Editing Academic Papers: A Guide
- Melchior Antoine
- Sep 24
- 7 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
If you are a student or academic, there is a high chance that you will eventually need to edit your academic papers. And there are two ways to go about it. You can either 1. Hire professional proofreading services or you can 2. Self-edit using professional proofreading software.
Both options at first glance seem enough. In the case of professional proofreading services, there are a range of online options to choose from. For self-editing, even before the advent of LLM-powered AI chatbots like ChatGPT, we had options like PerfectIt and Grammarly.
The new generation of AI-powered editing tools include QuillBot, Wordvice AI, and a range of other options. Besides traditional proofreading and editing, they offer other services such as:
Plagiarism-checking
AI detection
Paraphrasing
AI-generated content
In this article, I go over how to edit your academic paper using either proofreading services or doing so yourself through self-editing.
What is an academic paper?
An academic paper is any document that features academic writing. This includes the type of documents that one would expect university students to write as assignments. This includes:
Academic essays
Theses
Dissertations
Term papers
Essay proposals
Grant proposals
Journal papers
These papers are unlike formal blog articles or business or professional documents that require less formal writing. They are much more formal and technical. In addition, they are often required to follow strict style guides, such as CMoS, APA, and MLA.
In addition to the need for grammatically correct English in Academic papers, other requirements include the need to be:
Objective
Logical
Credible
Formal
Rigorous
Often, university students may not have the experience or English language skills to produce academic writing that meets these requirements. As a result, such students may require assistance in the form of editing and proofreading software or professional human editors.
What are proofreading services?
Proofreading services can massively increase the chances of completing and submitting your research paper, journal paper, or master's thesis successfully. There is a wide range of professionals or groups who use proofreading services.
They mostly include those who use academic writing. This means:
Students who have to write their master's thesis
Researchers who wish to submit their manuscripts to journals for publication
NGOs and government departments producing technical reports
Businesses producing white papers
You might choose proofreading services because they may not have the time, or they may lack the skills to ensure the production of high-quality academic work. Here is a list of benefits to expect from proofreading services:
Affordable services at around $30 per 1000 words
Turnaround times as quick as twelve hours
24-7 Internet-based service
Reliable and expert editors who know what they’re doing
However, there are so many of these proofreading websites to select from. So, how do you even begin to choose the best proofreading services? As mentioned earlier, proofreading services have become popular among students and academics. They include easily identifiable names like Scribbr, Scribendi, Wordvice, and so on. When editing academic papers, you should take into account the following factors: 1. Pricing; 2. Speed of proofreading services; 3. Customer satisfaction; and 4. Educational resources. Let’s take a look at each in turn.
1. Pricing
Pricing here is measured in USD per 1000 words. The pricing offered by one proofreading service could vary significantly according to the type of service, the type of document, and the turnaround time.
There’s a wide range in pricing. The maximum proofreading rate could be as high as $165 per 1000 words, as is the case with Edanz, a company based in Japan, and prices could be as low as 13 USD per 1000 words, the rate for London Proofreaders, which is based in London as the name suggests. The median rate for the average editing company is typically $30 per 1000 words.
2. Speed of proofreading services
Most, if not all, proofreading service companies offer a minimum return time of at least twelve hours.However, they offer faster turnaround times, sometimes as quick as four or two hours. This expedited service can be seen, more or less, as a premium service, which can be much higher than standard pricing.
The price per 1000 words could vary significantly depending on the turnaround time, with shorter times requiring higher fees. So, it would be best to go for standard turnaround times as an academic or student. Rushed services come at a much greater cost. Besides, you would not want rushed services for projects such as a master's thesis that could be more than one hundred pages long.
3. Customer satisfaction with proofreading services
Customer satisfaction refers to how happy students and academics are with their editing or proofreading services. This they express by rating the service out of five stars. I chose Trustpilot ratings as a benchmark for customer satisfaction.
What is Trustpilot? This website allows customers who purchase services from online and other companies to anonymously post their ratings and comments regarding their opinions on the company’s service quality. They are anonymous and independent and are generally accepted as reliable. Their rating is a star system where companies are judged out of five stars. The closer to 5 the score is, the more satisfied the customer is.
4. Educational resources or support offered
The best proofreading services don't just stop with editing and proofreading your work. They also focus on additional support in terms of useful resources. This refers to useful resources besides direct editing and proofreading services. Proofreading websites at their best do not simply edit your paper. Instead, they help you become a better writer and academic through their blogs or resource pages.
This is where they answer a wide variety of questions regarding academic writing. For example, let’s say you’re a college student writing an essay, and your professor keeps reminding you to write a proper thesis statement. Well, you would Google “How to write a thesis statement.”
Chances are you’ll land on the resource pages or blogs of a website that offers proofreading services and that answers that question well enough. This is because they try to make sure they answer your question in a way that just about guarantees that they show up high or even first in the Google search results page (or SERPs).
So for this factor, you should look at things such as:
1. How often proofreading websites appear on the first page of Google for popular academic-related questions? For example:
“How to write a research paper?”
"How to write a thesis statement?”
“How to write a literary essay?”
2. The quality of the resource or blog pages offered by proofreading websites
3. The existence and quality of other resources like YouTube channels and podcasts.
The table below shows the pricing, customer satisfaction, and pricing for the top 11 proofreading companies:
Rank | Copy editing Service | Standard Price in USD Per 1000 Words | Customer Rating | Country |
1 | EminentEdit | $30 | 4.9 | Taiwan |
2 | Cambridge Proofreading | $30 | 4.9 | USA |
3 | Paper True | $32 | 4.8 | India |
4 | Proofreading Pal | $28 | 4.5 | USA |
5 | Scribendi | $37 | 4.6 | Canada |
6 | Scribbr | $42 | 4.4 | Netherlands |
7 | Editor World | $28 | 4.5 | USA |
8 | Proofed | $45 | 4.7 | South Africa |
9 | Wordvice | $48 | 4.6 | UK |
10 | Editage | $58 | 4.8 | USA |
11 | Enago | $58 | 4.2 | USA |
Proofreading services can be useful in ensuring that your academic paper meets the high standards for academic writing. It is recommended for students who are short on time when completing academic assignments, as well as academics who are inexperienced, who speak English as a second language.
Get in touch for help in editing your academic paper |
Using proofreading software to self-edit
Proofreading software should be seen as a tool to help with your academic writing when self-editing academic papers. They do not take the place of human editors or your own due diligence. Academic work is difficult and complicated. The best approach is to ensure that you do work ahead of schedule in order to meet your deadlines. In addition, you should study the principles of writing academic papers and constantly practice what you learn.
Even before using proofreading software, there are steps to follow when using self-edit. The table below shows the process:
Criteria | Checklist Items | Place a check here after completing each step |
Punctuation |
| ✅ |
Capitalization |
| ✅ |
Grammar |
| ✅ |
Spelling |
| ✅ |
Even if these proofreading tools should not be completely relied on, they can be of great help. As mentioned earlier, there are two types of proofreading software: the traditional ones that do not rely on LLM-supported AI and the new generation of AI-powered software.
A good example of this traditional software is PerfectIt, whereas a good example of AI-powered software would be QuillBot. The table below is comparison price chart of the various traditional and AI-powered proofreaders:
Proofreading Software | Monthly Price | Main Pro | Main Con |
QuillBot | $19.95 | Ideal for academic writing | Stilted AI writing suggestions |
Grammarly | $12 | Ideal for business writing | Bad at academic editing |
Wordvice AI | $19.95 | Ideal for academic writing | Stilted AI writing suggestions |
ProWritingAid | $30 | Ideal for creative writers | Most expensive option |
PerfectIt | $9 | Ideal for academic writing | No AI writing tools |
PerfectIt is recommended for lengthy academic documents such as a master’s thesis or a dissertation. Grammarly is included, but should be used sparingly as it is not ideal for academic work. It is ideal for business writing, such as business emails, as well as short academic essays that don’t require highly technical jargon.
AI-powered software like QuillBot and Wordvice are more than just grammar checkers, but also include other writing assistant abilities. This includes paraphrasing, AI detection, and plagiarism checking among others.
They give a sense of the complete package for any student or academic who uses them. However, one should always remember that a tool is only as good as the person using it. So, you should make sure to familiarize yourself with the principles and practice of academic writing before deciding to rely wholly on proofreading software.
How EminentEdit helps with editing your academic papers
EminentEdit offers high-quality proofreading services to ensure you end up with A-grade work. Our services are geared toward academics and students, and we offer affordable rates and relaible services.
Look at our pricing to see how we compare with our competitors. Our proofreading and editing prices start as low as $0.03/word:
Type of Editing | Description | Price Per Word ($) |
Regular Editing | Line-by-line editing to improve tone and sentence structure. | $0.03 |
AI Editing | Editing to improve tone and fact-checking. | $0.05 |
AI Editing Without Fact-Checking | Editing to improve tone and to humanify. | $0.02 |
Regular Proofreading | Editing to uncover and fix minor grammar, punctuation, and style errors. | $0.02 |
Our editing and proofreading services don't just start with proofreading the final document. It also includes help from the very beginning of your project. Take a quick look at all what that includes:
Proofreading and editing for theses and dissertations
Proofreading college essays and academic papers
Reviewing and correcting grant proposals
Correcting AI-generated content
Contact one of our representatives for help: CONTACT US AT EMINENT EDIT.
Cite this EminentEdit article |
Antoine, M. (2025, September 24). Editing Academic Papers: A Guide. EminentEdit. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/editing-academic-papers |
