Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary?: Identifying the Sources You Need to Get Writing

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Information is everywhere, but what kind of information do you need for a research paper? Sources come in many forms and sometimes it can be hard to figure out exactly what kind of source you need. Here are some definitions and tips to help you decide what kind of material you need for your academic papers.

Primary Sources

Primary sources are usually original material on which you base your research. What this material looks like varies by academic field. If you are writing a research paper in literature, a primary source might be a specific literary work you are analyzing. If you are working on a project in history, you might use letters, diaries, artifacts, reports, and other kinds of documents from the event or time you are writing about. These types of materials might be housed in an archive or reproduced in critical editions. Social media and news reports following an event might also be a primary source. A project in the social sciences might look at data someone else gathered or at data you collect in a study. This data can be quantitative or qualitative.

Secondary Sources

Secondary sources discuss, analyze, and interpret primary sources. These are usually academic books, peer-reviewed articles, scholarly papers or reports, theses and dissertations, and similar types of material. Secondary sources help you to understand the current state of research around the primary source material you are working with. You can use secondary sources to understand current research trends in your field, find other perspectives, and discover new ways to approach your topic. A good research paper engages with secondary sources in its field of study and then adds new information to the current body of research.

Tertiary Sources

Tertiary sources summarize secondary literature on particular topics. This type of source includes encyclopedias (such as Wikipedia), textbooks, and dictionaries. Tertiary sources are very helpful for understanding the basics of your topic, but you should avoid citing them. It is much better to use secondary sources to show that you have done your research. These sources should be used for the beginning stages of research and they might even point you to scholarly work relevant to your field. For example, a Wikipedia article on a well-known study might cite several articles published in relation to that research, perhaps as follow-ups or critiques. You can use those citations to find the original articles and then use those in your paper as well.

For more information on types of sources, check out Kate L. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, the MLA Handbook, and the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. As you start to write your paper, keep these types of sources in mind. And remember, we can help you to organize your sources, ensure you have followed the correct referencing style as laid out by your school or journal, and verify that all citations are complete and correspond with entries in the reference list.

5 Quick Tips for Using Abbreviations and Acronyms in Academic Writing

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Whether you’re working on a thesis or a research paper, abbreviations and acronyms are difficult to avoid in academic writing, which is why it’s important that you know how to use them properly. Here’s a quick primer.

1. Spell the word or phrase in full at first mention

When you first use the term that you will be abbreviating, you should usually spell out the actual word or phrase in full and follow that with the abbreviation/acronym in brackets.

For example: “We then conducted an analysis of variance (ANOVA).”

This ensures that your reader understands what your abbreviation means. While some abbreviations may seem common or obvious, different disciplines may use the same shorthand for different phrases. For example, “CAD” could refer to computer-aided design, coronary artery disease, Canadian dollar, current account deficit… You get the point! Abbreviations or acronyms that are extremely common for your audience may not need to be defined, but it’s best to check your style guidelines on this—and if you’re unsure, err on the side of caution and provide the full version at first mention.

2. Make sure abbreviations appear more than once

If you find that you have only used a specific abbreviation once in the entire paper, you should use the full version of the word or phrase instead and delete the abbreviation. This is because the purpose of abbreviations and acronyms is to make the writing more concise and aid comprehension, so—bearing in mind that it’s good practice to spell the abbreviated word or phrase in full at first mention—if it is only used once the abbreviation is redundant.

3. Use abbreviations consistently

Once you have introduced an abbreviation, it should be used consistently throughout the rest of the piece—that is, every time the word or phrase appears following its introduction. This means that once you have defined the abbreviation, you should stick to the same format and not switch back to the full word or a different abbreviation elsewhere in the paper. There are some exceptions to this rule; for example, the original text should be retained in direct quotations and references, and you may wish to use the full version in tables, figures, and section headings, depending on whether your style guide permits or even prescribes this.

4. Don’t go overboard

Abbreviations are a great way to keep writing concise. They can help you meet a tight word count, and enable the reader to focus on important information without getting bogged down by cumbersome phrases (for example, it’s much easier to process “RMSEA” than “root mean square error of approximation”!). However, a good writer will be prudent in their use of abbreviations; if a paper contains too many, that can be distracting and confusing in itself. Bear in mind also that similar constructions should be avoided. For example, if both “CAD” and “CDA” appear in your paper, it may be better to modify one of the abbreviations, or use the full version for one of the terms and do away with that abbreviation altogether.

5. Let us help!

Practice common sense, stick to the rules above, and, as always, feel free to have us check your work prior to submission to make sure your abbreviations are working with your paper rather than against it. Among our usual checks, we’ll ensure abbreviations are appropriate and consistent, and in line with your style guidelines.

So Many Rules, So Little Time: An Introduction to Some of the Most Popular Academic Style Guides

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When you’re working on an assignment, a lot of questions come up that have nothing to do with grammar. Should you write numbers using the word or the actual digit? Do your abbreviations need periods in between the letters? How exactly do you punctuate the in-text citations and reference list?

You must turn to a designated style guide for help.

These guides don’t just govern spelling preferences; they set standards for formatting, documenting sources, and usage—issues that usually have more than one correct answer. The most common systems within academia include APA (American Psychological Association), Chicago, Harvard, MLA (Modern Language Association), Turabian, and Vancouver, but there are many others. Though there is some crossover, different systems are designed for different disciplines, so the one you use for your work is likely to be dictated by your school or by the journal you are submitting to (depending on your end goal). Each guide is also revised periodically, so adherents must be adaptable in their practices as well.

Below are the style guides that we are asked to apply most often in our work as academic editors. We’ve also included an example reference list entry for a book with one author, just so you can see how these style guides differ, but bear in mind that most of these systems outline rules related to punctuation, number usage, table layout, and so on as well.

APA: The American Psychological Association has its own style guide for those publishing in the fields of psychology, social sciences, and nursing.

Example: De Caro, J. (2016). The songs of Argentine tango (10th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Bando Publishing.

Chicago: The Chicago Manual of Style dates back to the 1890s. Its reach is wide-ranging, and many other style guides use Chicago Style as a starting point, and even defer to it in some cases. While mainly researchers and scholars use this when they write for publication, many magazines, online journals, and business entities often instruct their writers to apply Chicago Style as well.

Example: De Caro, Julio. The Songs of Argentine Tango. 10th ed. Los Angeles: Bando Publishing, 2016.

Harvard: As you may have guessed, Harvard style originated from Harvard University. There is no go-to manual for Harvard style, so its exact application can vary quite a bit between institutions. It is very similar to APA in a lot of ways, though with some subtle differences.

Example: De Caro, J. (2016). The Songs of Argentine Tango. 10th ed. Los Angeles, CA: Bando Publishing.

MLA: MLA style is most frequently used by researchers in literature and language, and in the humanities in general. You’ll see two books connected with the MLA. Broadly speaking, The MLA Style Manual is meant for graduate studies and beyond, while The MLA Handbook is for college and university students in the humanities.

Example: De Caro, Julio. The Songs of Argentine Tango. Los Angeles: Bando Publishing, 2016. Print.

Turabian: Undergraduate students are often directed to use this style, which is heavily based on the Chicago style.

Vancouver: Vancouver is most often used in scientific disciplines. In-text citations are indicated using numbers, while full details are provided at the end of the paper as a corresponding, sequentially numbered list.

Example: [1] De Caro, J. The songs of Argentine tango. 10th ed. Los Angeles, CA: Bando Publishing; 2016.

Of course, there are many more style systems, depending on your field and subject matter. In addition, to make matters more confusing, many journals and schools use styles that are only loosely based on an existing system—for example, they might use APA but with commas instead of periods, or a different approach to capitalizing titles—so it’s vital that you scrutinize your school/journal’s style guide closely and note any deviations.

Sticking to the required style guide will increase your professionalism and increase your chances of getting your paper published, or receiving a higher grade. In addition, when it comes to in-text citations and bibliographies, correctly documenting your sources tells your readers where you’ve gotten your information, and this is your best defense against plagiarism.

As long as you understand why it’s so important to adhere to a style guide, you’re well on your way to reconciling yourself with all the rules. But applying every stipulation perfectly can be a big ask in the scope of writing a complex paper, thesis, or dissertation. We at Stickler are familiar with all major academic style guides, and make sure we keep on top of changes and updates. Whenever you submit work to us, just send us the relevant style link or document and we’ll make sure all the requirements are met.

How to Improve your Writing: Tips and Resolutions for the New Year

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The new year is almost here (!), and that means it’s time again to set resolutions and goals. With a clean slate, you can focus on revamping your writing routine for 2020. Below are a few ideas to help get the new year off to a flying start and realize your writing potential.

Set Realistic Goals for the Upcoming Year

Think about what you want to accomplish in terms of your writing in 2020. Is it to redraft a rejected paper that’s fallen to the wayside? To turn in your work well before the deadline? To finally start a project that you’ve been itching to get into? Whatever your goals, keep them focused and realistic so that they are easier to reach and feel less overwhelming. You might also find it useful to create a writing calendar to figure out what time of the day you work best, to get a writing accountability buddy to help you stay on track, or to use apps and online tools to stay organized and focused.

Incorporate Reading into Your Routine

While writing is an important part of any academic career, most people don’t realize how vital reading is if you want to write well. This new year, consider incorporating more reading into your daily routine. Reading is a great way to broaden your knowledge and skills and to hone your craft by absorbing others’ techniques. Whether it’s a journal a week or a few papers a month, setting quantifiable goals will make it easier to start reading in the new year.

Refill the Well

Another great resolution is to remember to take breaks and engage in self-care practices during your writing sessions. Taking breaks, especially when you’re working on longer projects, can help you refresh your mind and avoid writer’s block. Whether it’s a walk around the park, a yoga class, a long bath, or a cup of coffee, refilling the well is an important part of any routine.

Spend Time on Revision and Proofreading

Brainstorming and sitting down to write are both important parts of the writing process, but so is the often-forgotten job of revising and proofreading. Revision is typically a multi-step process that involves tightening your sentences, reworking ideas, and perhaps getting outside readers to critique your work. In addition, language errors and issues with clarity can severely hinder your chances of getting your paper published or receiving a good grade, and sometimes it’s hard for even the most accomplished writers to catch mistakes or unclear passages on their own. For this reason, utilizing a professional proofreading/editing service can be an extremely worthwhile investment. We’re always here to help, and we hope that our flexible, professional, and friendly approach will help you to meet your goals in 2020.

Happy new year from the Stickler team!

Writing by the fire

Don’t Let the Holidays Halt Your Momentum! Tips for Staying Productive Throughout the Festive Period

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The holidays can be both a wonderful and stressful time. Between preparing food, reconnecting with family, seeing friends, and buying gifts—not to mention the fact that everyone else is “out of the office”—it can be hard to find time to stick to your writing schedule and get work done. It’s important to be flexible with your writing schedule during the holidays, but that doesn’t mean that you have to set aside all of your work and wait for the new year to roll around. Below are some tips to keep you productive throughout the holiday period while still enjoying the festivities.

Protect Your Time

It’s important to remember that during the holidays you are likely to have less time to write. Things may get in the way, plans may change, and you might have to allocate some of your time to family and friends. Thus, it’s important to protect the free time that you do have. Think about points in your day during which you can carve out time—whether it’s a couple of hours or 30 minutes. It might be when you first wake up, after everyone else has gone to bed, or in between parties. Block that time out for yourself and protect it at all costs. Let people close to you know that this time is important, and make sure they understand why. That way, you won’t feel stressed about other things taking time away from your work.

Put in Place a Serious Schedule

If you struggle to use the free time you have for writing and find yourself waylaid by other tasks, it might help you to put a schedule in place ahead of time. Consider what time of the day you are usually the most productive (or what time of day you are claiming for your own—see the point above), how much time you have, and your ability to access a quiet and productive workspace. Then, sketch out a rough plan of what you will do during this time each day. Dedicating yourself to this schedule and putting your writing above other tasks will help you stay productive and on track, while still giving you time and space to do the million other things that need to be done during the holiday season.

Be Flexible and Forgiving

While the above points are important, it’s also vital to remember that life happens and sometimes other things may get in the way of writing, despite your best efforts. Being flexible and forgiving with yourself and your time is an important way to reduce stress and achieve a balance between work and fun. Maybe you’ve been invited to a family lunch during your scheduled writing hour, and have to choose between sticking to your writing plan or spending time with family you haven’t seen in a while. Sometimes it’s important to listen to yourself and follow your heart. Writing is important, but it might not be as important as family and friends. Plus, spending time with others can often give you a much-needed inspiration boost, or clear your head so that you’re more productive in the long run.

Engage in Writing in Other Ways

Even if you aren’t writing, there are other ways you can engage in your work or field. Whether it’s reading books or journals, revisiting an old draft, or catching up with what colleagues are working on, it’s possible to further your academic pursuits without actively writing. Sometimes it’s hard to sit down and find a quiet space to create new work during the holidays, so revision or editing are also great options to help move your work forward.

Balancing writing and the holidays can be tough if you don’t have the right mindset. By carving out time for yourself, sticking to a schedule, and also remembering to be flexible with yourself, you can achieve a balance of enjoying yourself while still getting work done.

To help you stay productive and meet your deadlines, we’re offering $20 off our Express Service (two-day turnaround rather than the standard four) throughout December. That means our two-day Express Service is $30 instead of $50! Just enter code “BlogExpress20” at checkout.

Happy holidays from the Stickler team!

Professional Translation Services vs. AI: Why Humans are Still the Better Choice

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Online Translators can Only do so Much

Online translation services abound. Copy and paste your text into Google Translate, for example, and you’ll get a result almost instantly. But unfortunately we are still a long way from perfect online translation. These programs rely on AI, so that the translations, more often than not, result in shallow and cumbersome language. Online programs simply aren’t equipped to fully understand all of the nuances of language, and will typically be unfamiliar with jargon or field-specific technical terms, so some things will always, as they say, get lost in translation. Conversely, when a human expert translates your paper they will deeply process your source text, and consult multiple translation sources and dictionaries—not to mention their own training and experience—to ensure they stay true to your intentions. Professional translators also have a better and more colloquial understanding of the language that can lead to a more concise, and therefore academically legitimate, translation.

Expert Translators for Your Area of Interest

As mentioned above, jargon and other technical or field-specific terms cause a real problem for AI translators. Professional academic (human) translators, however, understand how academic text should be constructed and are familiar with technical terms. This ensures that your arguments are clearly conveyed and are not buried under a subpar translation.

Translation Plus Proofreading Boosts Your Chances of Getting Published

In order to get your work published in a top English-language journal your writing must meet incredibly high standards, which, in basic terms, means it must read as though written by a native English speaker. Thus, when you send your work to us we match you with a translator who not only speaks your language, and English, fluently, but is also familiar with your subject area. They are also able to translate to British or American English, depending on your or your target publication’s preference. After translation, to make absolutely sure that your paper flows, that all syntax is correct, and that the paper meets any relevant style guidelines, your paper is subject to our usual proofreading/copy editing by our expert editors—who are also specialists in academic writing. AI has a long way to go to compete with all that!

For a no-obligation translation and proofreading quote, click here. And for some awkward, hilarious, and often not safe for work Google Translate fails, check out Babbel Magazine’s article on this very topic.

The “Don’ts” of Writing an Academic Paper

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Writing an academic paper can be tricky if you aren’t familiar with the conventions and standards that are expected of articles and essays in this genre. Here, we provide some basic tips on things to avoid in this type of writing.

Don’t Skimp on the Citations

When it comes to academic writing, adequate referencing is everything. Citing your sources is an integral part of avoiding plagiarism and ensuring the academic rigor of your work. It also helps to contextualize your paper in the field, and show that you have done your background work and know which gaps your paper sets out to fill. In addition, it’s important to style the in-text citations, the reference list, and other aspects (such as figures, tables, and overall formatting) according to your school’s preferences, or the preferences of the journal you are submitting to. A professional editing company (such as ours!) can help with this aspect.

Don’t Forget to Ask Peers to Read Your Paper

One of the most common mistakes among academic writers is forgetting to ask peers in their field to look at their paper. Asking trusted colleagues and mentors to read your work is a great way to get feedback on both the content and the clarity of your paper. These readers might discover an important part of the argument that you’ve missed, notice a piece of cited research that has been discredited, or be able to suggest ways to make your study even more robust. It’s often a good idea to start a group of trusted peers who read each other’s work regularly, so you know who to turn to when you need it and are frequently exposed to other writing styles and research.

Don’t Write in a Convoluted Style

Academic writers often get caught up in the jargon of their specialized field, using complex sentence structures and overly verbose discussions that can throw the average reader off. Not only is it important to remember your audience, but writing in a clear, to-the-point style will help to ensure readers can get to the heart of your argument without having to pick through lots of unnecessary verbiage and irrelevant detail.

Don’t Skip the Professional Proofreading

Hiring a professional proofreader is a great decision when it comes to academic writing. A proofreader will check your paper for clarity, grammatical and spelling mistakes, and use of English, as well as ensuring your work conforms to the relevant style guidelines. Having your work proofread before you submit it can help to increase the readability and professionalism of your paper overall, and ensure that reviewers, editors, or professors are able to assess the work itself, rather than being distracted or even put off by clumsy writing, stylistic errors, or spelling mistakes.

Goodbye Procrastination! Five Tips for Getting things Done

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No matter where you are in your academic journey, getting things done can be difficult. Life gets in the way, your motivation drains, and suddenly you find it difficult to meet impending deadlines or finish important projects. This is especially true when it comes to writing—no matter whether you’re working on a grant proposal or a PhD thesis, writing and procrastination go hand in hand. We hope these tips will help you find your motivation and start checking things off your to-do list.

1. Get Your Priorities Straight

No matter how much you plan, throughout the day new things pop up and start to overload your schedule. Whether it’s a software issue that needs to be fixed, an errand that needs to be run, or a lengthy email that needs to be answered, these small tasks can add up and can even contribute to procrastination. To counter this, it’s important to set firm boundaries. What absolutely needs to be done today, and what can wait? On the other hand, maybe you have a few tasks on your list that will only take a couple of minutes to complete, in which case it can be helpful to follow the mantra “If it takes two minutes, do it now”—in other words, go ahead and get these done immediately so you can tick them off.

2. Break Tasks Down

Writing “finish thesis” on your to-do list may not be the best way to complete such a mammoth undertaking. Instead, think about the different sub-tasks that make up this overarching goal, and create lists from there; for example, your sub-tasks may include “create research questionnaire,” “gather prior works for literature review,” “ask supervisor about revised title,” or “finish writing introduction.” From there, think about what you can realistically get done today. It may be that asking your supervisor about your title will only take a few minutes and can be done right away, then you’ll definitely have time to create your questionnaire, and tomorrow you will finish writing your introduction. Breaking the overall task down into bite-sized chunks in this way not only makes the entire thing less daunting, but also gives you much more regular “wins” in the form of completed tasks, which will help keep you motivated.

3. Know that Delegation is Your Friend

If you come across a task that you don’t have time to do or don’t want to do, another option may be to delegate it to someone else. Delegating can be hard because it involves asking others for help, letting go of control over the task at hand, and possibly spending money. But this strategy is a great way to get a load off your plate and allow you to focus on your project or paper, which can be well worth the resources invested in getting the help you need. Delegating tasks can be as simple as asking a partner to pick up some household chores, or paying someone to run an errand, but with specific regard to academic work a company such as Stickler can help with aspects such as putting your reference list in the correct style, adding an automated table of contents, or ensuring every formatting and style requirement stipulated by your university is followed.

4. Give Yourself Deadlines

Deadlines are one of the most powerful tools for motivating yourself and breaking the cycle of procrastination. Even if a project you’re working on doesn’t have a set due date per se, creating one can provide just the right amount of pressure to help you focus and get things done. That said, self-determined due dates can be tricky if there is nothing holding you to them. Consider getting an “accountability buddy” in the form of friend or colleague, with whom you have regular check-ins in which you each share your work and report on whether you’ve accomplished your respective goals. Even something as simple as knowing you’ll have to report any failures to your accountability buddy can work wonders for your productivity.

5. Don’t Let Planning Take Over!

It is possible to spend so much time trying to prioritize tasks and create lists that you end up being counterproductive and still not focusing on the task you should be working on. So remember not to focus too much on the planning and prioritizing; the key to productivity is finding the right balance of motivation and focus that works for you and your schedule.

Getting Your Article Published: Tips for Non-Native English Speakers

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“The volume of scientific research being published is constantly increasing, making it harder and harder to get a manuscript accepted. Language quality plays a particularly important role in guaranteeing the success of a submission.”—Elsevier

“Every year hundreds of papers are rejected due to English language editing requirements.”—Wiley

Whether you’re a student or a seasoned academic, getting your work published in a respectable journal is important in furthering your academic career. However, you might be facing frustrating barriers if you are not a native English speaker, since most top-tier English-language journals want articles to be well written, using appropriate and correct academic terminology, before they will even consider publishing them. Across the board, research shows that articles written in clear English are more likely to get published than those in another language or in poor-quality English (Di Bitetti & Ferraras, 2016). In fact, English proficiency is a good predictor of publication output in top journals, even more than total research spending (Man et al., 2004).

Below are a few tips specifically aimed at non-native English speakers, which can get you closer to seeing your work appear in your ideal journal.

Stay Patient and Be Persistent

Nobody becomes an expert in the English language overnight. Mastering a second or foreign language, especially when it comes to academic terms and jargon, takes time and effort. Be patient with yourself and don’t be afraid to take risks and make mistakes. Even having articles rejected from journals can be useful, as this will give you a feel for what editors think about your research and the standard of your overall communication. If you’re not getting the acceptances that you want, take a look at what the editors are saying in their feedback. Study their comments and think about how you can apply them to the next iteration of your writing.

Collaborate with Others

If you find yourself struggling to write in English, a great way to overcome this is by seeking out native English speakers to collaborate with. Reach out to colleagues or other researchers in your field and find potential ways that you can work together to publish work based on shared interests. Collaborating with other professionals is not only a great way to enrich your work overall, but also gives you the chance to learn from native speakers how to strike the right tone, and to pick up some of the terms that frequently crop up in academic writing.

Imitate the Style of Authors You Admire

There’s no better way to practice your English writing skills than to imitate those whose work you admire. Try to find some articles whose style you like and that have been published in your target journals, and examine the ways in which the author utilizes language. How do the words flow together? What tense is the writing in? How does the author structure their sentences? How is punctuation used? Studying other work you respect can help you get a better understanding of how native English functions and give you a formula that you can work from.

Hire a Professional Editing Service

You knew we would get here eventually! But we make no apologies for this point—almost all top-rated journals recommend having your paper edited by a professional prior to submission. For example, Wiley (one of the world’s leading journal publishers) state the following on their website:

“If you are not a native English-language speaker, we strongly recommend that you have your manuscript professionally edited before submission.”

Professional editing services can help to ensure that:

  • your article proceeds in a logical manner;
  • academic and statistical terms have been used correctly;
  • spelling is consistent and correct; and
  • there are no typos, grammatical mistakes, or awkward phrasing.

In other words, we can make sure that the text reads as though written by a native English speaker. We know exactly what journals are looking for when it comes to tone and academic language standards, and will also check that your work meets all journal style requirements.

Now through August 31st, we’re offering new customers $20.00 off our proofreading/copy editing services! Just enter the promo code Summerblog20 when you submit your work.*

 *Cannot be combined with any other offer, and applies to documents of at least 3,000 words. New customers only. Discount expires at midnight PST on August 31, 2019. 

Tips for Writing a Great Response Letter to Journal Reviewers

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As discussed in our previous post, How to get Published in a Journal: From Writing, to Peer Review, to Acceptance, once you submit your work for publication there are several possible outcomes: your work might be accepted for publication, accepted on condition that certain changes are made, rejected but with the possibility for you to resubmit pending certain changes, or rejected with no opportunity for resubmission. If the journal asks for edits and revision to your work, it’s important not only to implement the changes, but also to write an appropriate and professional response to the journal reviewers.

Sleep On It

Sometimes it can be difficult to see where changes need to be made in your manuscript if you’re too close to it, so taking some time away from both the feedback and your manuscript—to the extent reasonable based on the deadline for resubmission, of course—can be incredibly helpful. In other words, rather than responding immediately, which can lead to defensiveness and knee-jerk responses, try to allow yourself some time to process the feedback, and perhaps read it over again with fresh eyes after a day or two have passed.

Be Respectful and Polite

Sometimes it can be difficult to see eye to eye with a reviewer, especially when it comes to a piece of work you’ve spent so much time and energy on. Keep in mind also that not every reviewer will be an expert in the precise niche to which your work belongs (though they will be representative of the journal’s general audience), so it’s perfectly acceptable to disagree with a point they’ve made. No matter what your response to their feedback, though, remember to always be respectful and polite in your response letter. If you do disagree on some points, outline in an objective and professional manner why you have chosen not to follow their advice, and back up your explanations with reference to extant research where possible and appropriate. It’s also important to remember that if a reviewer has failed to understand something in your writing, it is more likely a fault of your work, or clarity of expression, than their lack of intellect, so always think carefully and objectively before you reject a reviewer’s advice.

Respond to All Comments

Taking time to sit and reread the reviewer’s response to your work will help you make sure you haven’t missed any crucial comments. One of the most common complaints from reviewers is that writers don’t take the time to respond to each and every one of their comments and critiques, and often skip over or completely ignore certain points they’ve raised. If you don’t agree with a comment or find an edit particularly difficult, it’s never a good idea to avoid it by ignoring it altogether. It might take some work on your part to understand the comment or request the reviewer is making, but taking the time to do so will help make your writing stronger.

Quote Changes Directly

When writing your response letter, it’s important to make it easy for the editor and reviewers to follow the edits you’ve made. One of the best ways you can do this is by directly quoting their suggestion in your letter, and, underneath each point, clearly outlining the actions you have taken. It’s also useful to explicitly identify the changes that you have made to your manuscript. You can do this by directly citing page numbers and specific sections, and even pulling extracts from your revised manuscript and pairing them with the reviewer’s own comments so that they can see the ways your manuscript now reflects the edits requested.

Write Multiple Drafts of Your Response

Just as you’ve probably gone through multiple drafts of your manuscript to ensure that it is a strong as possible and meets all journal style requirements, your response letter should be reviewed several times. Writing the first draft of your response freely will give you a space to vent your frustrations and get a better understanding of what, exactly, the reviewers are asking of you. In the second draft take out any emotion, and make sure every point you make is objective, professional, and respectful.

Don’t forget, in addition to editing your paper we can proofread your response letter to editors and reviewers to make sure it’s not only error free, but strikes the right tone.