What is thesis proofreading?

Thesis proofreading ensures that a thesis manuscript conforms to the editorial style of a discipline or university, as defined by the discipline or university. Proofreading ensures that your final thesis submission is error-free, consistent and professionally formatted. It is the final step before your thesis is submitted for examination.

What editorial style issues are relevant for thesis proofreading?

Editorial style includes:

• spelling
• hyphenation
• capitalisation
• punctuation
• treatment of numbers and numerals
• treatment of quotations
• use of initialisms
• acronyms and other abbreviations
• use of italics and bold type
• format of footnotes, endnotes, bibliographies and other documentation
• Treatment of special elements. These can include headings, lists, tables, and images. Images fall into two main categories: figures (including photographs, illustrations, drawings, diagrams, logos, graphs, and maps) and tables.

Do I need proofreading before I submit my thesis?

It depends. Some students feel confident managing this stage themselves. But most find that, after writing 80,000–100,000 words, it becomes almost impossible to notice every inconsistency.

It is always easier to see the errors in someone else’s writing than in your own. Often, authors are too close to their own writing to see mistakes, with studies showing that they are less able to detect errors in their own work than in unfamiliar others’.

There are other reasons why proofreading may be needed before thesis submission. After so many years working on the same topic, ‘cognitive fatigue’ can set in. In practice, cognitive fatigue – which is characterised by feeling mentally drained, apathy, and difficulty concentrating – means that the focused attention to detail that is required at the end of the thesis candidature, which is so essential, is often missing.

Towards the end of the thesis writing process, supervisors can also feel drained, fatigued, or swamped by competing priorities. They do not usually have the time or inclination to proofread. Many students assume their supervisors will catch mistakes, but academic supervisors tend to focus on content, theory, and methodology, rather than grammar, usage and diction.

Trying to proofread your thesis yourself while also preparing for submission, publications, conference papers, job applications, or post-PhD life is a lot to take on yourself.

A professional proofreader can do in 5–7 days what would take a student weeks of exhausting self-editing, with far higher accuracy.

Do you align the thesis with university guidelines?

Yes. We follow the formatting and presentation standards used in your academic discipline.

Every field has its own expectations. For instance, science, engineering, humanities, law, social sciences and the creative arts all structure, reference and present research differently. We ensure your thesis adheres to the conventions of your field while complying with your university’s overall submission rules.

This includes:

• discipline-specific chapter structures
• the correct way to present tables, figures, models and data
• field-appropriate writing style and academic tone
• the referencing system preferred in your discipline (APA, Chicago, Harvard, etc.)
• formatting norms such as headings, spacing, numbering and layout
• ensuring coherence across your entire 80,000–100,000-word document

Our goal is to ensure your thesis reads as a professional body of scholarship that fits naturally within the expectations of your field.

Does proofreading involve rewriting?

Yes, occasionally. Sometimes our proofreading reveals previously undetected problems with the thesis manuscript. Postgraduate students, who may not have benefited from the usual peer-review process in academic publishing, may be keen to address these issues, especially if they are substantive.

If the budget and production schedule allow, an author may ask us to fix these problems by doing some heavy editing, substantial rewriting, or preparing supplementary content.

However, these are tasks beyond the usual proofreader’s remit. Often, we point out any difficulties, provide advice on what content should be added or deleted, and ask the author to resolve them.

Who is this service for?

Honours, Masters and PhD students requiring well-written, high-quality, error-free text, in alignment with the editorial style of a discipline or university, to improve their chances of a successful thesis examination.

If you would like to know more about how Wise Directions Copyediting can benefit you, please contact us today.