I am a perfectionist, at the same time as I’m aware I’m not perfect. Getting the English in a paper just right is what is important to me and what makes me feel good.
Actually, I’m quite modest, but I do a good job, because of:
The care with which I express myself. The details and the words used are important. It is important to me that I get all aspects of the paper right and the word I choose is the right word in the right place. To do that, I will use Google to check terminology. I will even check the references cited in a paper.
My ability and desire to understand difficult material. I cannot be expert in all areas of the papers which I edit. Reading them is an education for me. I need to work hard doing that reading, because they are not written as introductory-level texts. Often I need to do background reading to understand the meaning of the text. That work is essential because it is impossible to judge correctness at a deep level without understanding what an author’s intentions are in each sentence of a text. I am determined to achieve this understanding by considering all possibilities the sentence opens up, its context in the text, and requirements the discipline imposes.
My experience. I started editing as a copyreader at the Korea Times in 1986 and was there for 10 years, reading newspaper copy by the Korean journalists. Experience outside during that period reading academic articles by Korean professors whose command of English was less secure showed me that editing papers is an order of magnitude more difficult because of the academic knowledge that is assumed which the editor doesn’t have access to.
In Taiwan for a further 20 years, I learned when the wording chosen by authors could be respected, with grammar fix-ups, and when it had to be ignored. I became used to the effects of first-language transfer on authors’ papers and learned of methods to negate those effects. I learned I needed to have content knowledge at some high level of the area of the paper. And, I learned that I had to be able to follow the argument of a paper to be able to correct it.
I now consider myself an expert academic paper editor.
Me atBack to FAQ
Now 30 years ago!