Outside editing of academic work
So here is a question from a friend of mine who runs her own editing business.
... I'll be advertising academic editing services aimed at a university market, and have been flummoxed over how to draw an ethical line over the degree that I'm comfortable changing someone's academic work. Proofreading (typos and punctuation) should be fine; copy-editing (changes to grammar or sentence structure for flow without adding/subtracting/changing content, tidying layout) seems like it should also be okay; but substantive editing (rewriting things that make no sense, polishing the language, cutting unnecessary text or adding better paragraph transitions) feels like it should be completely off the table.
As a career academic, does this sound right? How would you feel about judging the quality of someone's work knowing it had been edited at these various levels? (I assume you're influenced by presentation, no matter the quality of the content...)
My previous academic editing experience has ranged from offering suggestions along substantive editing lines as a friendly reader of a BA dissertation and PhD chapters (e.g., "You don't reference your sources here, and you don't explain how A and B logically lead to D); and copy-editing and proofreading articles by non-native English speakers prior to journal submission. The former was done for friends and not paid, so I feel like that's within the pale, but I don't feel I would want to offer that to strangers (though paradoxically, I do offer that for the rest of my editing clients.)
Any thoughts? I'd welcome any feedback at all, especially since you're a sensible person. Have you ever been issued guidelines for what constitutes an acceptable level of outside assistance with writing?
Aside from her insistence that I am a 'sensible person' (heh), this is actually a good point. I have marked students' work before based partly on style and presentation, but if that style and presentation is being influenced by someone who is not the student, where do you draw the line? Is it ok to get friends to proofread things but not to pay someone to do it? What if your work needs more drastic changes?
Gods and goddesses of snark and cynicism, I beseech your aid. ;)
EDIT: Many thanks for the useful replies! I pointed my friend to this post, and she responds:
That is a fabulous list of comments - thank you muchly! I'll offer proofreading and copyediting services on the targeted advertising, and if people want more, they can ask for it. Equally, I can refuse to do work if it looks like the document wants rewriting, or make explicit that I'm only proofreading.
Again your comments are very much appreciated. Cheers.
... I'll be advertising academic editing services aimed at a university market, and have been flummoxed over how to draw an ethical line over the degree that I'm comfortable changing someone's academic work. Proofreading (typos and punctuation) should be fine; copy-editing (changes to grammar or sentence structure for flow without adding/subtracting/changing content, tidying layout) seems like it should also be okay; but substantive editing (rewriting things that make no sense, polishing the language, cutting unnecessary text or adding better paragraph transitions) feels like it should be completely off the table.
As a career academic, does this sound right? How would you feel about judging the quality of someone's work knowing it had been edited at these various levels? (I assume you're influenced by presentation, no matter the quality of the content...)
My previous academic editing experience has ranged from offering suggestions along substantive editing lines as a friendly reader of a BA dissertation and PhD chapters (e.g., "You don't reference your sources here, and you don't explain how A and B logically lead to D); and copy-editing and proofreading articles by non-native English speakers prior to journal submission. The former was done for friends and not paid, so I feel like that's within the pale, but I don't feel I would want to offer that to strangers (though paradoxically, I do offer that for the rest of my editing clients.)
Any thoughts? I'd welcome any feedback at all, especially since you're a sensible person. Have you ever been issued guidelines for what constitutes an acceptable level of outside assistance with writing?
Aside from her insistence that I am a 'sensible person' (heh), this is actually a good point. I have marked students' work before based partly on style and presentation, but if that style and presentation is being influenced by someone who is not the student, where do you draw the line? Is it ok to get friends to proofread things but not to pay someone to do it? What if your work needs more drastic changes?
Gods and goddesses of snark and cynicism, I beseech your aid. ;)
EDIT: Many thanks for the useful replies! I pointed my friend to this post, and she responds:
That is a fabulous list of comments - thank you muchly! I'll offer proofreading and copyediting services on the targeted advertising, and if people want more, they can ask for it. Equally, I can refuse to do work if it looks like the document wants rewriting, or make explicit that I'm only proofreading.
Again your comments are very much appreciated. Cheers.