博文
How to get more out of professional English editing service?
|||
This article is written for you, if you plan to send your manuscript for editing service.
Good English editing service is usually not cheap. So, how can you get more out of such a service?
Citations:
First, you check the journal style, to make sure the citation format is correct. There are many ways to cite a reference, such as [Smith, 2008], [Smith 2008], (Smith 2008), etc. Note the subtle difference between the first two citation examples. I consider this authors’ responsibility, but I will comment on it if citation format varies in one manuscript.
If you are citing more than one paper in a parenthetic remark, such as [Smith, 1990; Yee, 2002], there are two basic rules: one is to separate papers by a semicolon (not a comma), and the other is to cite according to the year each paper was published (first published, first cited). There are more rules, but I don't mind editing more complicated cases for you, or some journal copy editor may fix it for you.
If you are citing more than one paper in a parenthetic remark, such as [Smith, 1990; Yee, 2002], there are two basic rules: one is to separate papers by a semicolon (not a comma), and the other is to cite according to the year each paper was published (first published, first cited). There are more rules, but I don't mind editing more complicated cases for you, or some journal copy editor may fix it for you.
Figures and tables:
If you start a sentence with “Figure 1 illustrates …” (same for table), you do not abbreviate the word "Figure" (or "Table"). If you need to say “Figures 1a and 1c show …,” you need to check the journal style first, because it may be “Figures 1, a and b, show …” or in some other format. (Don’t you wish all journals have the same style? Well, it is not going to happen for a long while, just as we wish the whole world could speak one language, preferably Chinese 
)
)If you use “Figure 1” anywhere else in a sentence, you may be able to abbreviate it as “Fig. 1 …” Again, only the journal style can guide you. Same for using it in a parenthetic remark: The temperature increase is noticeable (Fig. 1).
Another thing for Chinese (at least) to pay attention to is that subject and verb need to go harmonically together. Here are some examples:
1) The waves generated by Typhoon Nina are very powerful.
You should “see (simplify)” this sentence as “The waves (adj.) are very powerful.” This way, you can avoid a very common mistake, that is, “The waves (adj.) is …”
Share this Blog with your friends, if you think it may help them.
Zuojun: When my clients improve their English, I will receive a much better manuscript next time. As a result, I can improve their writing further because revising (including editing) is the key to good writing. If I am bogged down with fixing these little (easy) problems, I have less time to think about the whole sentence or paragraph or section. So, please help me to serve you better
https://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-306792-280687.html
上一篇：A nice Christmas present: a pdf file of McCreary and Yu (1992)
下一篇：Life is beautiful! (ZZ with comments)
