refining your dissertation or thesis. This will ensure the focus remains on your hard work (and not your formatting)!

Now, let’s move forward to formatting requirements for sources that fall outside of the more commonly used scholarly books and peer-reviewed articles. Often it makes sense to cite sources that do not have explicitly named authors, but instead are simply referenced by the organization that developed the material. Very common examples of this are materials provided by government agencies. How do you format the author section if there are no identified authors? Let’s consider that you need to cite educational policy that was provided by the department of education. You would list the author as the U.S. Department of Education, followed by a period, and then the year of the material you used in your study.

What you might be thinking at this point is that formatting to this level of detail can be an extremely time consuming process — and, trust me, you are absolutely correct about this! Now, with our experience providing dissertation help to doctoral and master’s candidates from the major online universities, we know for certain that they each carry their own particular and always picky requirements for dissertation or thesis editing. So, if you’re thinking you might not want to take on all of this formatting yourself, we can certainly provide you with help to format your dissertation or thesis to meet your university’s high expectations! And, we’ll stick with you through any revisions to make sure you move forward with your work.

Let’s return to our discussion of references list formatting. Now that we’ve discussed how to format commonly used types of sources within your reference list, let’s now talk about how to format the full list. Before getting into the APA rules for references lists, let me just caution you that if this is your first experience with editing to APA style, you should note that the following rules can be trumped by specific school guidelines. To get started, you’ll want to format your references list so that you have a hanging indent of ½ an inch.

The best way to do this is to use Word’s ruler bar. If you normally do not see it, click on the little box thingy on the upper right side, just above the slider arrow. What you’ll notice is that there are indicators for adjusting the margin for first line indent (on top) and also for adjusting the hanging indent (on bottom). So, to set your hanging indent, move the bottom indicator inwards ½ inch from your margin. Leave the upper one alone, which you’ll note is the exact opposite of what you would do when formatting a normally indented paragraph. Single-space the entries themselves but double-space between entries, but again, watch out that school guidelines do not dictate you do this differently.

There are certain universities that require consistent double-spacing throughout the entire references list, although they follow APA style pretty consistently through most areas of the dissertation. In the course of our experience with editing dissertations, we’ve found in working with different versions of Word and university templates, that 1.5 line spacing looks a little better when using Times New Roman. So, let’s look at an example so that you can see how this formatting should look when done correctly.

Notice the hanging indent and the line spacing both within and between each source. Of course, you will need to list your sources in alphabetical order by the last name of the first author listed. If you have multiple entries by the same author, present them in chronological order, with the earliest work first. See for example here how we’ve presented these works of the esteemed Timberlake in chronological order, starting with the noteworthy 2007 “Bringing sexy back: The early years” and then moving forward to the much more controversial 2017 “Still bringing sexy back: The ‘hot dad’ years” to follow.

Now, what you’ll undoubtedly come across are those prolific authors who publish both on a single-author basis and also alongside multiple co-authors. And by the way, if you’re needing some tips on finding great sources for your work, check out our video on the Literature Review chapter — I explain much more about this search process there! But, back to the topic at hand, when you have multiple sources in your references lists that are both single- and multiple-author, you’ll want to place single-author entries before multiple-author entries in which the same name appears first.

Let’s stay with that prodigiously gifted author JT for just another moment to demonstrate. Notice that the single-author source, “Bringing sexy back” comes first, even though it was published later than the multiple-author source, “We’re so hot right now.” Now, another somewhat confusing situation happens when you have two works by the same author (or the same exact dyad or group of authors) that were published within the same year. So, when this happens, you’ll want to differentiate between these sources by assigning a letter to each, which follows the publication year — for example, two sources by the same author both published in 2009 would be differentiated as 2009a and 2009b. You would order these alphabetically by the title of the article.

Perhaps, to demonstrate this, we should turn to an even more prolific scholar of our times, Beyonce. Note that the book title, “I woke up like this” would precede “We be all night” alphabetically — this is why these two sources are denoted as 2013a and 2013b, respectively. There are various rules for sources such as newspapers, online, and so forth. You can look up the proper format using your APA 6.0 reference book (which I’m sure you ran out and bought as soon as you started to watch this video) or Purdue Owl (which is an online reference guide). Of course, as always, you should make sure there aren’t any funky school-specific rules for these citations, and for any other aspect of editing your dissertation.

Alright, so I’m sure it’s not surprising that APA has slightly different rules for formatting citations as compared with sources in the references list. So, let’s move on to in-text citations: First of all, you will continue to list authors in citations in alphabetical order, as you do in the references list. But, you do not include initials in citations. Now, if the citation is part of the sentence, you will use the word “and”; but, if it is a parenthetical citation you will use the ampersand. Here’s an example to illustrate this: “Supporting the work of Fonebone and Laughinggas (2011), recent research on farm animals falling into wells has confirmed that “goats float” (Penn & Teller, 2015, p.22).” This is what is referred to as the Ampersand Mandate of 1994, and it is not to be violated — ever. Notice also in this example that there is a page number included — this is because we used a direct quote from the source here when we stated that “goats float.”

Another feature of citations that you did not see included in the references is the phrase “et al.” — this is Latin (“et aliud”) for “and others.” Thus, al. is an abbreviation, so put a period after it. Use of “et al.” saves space in your manuscript and has two specific applications. First, you will use et al. when you are citing a source that has three to five authors, with the exception of the first time you cite the source in each chapter. In your first citation of sources with three to five authors, do list them all. Thus, in this example citation that you see here, in your first citation it is correct to list all three authors (Huey, Dewey, & Louie, 2015), but you list only first author and “et al.” after this.

So, your citation of Huey, Dewey, and Louie would becomes (Huey et al., 2015) in subsequent citations of this source in the chapter. In the second application of et al. in your work, you will ALWAYS use et al. when the source has six or more authors, even from the very first time you cite the source. Thus, as this example shows, for Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, and Dopey’s 2017 book Snow White: A Little Perspective, this source will always be referred to you in your text as Doc et al. (2017).

Another important point is to make SURE that the period that ends the sentence goes after the citation that ends it, as the citation is part of the sentence. By the way, this was actually nominated by our APA editors for Most Frequent Error in our clients’ writing as far as in-text citations go. If citing multiple sources, separate the entries with semicolons. As you can see in this example, the works of Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato are separated from one another with semicolons. Also, what you’ll notice is that these sources are presented as they would be in your reference list–in other words, in alphabetical order by the first author’s last name.

Now, let’s imagine that you’re citing two works by the same author in the same sentence/citation. In this case, and as you’ll see in my example here, you’ll name the author, Einstein, once and then list multiple publication years, which are separated by commas. And, yes, he’s still at it. Just to reiterate for those of you new to formatting and editing under APA: the et al. number of authors rule for in-text citations is: never list more than five authors.

Alright, enough about formatting references and citations. Let’s move forward to talk about the reference audit, which is the fourth part of our 4-tiered editing approach I wanted to explain in this video. The reference audit involves reviewing every single citation in your entire proposal, thesis, or dissertation, and making sure that every one of these corresponds with a source in your references list. Similarly, you then need to go through and check each source in your references list to ensure that it has been cited at least once somewhere in your work.

Then after that, you have to determine the appropriate sources for any citations which lack a corresponding entry in the references list. It’s a tedious and time-consuming last step in your work, but it’s definitely essential for ensuring approval. Many dissertation editors are unprepared to provide the editing, formatting, and reference audit assistance to meet the standards of the major online universities, and this is particularly so at the finished dissertation stage. This is where working with a dissertation consultant with our level of experience with these universities comes in very handy, as we can ensure that your work meets the specific standards required to move your work forward.

So, if you’ve edited your draft, but would like a dissertation editor to make sure you’ve got a polished final version to submit–or if you can’t see the forest for the trees at this point, and would like dissertation help with these final details, let us know. We’ll stay with you through any revisions for this editing and formatting to APA or any other style–so that you have time to prepare for what’s next! I hope that you’ve found this video to be very helpful as you completed your editing and formatting. And, if we can help out with refining your dissertation or thesis through editing and formatting to APA or any other style, give us a call or send a quick email — we’d be happy to help!

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Are you a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) student in need of APA dissertation editing?  Are you frustrated having to learn APA Style for your DNP capstone or DNP scholarly project?  On top of having to learn APA Style, are you pressed for time and in need of help with your project’s design, research methods, READ MORE

Hiring an APA editor for dissertation

For most of us, the dissertation is a daunting experience in one way or another. You spend months, if not years, plugging away at what seems like an interminable project in the marathon that is your doctoral program. But oh, the feeling of absolute accomplishment once you complete it and stand before your committee to READ MORE

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Top 10 Dissertation Editing Services Reviewed

G iven the importance of presenting research with precision and adherence to academic standards, dissertation editing services play an essential role in the preparation process. These services are not only pivotal in rectifying grammatical errors and formatting inconsistencies but also in ensuring that the argumentation and evidence presented adhere to the highest standards of academic discourse.

This guide is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of the top 10 dissertation editing services, carefully selected based on their credibility, the breadth of services offered, and their significant contributions to enhancing scholarly work.

Our analysis is particularly focused on services that offer substantial support to academics in refining the clarity, coherence, and academic rigor of their dissertations, ensuring that their scholarly contributions are communicated effectively and are in strict compliance with institutional guidelines and disciplinary expectations.

In assessing the top dissertation editing services, several criteria were paramount in our evaluation process:

• Quality of Editing: This encompasses a review of sample edited text to enhance academic language, improve sentence structure, and ensure clarity of argumentation. High-quality editing goes beyond simple proofreading to include critical feedback on the coherence and flow of the dissertation, suggesting improvements that can significantly elevate the scholarly work's impact.
• Ability to Select Editor: Services that allow clients to choose an editor based on their specific academic discipline or editing needs scored highly in our assessment. This personalization ensures that the editor is well-versed in the subject matter, familiar with the specific jargon and methodologies of the field, and capable of providing insights that are both valuable and relevant to the dissertation's subject area.
• Expertise: We prioritized services offering a wide array of expertise, covering various academic fields from the sciences to the humanities. This guarantees that scholars will be able to find services that comprehend the subtleties of their particular field of study, while also offering a rich background of knowledge and experience in the academic writing conventions unique to their discipline.
• Pricing: In evaluating the cost of editing services, our focus was squarely on how each service's pricing compares to its competitors, prioritizing affordability. We assessed services based on their overall cost relative to other options in the market, highlighting those that provide the best value.

By focusing on these criteria, this guide aims to assist academics in making informed choices about the editing services they engage with, ultimately contributing to the elevation of their scholarly work.

Our goal is to ensure that the selected dissertation editing services not only meet but exceed the expectations of the academic community, providing a valuable resource that enhances the quality and integrity of scholarly research.

With that said, here is our top 10 list of dissertation editing services:

ServiceScape

https://www.servicescape.com/editing-proofreading/dissertation-editing-proofreading

ServiceScape stands out in the crowded field of academic editing services by offering a unique and highly customizable experience for doctoral candidates seeking to refine their dissertations. With an extensive network of professional editors spanning 25 academic subjects and providing over 15 style formatting options, ServiceScape caters to a large range of research needs and academic goals.

Their platform enables clients to select their own editor, ensuring a perfect match between the dissertation's subject matter and the editor's expertise. This level of personalization is instrumental in achieving a final product that is not only grammatically and stylistically polished but also deeply attuned to the nuances of the academic discipline.

Upon submitting a sample document for editing, we found the quality of editing to be good, reflecting a strong command over academic language and an in-depth understanding of the specific formatting and citation styles required.

The editor's corrections were thoughtful and constructive, focusing not just on surface-level errors but also on enhancing the clarity, flow, and argumentative strength of the writing. Feedback was provided in a manner that was insightful and actionable, making it easy to incorporate the suggested changes.

ServiceScape's pricing model adds to its appeal, offering flexibility to choose editors who can work within a range of budgets without compromising on the quality of the editing service. This affordability, coupled with the ability to choose an editor based on specific needs and the vast range of expertise available, makes ServiceScape an attractive option for doctoral students looking to polish their dissertations to perfection.

Overall Verdict:

• Quality of Editing: Good - Demonstrates a high level of attention to both language and content, significantly enhancing the manuscript's quality.
• Ability to Select Editor: Yes - Offers the flexibility to choose from a wide range of editors based on their expertise and client reviews.
• Expertise : Large Range - Covers a broad spectrum of academic subjects, providing specialized editing for a wide variety of research areas.
• Pricing: $$ - Offers competitive pricing, allowing clients to select editors within their budget while ensuring high-quality editing services.

Dissertation by Design

https://dissertationbydesign.com/dissertation-editing-services/

Dissertation by Design offers a comprehensive suite of editing services tailored for doctoral candidates across a wide array of disciplines. They promise professional editing, personalized assistance, and a risk-free satisfaction guarantee, positioning themselves as a committed ally in the dissertation process. Their services, including APA editing, developmental editing, and proofreading, aim to elevate academic work to meet the exacting standards of doctoral committees.

Upon evaluation, the service demonstrated a mixed performance. While APA editing ensured adherence to formatting guidelines, it fell short in content enhancement and structural refinement. Developmental editing provided insights, yet occasionally lacked the depth expected in scholarly work.

The absence of an option to choose an editor tailored to the dissertation's subject matter is a noted limitation, despite the competitive pricing and the experienced editorial team's promise of flexible turnaround times. This suggests that while Dissertation by Design capably addresses technical aspects of editing, its ability to deepen the academic value of a dissertation may vary.

• Quality of Editing: Adequate - Competent in technical corrections but may lack depth in substantive feedback.
• Ability to Select Editor: No - The service does not offer the option to select an editor, which could impact the match of expertise to the dissertation's subject.
• Expertise: Medium Range - While covering a broad spectrum, the depth of expertise in specialized areas might not fully meet the expectations for highly specialized subjects.
• Pricing: $$$ - Pricing is moderate, suggesting a balance between quality and cost, but specifics would depend on the exact nature of the editing service required.

Capstone Editing

https://www.capstoneediting.com/thesis-editing

Capstone Editing emerges as a supportive resource for doctoral candidates navigating the complex final stages of their dissertation journey. The service promises expert editing skills combined with a deep understanding of the academic stakes, offering a comprehensive suite of services that includes dissertation editing, proofreading, and ensuring adherence to international publication standards. Capstone Editing is dedicated to refining academic work to meet the rigorous demands of scholarly examination, with attention to language, style, referencing, and formatting.

Upon submitting a sample for editing, our engagement with Capstone Editing revealed strengths and weaknesses. The service proficiently managed the technical aspects of editing—such as grammar, punctuation, and formatting—meeting the basic standards expected in academic writing.

However, the editing process felt somewhat superficial, lacking the in-depth critique and substantive feedback necessary to elevate a scholarly work significantly. The absence of an option to select an editor with specific expertise or academic background was a notable gap, potentially limiting the customization and depth of the editing experience.

While Capstone Editing claims to cover a wide array of academic disciplines, their approach seems more generalized than specialized. This broad focus suggests a versatility in handling diverse subjects but possibly at the expense of depth in any single area of study. The service's pricing, which appears to be at the premium end of the spectrum, positions Capstone Editing as a high-end provider. This premium pricing raises expectations for an exceptional level of service that not only meets but transcends basic editing to genuinely transform academic writing.

• Quality of Editing: Adequate - Sufficient for basic proofreading but lacks depth in developmental feedback.
• Ability to Select Editor: No - Lacks the option for clients to select their editor, which could enhance the matching of academic expertise to the dissertation's subject matter.
• Expertise: Medium Range - Indicates a broad but not deeply specialized knowledge base across academic disciplines.
• Pricing: $$$$ - Suggests a premium pricing model that may not align with the perceived value of the editing received.

Editor World

https://www.editorworld.com/dissertation-editing-services

Editor World positions itself as a critical ally for doctoral candidates. With a promise of a roster of experienced editors across various academic disciplines, the service offers hope for students seeking to refine their dissertations to perfection.

The unique selling proposition of Editor World is the ability for clients to choose their editor, a feature that ostensibly allows for a more personalized editing experience. This element of choice aims to connect dissertation writers with editors who not only have the requisite language skills but also a deeper understanding of the subject matter at hand.

Upon engaging with Editor World for a project, the experience yielded mixed feelings. The process of selecting an editor was straightforward, with transparent profiles showcasing each editor's qualifications and areas of expertise. However, the editing outcome itself hovered around the “adequate” mark.

While basic grammatical and spelling errors were adeptly corrected, and the document was returned with a cleaner flow, the service seemed to skim the surface, missing opportunities to deeply engage with the content to enhance argumentative depth or offer substantial feedback on complex academic constructs. The editing did improve readability but did not significantly elevate the scholarly impact of the work as might have been expected.

Editor World's expertise, as presented through their editor profiles, spans a medium range, suggesting a general capability to handle a variety of academic disciplines. The pricing, which is structured based on turnaround time and word count, offers some flexibility, potentially placing it in a mid-tier range depending on the specifics of the project. Despite these offerings, the overall experience left room for improvement, particularly for doctoral candidates seeking transformative edits that go beyond surface-level corrections.

• Quality of Editing: Adequate - Adequate for addressing basic language and formatting issues, but falls short in providing deep, substantive feedback.
• Ability to Select Editor: Yes - Offers the opportunity to choose an editor based on specific needs and expertise.
• Expertise: Medium Range - There's a solid coverage of subjects, including psychology, education, political science, and law.
• Pricing: $$$ - Reflects a balance between service quality and cost, with flexibility based on project urgency and length.

https://edit911.com/dissertation-editing/

Edit911 promises not only meticulous attention to grammatical precision but also a deep engagement with the content to enhance clarity, argumentation, and overall coherence. The service emphasizes its team of published PhD editors who bring their academic rigor and expertise to the table, ensuring that dissertations not only meet but exceed the scholarly standards expected by dissertation committees. The allure of Edit911 is further heightened by their 100% satisfaction guarantee and their stellar A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau, suggesting a level of service that is both reputable and reliable.

Upon submitting a sample for editing, the feedback and alterations provided were good, reflecting a high standard of grammatical and stylistic corrections alongside thoughtful considerations on structure and content clarity. The editing process seemed to illuminate the document’s strengths while carefully addressing its weaknesses, resulting in a polished and academically robust piece of work.

However, the absence of an option to select a specific editor meant giving up control over matching the project with an editor whose expertise directly aligns with the dissertation's subject matter, potentially missing out on nuanced insights specific to the field of study.

The breadth of expertise Edit911 claims to offer spans a medium range, with a particular focus on achieving stylistic and formatting excellence across various academic disciplines. Pricing is competitive, structured to reflect the comprehensive nature of the service provided. Despite these strengths, the inability to choose one's editor could be seen as a limitation, particularly for those seeking a highly specialized review of their work.

• Quality of Editing: Good - The editing service competently addresses a wide range of issues from basic grammar to complex structural considerations.
• Ability to Select Editor: No - The service does not offer clients the ability to select their editor, which might limit personalized academic alignment.
• Expertise: Medium Range - While boasting a team of PhD editors, the range of specialized expertise may not cover all niche academic areas deeply.
• Pricing: $$$ - Suggests a mid-tier pricing strategy that balances quality editing services with cost-efficiency.

Polished Paper

https://polishedpaper.com/dissertation-editing

Polished Paper positions itself as a comprehensive dissertation editing service, aimed at refining academic manuscripts to meet the stringent standards expected by review committees. The promise of delivering a dissertation free from grammatical, stylistic, and formatting errors is at the heart of Polished Paper's service offering.

Their commitment to ensuring academic work is presented in the best possible light is underscored by their attention to detail in aspects such as grammar, punctuation, word choice, and adherence to university-specific academic styles. This holistic approach to dissertation editing is designed to provide peace of mind to doctoral candidates, ensuring their years of hard work are accurately and professionally represented.

Upon submitting a document for editing, the outcome was unfortunately characterized as poor. While the service claims to offer thorough corrections across a wide range of academic disciplines and formatting styles, the editing provided fell short of expectations. The document returned with several overlooked grammatical errors and inconsistencies in citation formatting, which are critical elements in dissertation writing.

Additionally, the feedback on enhancing wording and phrasing lacked depth, offering minimal suggestions for improving the academic tone or clarity of the manuscript. The absence of an option to select a specific editor based on subject matter expertise further compounded the issue, leading to a potential mismatch between the sample’s content and the editor's proficiency.

Despite Polished Paper's large range of expertise and competitive pricing, the editing service did not fully meet the requirements for a high-quality academic edit. The lack of personalized editor selection and the oversight of critical errors in the editing process suggest a gap between the service's promises and its delivery.

• Quality of Editing: Mediocre - Failed to adequately address grammatical errors and citation inconsistencies.
• Ability to Select Editor: No - Does not offer the option to select an editor based on specific academic needs.
• Expertise: Large Range - Covers a wide spectrum of disciplines including humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and applied sciences.
• Pricing: $$ - Competitive pricing that, while affordable, does not compensate for the deficiencies in editing quality.

https://www.kibin.com/academic-editing-proofreading

Kibin positions itself as a leading destination for academic editing and proofreading, offering a comprehensive service model that goes beyond mere surface corrections. Emphasizing clarity, flow, and overall presentation, Kibin aspires to be the essential academic partner for researchers and students aiming to refine their dissertations, theses, and manuscripts.

Their service is appealing, with a focus on meticulous detail, adherence to various English academic standards, and thorough reviews of citations and references to ensure that academic works are primed for submission.

Upon engaging Kibin for an editing project, the outcomes were mixed. The service proficiently addressed grammatical and punctuation errors, enhancing the document's readability. However, it fell short in delivering the expected depth in areas fundamental to scholarly writing.

The feedback provided little in the way of suggestions for bolstering the argumentative framework, deepening analytical insight, or enriching the scholarly tone. Consequently, the manuscript, while smoother on the surface, lacked substantive improvements in academic rigor. This discrepancy between the promise of a comprehensive edit and the reality of predominantly cosmetic enhancements was notable.

One of Kibin's features is the ability to select an editor. Yet, at the time of this review, the options were limited to only six editors, which is less than other competitors who offer similar editor selection capabilities. The limited pool of only six editors may restrict the service’s ability to match manuscript requirements with editorial expertise closely.

The pricing model of Kibin, which is based on word count and desired turnaround time, positions it as a mid-market option. This transparent approach to pricing is commendable; however, considering the sample sub optimal outcome, clients might question whether the investment adequately reflects the value received, especially in light of the service's limitations in delivering deep, critical academic feedback.

• Quality of Editing: Adequate - Efficiently corrects surface errors but lacks in providing the essential, in-depth academic feedback needed for scholarly enhancement.
• Ability to Select Editor: Yes – Although the option exists, there is a limited selection.
• Expertise: Medium Range - Kibin's editorial team, albeit small, spans a broad academic spectrum. However, the depth of specialization necessary for more niche or complex subjects may not be adequately met.
• Pricing: $$$ - Occupies a middle-ground in the pricing spectrum, which may lead clients to evaluate the cost-benefit ratio critically, especially when the editing service results in mostly cosmetic improvements.

https://www.gramlee.com/dissertation-editing-services/

Gramlee markets itself as a comprehensive dissertation editing service, promising to elevate the quality of academic research to meet and surpass the stringent demands of doctoral committees. With a focus on creating dissertations that not only showcase rigorous research but also tell a compelling academic narrative, Gramlee seeks to differentiate itself by emphasizing the storytelling aspect of scholarly writing.

Their services are designed to enhance dissertations with a healthy mix of research and engaging narrative, aiming to make each submission not just acceptable but a pleasure to read. This approach suggests a deep understanding of the academic process and the importance of presenting research in a manner that resonates with both academic peers and broader audiences.

Upon engaging Gramlee for an editing project, the service provided was good, achieving a balance between grammatical precision and narrative enhancement. The editing process appeared to pay careful attention to the structural and stylistic elements that make academic writing both clear and engaging.

Corrections and suggestions were made with an eye towards improving the overall flow and readability of the dissertation, ensuring that the research presented was both rigorous and accessible. However, despite the good quality of editing, the service did not offer the option to select a specific editor, which could have added an extra layer of personalization and expertise alignment, especially for dissertations requiring specialized knowledge.

Gramlee's expertise, while presented as comprehensive, seems to fall within a medium range, capable of handling a wide array of subjects but perhaps lacking in deep specialization across more niche academic fields. Gramlee's competitive and transparent pricing positions it as a viable option. However, the lack of ability to choose an editor and the potential for variability in specialization may prompt some to weigh the overall value of the service against their specific academic needs.

• Quality of Editing: Good - Successfully addresses both the technical and narrative aspects of dissertation editing.
• Ability to Select Editor: No - Lacks the feature to choose an editor based on specific research requirements or academic discipline.
• Expertise: Medium Range - Offers a broad spectrum of academic editing capabilities, though the depth of expertise in specialized areas could be improved.
• Pricing: $$$ - Indicates a moderate pricing structure that reflects the quality of service provided.

True Editors

https://www.trueeditors.com/academic/dissertation-editing-proofreading

True Editors aims to be a pivotal service for doctoral candidates and academics seeking to refine their dissertations and academic manuscripts. With a promise of delivering content that is not only grammatically impeccable but also polished to adhere to the preferred academic style of the university, their service is designed to cater to a wide spectrum of academic needs.

This approach is intended to ensure that dissertations are not just free from errors but are also presented in a manner that enhances readability and conforms to the stringent academic standards required for such high-level academic work.

Upon engaging True Editors for an editing project, the experience yielded a decent outcome. While the service professes to address a comprehensive range of errors—from grammatical to formatting inconsistencies—the editing provided seemed to fall short of a thorough academic scrutiny.

The document returned did show improvements in spelling, grammar, and punctuation, but deeper issues related to the structure, argumentation, and critical engagement with the subject matter appeared to be lightly touched or overlooked. This level of editing may suffice for early drafts but may not meet the expectations of doctoral candidates looking for in-depth analysis and feedback on their work.

True Editors boasts a large range of expertise and promises an affordable pricing model, yet the absence of an option to select a specific editor based on subject matter expertise is a notable limitation. For academic works as complex and varied as dissertations, the matching of editor expertise to the dissertation's field can significantly impact the quality of the editing process.

• Quality of Editing: Adequate - The service corrects surface-level errors but lacks in-depth academic engagement.
• Ability to Select Editor: No - The service does not offer the possibility to choose an editor, potentially limiting the match between the dissertation's subject and the editor's expertise.
• Expertise: Large Range - A wide spectrum of academic disciplines. Their editors include engineers, research scholars, journal peer reviewers, and physicians.
• Pricing: $$ - Indicates a budget-friendly option, which may appeal to students and academics looking for cost-effective solutions.

https://wordsru.com/en-US/academic-and-students/dissertation-editing

WordsRU presents itself as a professional editing service tailored to the rigorous demands of academic writing, particularly for dissertations. With a focus on not just correcting grammatical errors but also ensuring compliance with citation styles and academic conventions, WordsRU aims to be the final checkpoint before submission.

Their services extend to formatting according to university requirements, which is a crucial aspect of dissertation preparation. The company prides itself on a track record of assisting with a broad range of academic documents, from prospectuses to final dissertation reports, indicating a deep familiarity with the academic journey.

Upon submitting a document for editing, the results were somewhat mixed. While WordsRU efficiently addressed surface-level issues such as spelling, grammar, and punctuation, and the document was returned in a timely manner, the depth of editing in terms of enhancing the argumentative structure and critical analysis was lacking. The feedback provided was helpful but did not significantly contribute to elevating the academic rigor of the dissertation.

The ability to select an editor for the project was a positive feature. However, there were only 10 editors available, which reduced the chances of selecting the right editor that matches the dissertation's subject matter.

WordsRU offers a comprehensive suite of editing services that cater to a wide range of academic disciplines. This breadth of coverage suggests a versatile capability to handle diverse subjects, making the service a potentially good fit for students and academics across various fields.

• Quality of Editing: Adequate – Solid for basic corrections but falls short in comprehensive, depth-oriented editing.
• Ability to Select Editor: Yes - The service does offer the option to choose an editor from a small pool of experts.
• Expertise: Large Range - Covering a broad array of subjects.
• Pricing: $$$ - Indicates a mid-range pricing structure, accessible for many but reflecting the level of service provided.

Selecting an appropriate editing service is a pivotal decision that can significantly influence the quality and presentation of your research. The services listed in this guide have been chosen based on their ability to meet the high standards required for academic dissertations, including their expertise across various disciplines and their understanding of different formatting and citation styles.

By opting for a service that aligns with your specific research needs and academic objectives, you ensure that your dissertation is not only free of linguistic and formatting errors but also enriched in terms of content and scholarly value. As you approach the completion of your dissertation, consider these editing services as valuable allies in achieving academic excellence and contributing meaningfully to your field of study.

Apa dissertation editing services

Apa formatting - a quick insight.

A dissertation developed in the area of social sciences or other manuscripts of a university level written by students of Columbia University typically requires the formatting style used the most frequently - Apa formatting.

Apa guidelines have been generated by the American Psychological Association and focus on the Apa formatting and correction of in text citations, the reference list, headings, structure of the thesis, and formatting. Apa style is primarily used for journal articles and documents created for publication.

Apa editing of dissertations provided by this website becomes more popular due to the focus on reducing stress among the academic community and scholars, in particular. This is why the Apa style editing services became so widespread across the country.

Why do students face challenges when tasked to use the Apa style in their academic writing?

When clients are required to create their theses or other scientific documents in the Apa style, they identify that this type of formatting should consider the following elements:

• The list of references and citations within the body of the paper
• The suitable word choice and slang based on the guidelines developed for Apa formatting
• The appropriate formatting used throughout the document that includes such elements as the running header, indentation, title page, and margins in Apa style

Dissertations created in the Apa style involve four major sections: Title Page, Abstract (upon request), Main Body of the paper, and Conclusion. Moreover, all of these sections should be written on the basis of particular instructions.

Having the ability to master these instructions effectively to write a dissertation and comply with them may require a lot of practice as well as dissertation editing.

Apa editing services delivered for academic writing

This Apa formatting help website was developed to assist students in addressing their needs related to formatting and proofreading any type of academic document, including thesis, dissertation, and other types of academic assignments.

As an example, dissertation formatting services represent a personalized offering for developmental editing and copy editing of dissertations and theses, meantime including the requirement to adhere to the particular guidelines for proofreading an assignment and Apa formatting of a thesis or research paper with the help of a professional enrolled in this perfect hub of Apa style editors.

We have created the proofreading team to allow clients to work with the best experts in the industry and have the chance to submit dissertations edited by a professional editor. Each editor employed at this Apa formatting hub has expertise and qualifications to deal with any paper type sent by clients to be proofread.

Apa formatting editors review, edit, and provide free consultation on the areas of the thesis that should be taken into account by an individual in the future. To write a dissertation may be extremely challenging, but students should be aware that the process of editing and formatting it according to the university guidelines is an integral part of the writing process.

All customers may review the types of documents the editors of this copy editing agency work with when placing an order. Any type of academic assignment may be edited by this team of professionals and returned within the turnaround time.

What is the Apa style formatting site offering?

Paper editing and proofreading.

An editing expert addresses several basic aspects of the dissertations sent to be proofread. These include grammar, format, references, punctuation, writing style, the overall paper organization, clarity, syntax, tone, and consistency.

The editors focus their attention on the line editing, giving you a sample edit of particular parts of the content to ensure it is what you really look for.

All customers should be confident that their theses are in the reliable hands of proofreading professionals, who will complete the order of dissertation editing within the established deadline.

Formatting Assistance

Since formatting guidelines may change over time, it may be challenging for students to format their references correctly. They may use their creative thinking to develop a good paper, but it does not mean that they do not need the assistance of professional editors like those employed in this team.

No matter the type of assignment provided to our professionals for editing, the compliance of the essay format with the Apa guidelines will be thoroughly checked.

The following aspects will be considered: 1) headings, 2) page numbers, 3) font, 4) line spacing, 5) indentation, 6) margins, 7) a running head, and more.

If a customer wishes to address specific points or has specific instructions regarding the format, everything will be done upon request.

Editing of in-text citations and references

Paper editing does not end up on the content, grammar, and clarity. Formatting a dissertation in the proper manner, especially in accordance with the university requirements, is a cornerstone of the paper's success.

While writers may miss some mistakes, these service editors will edit the following components in terms of citations: italicization, incomplete or inappropriately formatted references punctuation, and capitalization.

Students will have an opportunity to communicate with the editor to clarify why particular edits were made or ask for giving comments and providing track changes for the writers of the paper to see what was done by them incorrectly.

Why is this site used by a large number of visitors?

Flawless customer service.

Are there any queries or concerns related to these edit services? Wish to find out about a free sample edit?

Start a conversation with the support agent via chat, email, or by sending an email through the contact form! We are ready to give assistance at any point in time!

Editing professionals only

The editing experts delivering services at this agency are individuals with vast experience working in this industry and delivering proofreading services.

They have the necessary knowledge in a variety of disciplines, enabling them to find the weak points in the content and provide suggestions concerning how to improve them.

Competence in Apa style

Each editor working in this service hub has the necessary knowledge in terms of updates made to the Apa guidelines and editions. It implies they can address all requirements put forward by the instructor or professor and deliver the best dissertation by addressing all specifications and details.

Tracked changes and comments

The work of an editor implies delivering services by indicating tracked changes and leaving comments where necessary as a way to communicate with the writers.

This helps customers to see the edits and take into consideration all comments and recommendations left by the editor.

Happy clients

The major target of this service agency is to make absolutely each customer happy and satisfied. The major determinant of this service success is the customers' rate which reflects the advantages of cooperating with us.

Fast-lighting thesis delivery

One of the essential components of delivering an effective service is delivering it on time. All editors of this service company realize the need of customers to receive their assignments within the deadline.

This is why they strive to cope with any volume of work with high effectiveness and provide the proofread assignment on time. Be sure to have the polished paper within the deadline selected personally in the order form.

Easy and transparent moves to our cooperation

1. select the appropriate services.

Start our cooperation by placing an order and selecting the service that suits you most.

Do not forget to choose the timeframe and the number of words that should be polished by one of the most professional individuals in your area of study.

2. Give precise instructions

Upon order placement, each customer needs to give specific instructions and guidelines to the editor concerning the improvements that should be made to the assignment.

Definitely, the editing expert will identify the weak points of the paper, but the client may have particular requirements regarding the content that should be thoroughly met.

Therefore, to have a full picture of the scope of work that should be done by the proofreader, the task of the customer is to give precise instructions.

After that, the proofreader starts working on the paper.

3. Enjoy the final outcome

The proofreader downloads the completed paper and you have enough time to review it and see what amendments have been made. You may contact either the administrator or editor to express your feedback.