editing tips
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How to Craft Strong Titles in Academic Writing
How to Craft Strong Titles in Academic Writing
Published Oct 11, 2022
Last Updated Nov 25, 2024In academic writing, a strong title hooks the reader, reflects the tone and content of the paper, and contains keywords to increase the paper’s visibility on search engines. If you’re an editor working with academic clients, you may need to highlight issues in their titles and subtitles. Read on for some tips on how to […]
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The Bad Big Wolf? A Proofreader’s Guide to Adjective Order
The Bad Big Wolf? A Proofreader’s Guide to Adjective Order
Published Oct 08, 2022
Last Updated Nov 26, 2024If the phrases “black little dress” and “red dry wine” sound strange in your head, you have intrinsic knowledge of English adjective order. When we use multiple adjectives to modify a noun or nouns, they don’t fall into a random sequence. Rather, they follow a pattern based on their function. In fact, most native English […]
Narrative Structure: A Guide to Freytag’s Pyramid
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Common Fallacies (and How to Fix Them)
Published Oct 01, 2022
Last Updated Jul 08, 2024Logical fallacies are deceptive or false arguments that use faulty reasoning to shift the direction of a discussion away from the main point. Whether you’re writing a critical essay or having a heated discussion with your neighbor, being aware of logical fallacies can help you build stronger arguments and establish credibility. As an academic editor, […]
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What Is an Executive Summary? (And How to Edit One)
Published Sep 21, 2022
Last Updated Apr 07, 2025If you’re an editor who specializes in business writing, you’ll need to know what an executive summary is and how to edit one. Executive summaries are key to saving time and resources. They allow busy professionals to quickly understand the main points of a report, proposal, or business plan. But what goes into a good […]
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How to Proofread and Edit an Academic CV
Published Sep 15, 2022
Last Updated Nov 24, 2025If you’ve worked with professional CVs before, you may feel prepared to proofread and edit an academic CV. But academic CVs serve a distinct purpose and come with different expectations. In academia, particularly in the US, a CV is used to apply for teaching roles, research positions, fellowships, and grants. Unlike a professional resume, it […]
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The Inverted Pyramid in Journalism
Published Sep 14, 2022
Last Updated Sep 23, 2025The inverted pyramid is a handy tool used by journalists and business writers to structure their work. Understanding the inverted pyramid and how it’s used will help you to edit this type of writing. In this post, we explain the basics of the inverted pyramid so that you can use it to help assess your […]
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How to Use the 5 “W”s (and 1 H)
Published Sep 01, 2022
Last Updated Dec 15, 2023The five “W”s are a principle widely used in journalism and copywriting, so they are worth understanding if you want to edit these types of writing. In this post, we’ll set out the basics of the five “W”s and how you can use them as an editor. What Are the Five “W”s? The five “W”s […]
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Proofreading Tips: When Should You Write Out Numbers in Full?
Published Aug 12, 2022
Last Updated Nov 18, 2024Style guides vary a lot on even the basics of how to write numbers. APA style, for instance, recommends writing out numbers under 10 as words and using numerals for larger numbers. But Chicago style recommends writing out numbers up to and including 100. And MLA style recommends writing out any number that can be […]
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Common Clichés (and How to Avoid Them)
Common Clichés (and How to Avoid Them)
Published Aug 10, 2022
Last Updated May 28, 2025Part of your job as a proofreader or editor is to help your client avoid clichés in their writing. This will involve highlighting overused terms and phrases and suggesting less clichéd alternatives. But to do this, you’ll first need to know what clichéd language is and how to spot it. This is where our guide […]
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5 Questions to Ask When Editing a Listicle
5 Questions to Ask When Editing a Listicle
Published Aug 03, 2022
Last Updated Sep 23, 2025If you edit articles or blog posts for business clients, at some point you’ll probably need to edit one of the most popular formats out there nowadays – the listicle. As the name suggests, a listicle is a piece of writing that organizes its sections as a numbered list – just like this post, in […]