Humanising Text

If you use AI to write for you, you are going to end up sounding bland, like a machine, and put your editor to sleep. And if you submit anything, for example, ask for a summary, remember that AI is learning from what you submit and is going to take possession of the text, and an AI detector will flag it.

The implications of using AI to generate your work are that it takes three times as long as a normal edit to edit AI out, and it will never be completely out. That ends up expensive.

Your editor has the skills to ensure linguistic integrity based on the voice heard, transforming what is shared into a more formal, grammatically correct tone because that is what editors do and what academic writing demands.

So, write in your own voice, however “bad” you think that sounds.

The Review Mode

Because I have applied, taught, and edited methods, I also read for methodological integrity and coherence. If you make claims, you need to substantiate them with arguments or evidence, or at the very least, a carefully considered opinion.

What that means is if I notice incongruities or suspect claims, I am going to comment and sometimes suggest a remedy or options around it. Sometimes I will help navigate a response to a supervisor’s comment.

Remember, you do not necessarily have to do everything the supervisor (or reviewing editor) says, only successfully defend what you did logically and coherently. If that is already in place, I do not have to stop, consider, and comment, and that saves you time and money.  

Citing Sources

Academic integrity demands citations or acknowledging the work that has helped you build your ideas, and the full details of the works cited must be listed in a footnote, endnote, bibliography, or references list. Different styles require the details in a different order with different punctuation conventions.

There are apps that can help: Zotero, Endnotes, etc; none are perfect, but they help if you use them from the outset.

So, you can save a lot of money just by approximating the style required by the institution, department, or journal to which you are submitting.

Remember too that AI generates fictitious sources. It takes a lot of time to verify and fact-check every source listed in a References list.

So, unless you are willing to pay, check the validity of every source you cite and its details when you set out writing your final draft.

Style Issues

A manuscript must also be presented in a particular way, based on the style a department, institution, or journal prefers.

I know what it is like writing a dissertation—the final product presented to an editor is a worked-through collection of texts, pieces gathered from the same and different computers with different styles and layouts.

Formatting is essential for cleaning up a document and makes it easier to read: The messier the formatting, the longer it takes to fix.

Some changes are easy to make, for example, using Advanced Search to remove extra spaces between words, or turning on Show/Hide and scrolling through the document several times to identify other embedded formatting glitches, like soft paragraph breaks.

So, when it comes to formatting, you can save yourself money just by getting the basics right: spacing, font size, and headings. Better still, find or create a template. Those aren’t perfect, but they can sure help reduce the editing bill.   

SO…

If you want to reduce your editing bill:

• Write in your own voice, however “bad” you think that sounds.
• Approximate the style required by the institution, department, or journal to which you are submitting.
• Check for the validity of every source you have cited.
• Get the formatting basics right: spacing, font size, and headings.

In the end, the more of these tasks you do, the less you will have to pay your editor to do it for you.