Developmental editing is the most important. This type of editing ensures the logic of an argument is clear and meets the expectations of scholars in your field. Developmental editing generally involves some discussion between the writer and me; this discussion enables me to better support the writer’s ideas within the parameters of guidelines and requirements set out by professors or journal and book reviewers.

For developmental editing, I treat the following “big picture” questions:

• Is your research structured similarly to other scholarship in your field?

• Are you using documentation and sources according to the expectations of your field?

• Are the ideas that you have introduced fully explained and clearly linked to other concepts that figure in your argument?

• Have you adequately incorporated professors’ or reviewers’ comments (in the case that an earlier draft has been already read and commented on).

Copyediting supports developmental editing by ensuring the text’s language is clear and powerful.

While copyediting, I treat questions like the following:

• Is the language appropriately academic in tone?

• Is the text free of fragments and run-on sentences?

• Is the language concise (free of repetition and wordiness)?

• Is vocabulary used correctly?

• Are ideas linked by transitional sentences and phrases?

• Do in-text references match reference list citations?

Proofreading happens after developmental editing and copyediting and treats the following points:

• Are spelling, punctuation, and grammar correct?

• Are pages numbered and formatted according to the guidelines of your professors or journal / book reviewers?

• Are reference list citations structured correctly?