Should Dissertation Writers Hire Editors?
Thursday April 19, 2007
Many graduate students experience a great deal of difficulty writing their dissertations. Perhaps their writing skills need honing, or they speak English as a second language. Many turn to editors to help them refine their work. However, some argue that turning to an editor to revise one's dissertation is unethical. This article in the Chronicle explores the issue from the perspective of a member of a dissertation committee.
Also See:
Stop Procrastinating and Complete Your Dissertation!
Dissertation Advice
Getting Started in Research: Your Research Journal
Scientific and Professional Ethics
Comments
Editors are not writers, leave alone ghost writers – which is indeed unethical for dissertation students to hire.
But I am a dissertation editor. I actually sit with the doctoral candidate and literally move through the written dissertation word by word, seeking to keep the voice and style of the writer, and bring the writing to concision and clarity. I teach writing – an art and craft in which many otherwise remarkably intelligent people are remarkably deficient.
Requiring that a dissertation candidate be an accomplished writer as well, diminishes the skill of writing and places an enormous burden on the candidate. I majored in English and I hold a Masters in Journalism. The writing skills analyses of most of my professors were competent but pedestrian – okay, boring and unremarkable, devoid of personal style and grab. Okay, gravitas.
As well as I think I can and do write, I always seek out an editor and a proofreader for my work. That is how much I respect its difficulty, that is how much I am humbled by its power, that is how much know and am motivated by what I just might not know.
An informative and useful article for students help, a wonderful job done by the writer, keep it up.
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