Independent dissertation editing
FOR DOCTORAL CANDIDATES WHO ARE READY TO BE DONE
Dissertation edits are necessary—but not easy.
Most dissertation editing services function like a stable—agencies staffed by PhD-level academics or rotating teams of underpaid editors. You don’t always have control or input over who you get to work with, and the editing process is more focused on adhering to a template than amplifying your voice, clarifying your ideas, or interpreting the murky feedback you just got from your committee.
The whole process can feel alienating and robotic, which is exactly how you don’t want your writing to come across.
You have invested years into this work.
Pored over the research until your eyes burned. Sifted and organized (and re-organized); carefully built out the bones of each chapter; took a two (or ten) year break because life happened; weathered committee changes and policy shifts; and questioned the whole damn thing—probably more than once.
You deserve to work with an editor and writing coach who cares about this work as much as you do.
Who will immerse themselves in your thesis and do everything in their power to clarify your arguments, make sure your formatting is up to snuff, and hone your research into an undeniable academic publication.
What's Included in Dissertation Editing
I work primarily with doctoral candidates who do qualitative research—education, divinity, literature, arts, philosophy—projects centered on critical analysis, textual interpretation, and theoretical frameworks rather than statistical research.
Overall, there are three different types of editing:
1. Developmental (aka Structural) Edits
This is more high-level, idea-based work that clears up confusion, resolves inconsistencies, and ensures you’re presenting the right information in the right order. It’s about problem-solving.
In this phase, my role is to help you understand exactly what to do to fix a looming issue in your dissertation. (Not to do it myself.)
You need this if:
You still have a lot of open questions, decisions to make, and/or incomplete thoughts in your current draft.
You’re super overwhelmed and feel paralyzed.
Your committee has asked for substantial changes and/or additions.
You don’t feel like it “flows” but you can’t figure out why.
The depth of passion and urgency you feel about your research topic feels muffled by all the academic speak—you want your voice to sound more human and emotive while still following academic convention.
2. Line Edits
This is a more granular, sentence-by-sentence handling of your work. I’ll smooth out things like run-on sentences, awkward phrasing, grammar, academic word salad, etc.
Most of my academic clients need this level of edits (at least).
You need this if:
You have a first draft that has been reviewed by your committee, and the changes they’ve requested are minor/doable.
You’ve been immersed in this research and this paper for so long, it’s stopped making sense to you.
You feel like you can’t look at your own writing for another second.
You know that things like grammar, sentence structure, and narrative rhythm are not your strong suits.
English is not your native language.
3. Proofreading, Formatting, and Citations
All academic institutions require specific formatting—special margins, pagination conventions, Table of Contents, text styles, and more. And this is before you even get to the citations, which have their own formatting requirements depending on your university’s style guide.
When you’re working with a 200+ page document, this can really push you over the edge—especially because you’re probably not trying to become a Doctor of Microsoft Word.
Well, you’re in luck, because I am a Doctor of Microsoft Word! (Just kidding! There is no such thing.)
Formatting is not the same as proofreading, which is the final, super-granular edit of the text itself, ensuring there are no typos, extra spaces, incorrect punctuation, etc.
Proofreading and formatting can usually be done concurrently.
You need this if:
You’re afraid of making (or missing) a mistake that will cause the file to get sent back to you for formatting issues.
You’re concerned about the time it’s going to take you and whether or not you’ll be able to get it done in time.
You have a LOT of citations and references.
You have a low tolerance for Microsoft Word and all its quirks.
You’d prefer to do things like: water the garden; spend time with your family and friends; your job; literally anything else.
Which type of editing do you need for your dissertation?
Depending on where you are in the writing process, you may need me for all three, or you might just bring me in for the final proofreading and formatting.
If you’re not sure, that’s totally fine! The first thing I do with all my academic clients is schedule a consultation where you can tell me all about it. Based on that, we’ll determine next steps.
How We’ll Work Together
1. Initial (Free) Consultation
We'll schedule a 30-minute call to talk about your project—where you are in the process, what you need, timeline, budget. You’ll also get a captive audience (me) who can’t wait to hear all about your research and what it means to you.
2. Optional Sample Edit ($195)
If you're not sure what level of editing you need, I can do a sample edit of 5-10 pages at two different levels (heavier/structural edit vs. lighter proofread) so you can see the difference and decide what's right for your project. This fee is credited toward your full project if you move forward.
3. Custom Proposal
Based on our conversation, I'll send you a proposal with:
Recommended editing level(s)
Estimated hours and total investment
Timelines and how we'll structure the work (all at once vs. chapter by chapter)
Payment options
4. We Do the Work
I'll set up a shared Google Drive folder where all our working documents will live, plus a “cheat sheet” to remind you where to find everything. For the edits themselves, we’ll use Microsoft Word with Track Changes.
You’ll get:
A Clean Copy (ready for submission)
A Track Changes version so you can see every edit and comment.
Your original versions (always preserved as is)
Throughout this process, we’ll meet as needed to discuss any lingering questions, interpret feedback from your advisors, and solve whatever problems arise as we go.
5. You Submit Your Dissertation!!
We wait on pins and needles for it to be approved.
Prepare to receive many obnoxiously celebratory emails from me, addressing you as “Doctor.”
Meet your editor…
Fresh eyes, an unquenchable intellect, and an unhealthy obsession with style guides.
These are my greatest strengths as an academic editor… and now they’re yours as well.
Hi! I'm Sam, an independent editor who works with doctoral candidates in the fields of education, divinity, literature, arts, philosophy—projects centered on critical analysis, qualitative research, and theoretical frameworks.
I’m a CPD Certified Editor & Proofreader with a background in creative writing, copywriting, and developmental editing. I have never met a dense, complex idea I couldn’t wrangle into clear, accessible, razor-sharp prose—even when the subject matter is brand-new to me.
Most doctoral candidates find the editing process tedious and stressful—but I love it. It’s an honor to support a doctoral candidate through this milestone, and the work itself brings me a level of joy and satisfaction that is truly nerdy.
When you work with me:
You work directly with me, start to finish, and can contact me via email anytime, for any reason.
I will make your writing sound smarter AND more human, striking a balance between the passion you feel around this work and the appropriate tone for your institution.
I will be your biggest cheerleader, a steward of your research and ideas, a source of feedback and clarity, and, when needed, a grounding presence to keep you from spinning out.
Got a looming deadline? I can almost always rearrange my workload to accommodate it. (“No way are we missing that deadline” –me, to a recent client in this exact situation.)
Editing Pricing & Timelines
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You get: Two different edits (one heavy; one light) of a 5–10 page excerpt from your dissertation, or a similar writing sample
2–4 hours | Investment $195
This fee will be credited toward your project total.
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You have: A clean first draft that needs line editing + final formatting
30-40 hours | Investment: $2,900-3,800
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This is what most people need.
You have: A solid draft with some structural issues, complete line edit, formatting & citations
40-55 hours | Investment: $3,800-5,100
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You need: Significant structural work, complete line edit, extensive citations (200+), possible chapter rewrites
55-70 hours | Investment: $5,100-6,500
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Once we agree on scope and pricing, you can choose:
Pay in full (small discount available)
Monthly installments (3-6 months)
Custom schedule aligned with school funding deadlines
Any arrangement that works for your budget
Payment plans don't affect our timeline. We start work as soon as you're ready.
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If you need your dissertation edited in less than 4 weeks, there's an additional $250 rush fee. (But I can usually make it happen—I've never let a deadline slip, and I’m not about to start now!)
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Most chapter edits are returned within one week. Full dissertation projects typically take 6-12 weeks, but we'll create a custom timeline based on your deadline.
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I calculate my project fees based on the following hourly rates:
Structural, developmental edits, line edits, coaching: $85/hr
Proofreading & formatting: $75/hr
After I’ve gotten a feel for the level(s) of editing you’ll need, the scope of work, and your budget, I will estimate the total amount of time I’ll need. This is how I arrive at your total investment, which we can then break up into installments as needed.
Sometimes, coaching makes more sense than hands-on edits, especially if you’re still in the early stages of planning and compiling a first draft. In these cases, I use a simple hourly model.
In general, I prefer to bill for hourly work upfront, but once we’ve established a relationship we can do whatever works best for you.
I use a hybrid hourly/project-based pricing model with flexible payment plans. For more information on how I calculate my rates, see the Pricing Transparency section.
Pricing depends on:
Manuscript length (or our best guess)
Current state of the writing (first draft? committee feedback? frozen and in the weeds?)
The level(s) of editing you need
After our free consultation, I'll send you a customized proposal with estimated hours breakdown and total investment.
Frequently Asked Questions
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I specialize in the humanities (education, divinity, literature, arts, philosophy), but I've also worked on highly technical projects—I have a knack for untangling overly technical or academic-sounding gobbledygook and translating into clear, concise text.
If you're in a hard science or data-heavy field, let's talk—I can probably help, but I want to make sure I'm the right fit.
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Chicago is my specialty (and my favorite), followed by APA and/or MLA. If your school requires a different style, we can discuss. Usually this just means a bit of extra time for me to make sure we’re doing it right.
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Don’t freak out! I can definitely help you in the pre-writing stage; your workflow will just look a little different.
I obviously can’t write the thing for you, but I can help you think through what information needs to live in which chapter; what a reasonable working timeline looks like, and how to interpret/act on the feedback and suggestions you’re receiving from your committee. Get in touch and tell me everything.
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This is a common concern, but no, you don’t have to hide the fact that we’re working together. While every university has its own policies regarding outside service providers, it’s generally accepted (advised, even) to hire an editor, especially for the final stages of a dissertation.
Nothing we do together will cross any ethical lines—and if there’s ever any doubt, we’ll talk about it. Usually I am far more concerned with this than my clients are; this is one of the advantages of working with someone outside the academy. I’m way more paranoid about following the rules.
That said, some clients like to refer to me as a writing coach rather than an editor; you do whatever you’re comfortable with (if this even comes up).
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Yes…and no. I use Claude as my primary AI tool, mostly as a translator to help me untangle a particularly dense bit of text (I can’t clarify something if I don’t understand it myself).
I do not rely on AI for edits, rewrites, or generating any writing from scratch, and I never copy/paste AI-generated text into anyone’s writing, including my own.
I also use AI (Claude and Perplexity) to help me track down a citation source if there is any missing info, and I use both platforms to double- and triple- and quadruple-check my citation formatting.
The academy is a bit all over the place when it comes to the approved use cases for AI, AI detectors, and AI-related policies, but so far, none of my clients has encountered any issues with the work we do together.
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That depends on my current workload, but I can typically take on 1-2 dissertation projects at a time. Reach out and we'll figure out timing.
Every single one of my clients leaves our work together feeling so proud of what they’ve written, with a newfound (or rediscovered) confidence in their own writing ability. You’ve got this.
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Typically, I need about one week to do a thorough line edit on a single chapter (averaging around 30 pages). This may vary depending on the level of editing you need.
If you’re on a time crunch—like, your draft is due in less than a month and you’re just reading this now—I can most likely handle it, but there will be an additional $250 fee for the rush.
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Editing services do not include:
Conducting research or gathering sources for you
Statistical analysis or data interpretation—but I will help organize and format tables if necessary
Any direct communication with your committee
Substantive rewriting—if something in your work is unclear or seems unsupported by your research, I will flag it for you and we’ll talk about it.
I will never override your voice, your original ideas, or your primary meaning in my editing process.
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Citation-heavy dissertations do take more time to format properly, the same way a 200-page paper would take longer to edit than a 50-page paper. During our initial consultation, I'll ask about your citation count and style guide, and factor that into your estimate, so there shouldn’t be any surprises.
For reference, formatting is billed at $75/hour, and most citation work falls in the 8-15 hour range depending on complexity. If we start working together from the beginning, I can also help set you up for proper formatting from day one, which will save us time down the line.em description
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Yes—the "debit card" system is essentially a payment plan. You purchase hours upfront in chunks that work for your budget, and renew as needed. But we can also discuss different arrangements that work for you; I tend to be quite flexible with fee schedules.
Ready to finish this thing…Doctor?
You’ve poured years into this work.
Let’s get you that degree.