Theses and dissertations

I have worked on very many theses and dissertations, on all sorts of subjects, and I am the author of the CIEP's Proofreading Theses and Dissertations, the authoritative guide for proofreaders and editors.

Work carried out

I am conscious that a dissertation or thesis has to be seen as your work. With that in mind I will flag up corrections and make comments as set out below.

Corrections

I will make changes to all the problems noted below, and use 'track changes' so that you have the choice of whether to accept them.

• Obviously incorrect grammar, for example “The figures obtained from the questionnaire was analysed to...”

• Obviously incorrect punctuation - e.g. a full stop missing.

• Misspellings.

• Inconsistent capitalisation, style of headings, or format.

• Inaccuracies in footnotes or references (e.g. they are missing, or misnumbered).

Comments

To make sure that this remains your project, I will flag up the following points without making changes to the manuscript.

• Incorrect sentence structure - i.e. the grammar is wrong and an entire sentence needs a rewrite.

• Ambiguities, caused by writing style or errors in punctuation, which also require an entire sentence rewrite.

• Awkward phrases or sentences - i.e. these are not incorrect, but read oddly and could be better phrased.

• Suggestions on how formatting might be improved, particularly within tables.

Timescale

Assuming that my review discovers some required changes, you'll need some time to action them. This means you’ll need the proofread manuscript back from me in good time; which in turn means you’ll need to send it to me to work on in good time, too.

Supervisor Acknowledgement

In order to eliminate misunderstandings, I will ask you to fill in a short form. This form can be adapted to take account of the particular circumstances and requirements of your dissertation. In most cases, I will phone or email your supervisor to make sure that he or she is aware that your dissertation or thesis is going to be professionally proofread.