Academic Editing

An archive of posts related to editing and proofreading academic writing, including student essays. Find out how to edit academic work effectively.

  • A Guide to Proofreading LaTeX Documents

    A Guide to Proofreading LaTeX Documents

    Jun 21, 2020

    • Academic Editing
    • Formatting
    • Proofreading Tips
    • Style

    If you do a lot of academic proofreading, you will almost certainly encounter LaTeX at some point. And no, this doesn’t have anything to do with rubber gloves or clothing! To find out about the LaTeX system and what you need to know as proofreader, check out our guide below. What Is LaTeX? LaTeX (pronounced […]

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  • Editing Tips: How to Format Block Quotes

    Editing Tips: How to Format Block Quotes

    Jun 18, 2020

    • Academic Editing
    • Formatting
    • Proofreading Tips
    • Referencing and Citations
    • Style

    When proofreading academic writing, you may come across longer passages of quoted text. And while you would not usually edit quotations, most referencing systems require longer passages to be formatted as block quotes. In this post, we look at how that works. What Are Block Quotes? A block quote or block quotation is a quotation […]

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Editing Tips: A Quick Guide to Formal Writing

  • A Quick Guide to DOIs and URLs

    May 17, 2020

    • Academic Editing
    • Proofreading Tips
    • Referencing and Citations

    Many referencing systems require a DOI or URL for online sources. But what exactly is the difference between DOIs and URLs? And how should you approach them as a proofreader? What Are DOIs and URLs? DOIs (digital object identifiers) and URLs (uniform resource locators) are both ways of linking to content online. So, what exactly […]

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  • Editing Tips: Should You Edit Citations and References?

    Jan 27, 2020

    • Academic Editing
    • Editing Tips
    • Proofreading Tips
    • Referencing and Citations

    You need to know your referencing systems if you’re proofreading academic documents. Knowadays covers several major referencing styles to this end, but we’re often asked how far an editor should go with citations. The answer is But that isn’t a very helpful answer, so we’ll look more at how to edit references and citations below. […]

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  • Everybody Loves Referencing

    Dec 13, 2018

    • Academic Editing
    • Proofreading Tips
    • Referencing and Citations
    • Style

    You’ve checked the spelling, grammar, and punctuation. You’ve made sure the language is appropriate and flows smoothly. Now comes your favourite bit of academic proofreading. Perhaps you’d like to dress up and pour yourself a glass of wine (alcohol-free, of course: don’t drink and proofread!) before you settle down to the positive treat that is […]

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  • MHRA Referencing

    Jun 15, 2018

    • Academic Editing
    • Punctuation
    • Referencing and Citations
    • Style

    Remember when you used to get ‘Too Hot for TV’ videos of your favourite TV shows? Remember how exciting they were? Well, prepare to feel that kind of excitement again in this introduction to MHRA [PDF] referencing: a system considered Too Hot for the Proofreading Academy Course. Actually, it wasn’t so much ‘too hot’ as […]

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  • Proofreading and Editing Tips: Formatting Titles in Academic Documents

    Formatting Titles in Academic Documents

    May 18, 2018

    • Academic Editing
    • Formatting
    • Proofreading Tips
    • Style

    Although proofreading and formatting are different, they overlap in some respects. For instance, when an essay names a source in the text, it is standard for the proofreader to ensure its title is appropriately formatted. Let’s take a look at how formatting titles works. Italics and Quote Marks Formatting titles in the text of a […]

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  • Citing Edited Books in Chicago Style

    Apr 13, 2018

    • Academic Editing
    • Proofreading Tips
    • Referencing and Citations
    • Style

    Sound the celebratory trombone and strike the ritual tambourine. It’s referencing time again! And today we’re looking at how to cite edited books again. In this post, we’re going to look at Chicago referencing. There are two versions of this system: Author–date citations and a reference list (more common in the sciences) Footnotes and a […]

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  • Citing Edited Books in MLA and IEEE

    Citing Edited Books in MLA and IEEE

    Feb 15, 2018

    • Academic Editing
    • Proofreading Tips
    • Referencing and Citations
    • Style

    We’re sorry. We’ve made you wait, trembling with anticipation, for the next exciting instalment of our occasional series on referencing. Perhaps your desperation for referencing tips has led you to seek out the darker corners of the internet for dodgy tips cut with misconceptions. Stop. We have the good stuff. And if you’re not sure […]

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  • Citing Chapters of Edited Books in Harvard and APA

    Citing Chapters of Edited Books in Harvard and APA

    Dec 19, 2017

    • Academic Editing
    • Proofreading Tips
    • Referencing and Citations
    • Style

    The Becoming A Proofreader course has an academic referencing module that tells you how books, journal articles and websites should be cited in the Harvard, APA, MLA, Chicago and IEEE styles. But it would take a hefty book to cover all possible sources and referencing styles. So every now and then our blog will focus […]

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