Types of Editing

In a developmental edit, I focus on a holistic review of your work, attending to issues such as: have you established the stakes of your topic or argument? Have you oriented readers? Is your argument clear and compelling? Are your conclusions supported by logic and/or data?  Looking at your writing as a whole, I tell you where to make cuts and where to expand.

This is the service to choose if you’ve done some writing but you’re feeling stuck about where to go next. A developmental edit is also helpful if you have concerns about the strength of your argument or other big-picture issues.

In a copy edit, I go through your manuscript with a fine-toothed comb, paying attention to the sentence-level construction of your words and ideas. I fix grammatical errors, typos, and formatting errors, and I may edit your sentences for parsimony or clarity. I ensure your manuscript adheres to the correct style guidelines, format your reference list, and cross-check your reference list against your in-text citations. This is the service to choose if you’re satisfied with the argument and other big pieces of your document, you have a complete draft (or will soon), and you want to ensure your final product is polished and professional.

This is the service to choose if you’re at the very end of the editing process, you have a finished product, and you need a final pass from an expert set of eyes to make sure there are no formatting errors or typos. In a proofread, I also check your in-text citations against the citations listed in your reference list, and I make sure your references adhere to the correct citation style.