Clare Xanthos

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Location: Marietta, GA, USA
Work: Academic editing, Social Sciences, Public Health
Affiliations: Previously, Assistant Professor at Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Contact: clare@thescholasticeditor.com
Biographical: Ph.D., Social Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2004 I am a social scientist, with 16 years of experience in authoring academic documents in various formats (e.g. research articles, review articles, book chapters, dissertations) in the area of health/social sciences. From serving as an editor for a groundbreaking book relating to social determinants of health, (published by John Wiley and Sons, 2012) to providing thesis supervision to Master of Public Health students, I have considerable expertise in writing and editing for a broad range of academic projects. Different levels of editing offered include proofreading, copyediting, and substantive editing.
Favourite Publications: Social Science and Medicine American Journal of Public Health Journal of Healthcare for the Poor and Underserved Journal of Men's Health American Journal of Men's Health

Finishing that Dreaded Manuscript!

user image 2014-10-04
By: Clare Xanthos
Posted in:

42_blogs.pngWhether youre a student writing a thesis or a university professor completing a book/paper/grant proposal, the writing-up process can be overwhelming. Do you feel like you cant make any more improvements, youre sick of reading and re-reading, and wonder whether it will ever get done? Well, here are three tips to help you get that dreaded manuscript finished once and for all.

1. Set a date

Obviously, the time you take to complete a manuscript depends on your other commitments. For example, if youre working on a part-time doctorate, its going to take longer than someone on a full-time program. If youre a researcher working on one project, youll have more time for publications than a professor with a lot of teaching responsibilities. Be that as it may, there's a point when you simply have to say, "enough is enough," or you could end up working on your manuscript for, literally, years. :-( The bottom line here is that its essential to have a personal deadline if you are serious about completing your manuscript (e.g. I am going to finish the thesis/book/paper/proposal by x date). Moreover, you need to make a timetable to correspond with your deadline.

2. Stop being a perfectionist

Perfectionism in academic writing can be crippling. When I was doing my PhD, I always remember the words of a professor at a research methods workshop: Aim for a pass, thats all you need. At the end of the day, your manuscript is never going to be perfect; there isalwayssomething you can do to improve it. You simply need to get to the point where youre confident that its an acceptable academic publication, comparable to others in your field; thats your key aim.

3. Get others to review it

Another pair of eyes (preferably several) can be invaluable in terms of spotting errors, identifying areas where clarification may be needed, or where there are gaps in pertinent information. Whether its a mentor, a colleague, a fellow student, or an academic editor, this additional feedback can really help in finalizing your document!

Source:http://thescholasticeditor.com/

Clare Xanthos
06/10/14 03:38:58AM @clare-xanthos:

Thanks for your comments, Peter. Good point about reading the manuscript aloud! I found this link from UNC Writing Center which describes this technique in detail:

http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/reading-aloud/


Research Cooperative
05/10/14 03:06:31PM @chief-admin:

I have a Japanese research assistant whose English is far from perfect, but she understands my research, and as someone to provide a listening ear, I could not ask for better.

Whatever I write needs to make perfect sense for the understanding of someone who uses English as a second language. So I am not shy to read my rough drafts outloud, offending my own ears and hers at the same time.

I reckon people could offer Skype Listening Services for this very reason: research papers need to make sense when we read them out loud.

Perhaps we can pioneer such services here at the Research Cooperative...

Peter (Admin., Narita Airport, in transit)


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