It took my friend Robert almost 4 years to finish writing his dissertation. I was writing mine at the same time, and we spent many late nights together in 24-hour cafes, our eyes bloodshot as we sipped our fifteenth espresso of the day and pored over data.
But Robert found that his thesis kept getting rejected from one journal after another. Rejection letters were brief and vague. What on earth was his problem? Why couldn’t he get published? As the three-month deadline loomed, Robert grew anxious.
He turned to his colleague for help and finally received a clue about why his work kept getting rejected. “Who edited this for you?” His colleague asked. “Nobody,” said Robert.
“I can tell. That’s the problem. You need to have this professionally edited before anyone will publish it,” his colleague replied.
Robert wasn’t the world’s greatest writer, but he hadn’t thought it would matter too much given the high quality of his research. As long as his paper was readable, no problem, right? Wrong! Robert’s failure to seek professional assistance lost him the post-doc offer (although he found another position later).
Robert’s story begs the question: should students really pay for professional dissertation editing? How much is reasonable to spend on editing your thesis?
Why Pay for Academic Thesis Editing?
Students certainly don’t need to seek out and pay for professional academic editing for all of their papers. But for research and papers as important as a thesis or dissertation, sometimes not seeking professional assistance can be the most expensive option. While Robert is just one unfortunate example, the truth is that failing to pay for professional dissertation editing can cost you time and opportunities.
Journal publishing is increasingly competitive, and everyone is trying to publish their work in reputable academic journals with high impact factors. When you submit your dissertation to an academic journal, you are competing with other researchers all over the world, many of whom have years of experience and robust research funding.
You better believe those writers are paying for professional paper editing (and formatting!), and if you want to have a real chance of having your paper read by the journal editors, you need to do the same.
Editor’s World estimates that most writers can expect to pay around $0.02 per word.
Some academic thesis editing services like Enago offer tiered pricing, with higher costs for rapid turnaround on major editing and lower pricing for simple copyediting. Many students prefer to use professional academic editing services from companies because it is easy to find reviews and get in touch with someone.
But planning in advance to pay for academic dissertation editing can help lower the cost. For example, if you know ahead of time that you plan to pay for professional academic editing, then you can see if your institution offers any financial support for academic dissertation editing services.
When it comes to deciding whether to hire a professional academic thesis editing service, consider your personal situation and what’s at stake for you with your dissertation. Especially if you plan to seek publication of your work in a journal, hiring a professional academic editing service can be the best choice.
Ahead and consider a professional academic editing service for your dissertation to ensure your career gets off to the best start possible.
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