Academic Editing

Graduate students—if you’re nearing the finish line with your dissertation or thesis and need copyediting and APA 7 formatting to finalize your manuscript, I’d love to assist. 

Maybe your faculty advisor said that your content is solid, but your grammar needs polishing and your references need work. You have in-text citations that don’t have references, references that don’t have in-text citations, and you can’t figure out how to set up the Heading Styles tool so your headers sync automatically with the Table of Contents. And how do you add Roman numeral page numbers in the front matter?

I’ll bring insightful perspective and meticulous attention to detail to your high-stakes academic work, solving these problems that plague you at midnight and more, and helping you submit a polished, committee-ready manuscript that meets your institution’s requirements.

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Academic Editing Services

Copyediting

Copyediting resolves errors in grammar, syntax, word choice, spelling, and punctuation. I’ll catch those sneaky homophones, ensure that tenses are consistent, check for subject-verb agreement, and make sure proper nouns are spelled consistently.

Citation Work & Formatting

I ensure that your APA 7 style in-text citations, references, block quotes, headings, tables, figures, tables of contents, and other manuscript features are formatted correctly. I also identify discrepancies between in-text citations and reference entries and work with you to standardize them. Using track changes in Word, I help you successfully implement both APA 7 and institutional formatting requirements.

Rates

I will customize a quote for you based on the specific word count and needs of your manuscript. This allows me to tailor costs based on the scope of work and time required to achieve excellence in each project.

My typical range for copyediting and reference work on dissertations or other academic papers is $.035 to $.05 per word. This often works out to an average of about $10 a page with standard formatting, depending on the content and depth of editing required.

I'd Like a Specific Quote for My Project

How I Work with Dissertation Clients

I limit my dissertation client slots so that I can be responsive, focus on the requirements of your specific institution, and prioritize quick turnaround. I know that dissertation clients often are in crunch mode, working with faculty advisers or university staff whose timelines may be short and not in your control. 

I particularly enjoy editing qualitative dissertations in social science fields such as education, gender studies, social work, student affairs, and psychology. As an editor, I approach your work with high standards and empathy. I am encouraging and happy to work with clients at all skill and fluency levels, including neurodivergent clients. Note that for dissertations, I focus on copyediting and formatting rather than developmental, methods, or content-level revisions. 

Ready to connect? I welcome invitations and messages to discuss potential dissertation projects, and I’m happy to schedule projects in advance or at short notice. I only take on projects I’m confident I can complete successfully and on time.

Are you working on finishing your dissertation or thesis? Want a hand?

Contact me to discuss what you need and when you need it.

  • "Nicole was absolutely the best possible person to work with me on editing my dissertation. Responsive, knowledgeable, prompt, kind. I would recommend and work with again without reservation."

    — Jennifer Bloom, Ph.D.

  • “Nicole was great. … She made the process seamless. Nicole was professional, responsive, and patient. I will be recommending her and her work to colleagues needing editing services in the future!”

    —Khaseem Davis, Ph.D., George Mason University

  • "Nicole is fantastic, and I could not be happier with the work and effort she provided from start to finish."

    —Jason Torey, PhD., University of Charleston

  • “Working with Nicole was seamless—she was clear with expectations, punctual and flexible with providing edits, and her work took my draft to a level of polish that I didn't think was possible. This was my first experience publishing academic work and Nicole's services were invaluable. She lifted a huge weight off my shoulders and allowed me to focus on the content of my writing.”

    —Natalie Kraft, MA in Interpreting Studies, Western Oregon University

  • "Great experience working with Nicole. She was very knowledgeable and extremely responsive. Exactly the type of support you need when working through the dissertation process. Highly recommend!"

    —Rachel R.

  • "Nicole helped get my dissertation formatted correctly in APA style, including wrestling quite a number of tricky citation issues into submission. She went out of her way to ensure her work was inline with institutional requirements. She not only corrected the text as she went, she explained her reasoning and taught me quite a bit about APA style and Microsoft Word tricks along the way! Highly recommend."

    —C. E.