Substantive Thesis Editing Services

Have you finished writing your thesis and are now looking for a professional editor to proofread and edit it for you? You have come to the right place.

At the Ultimate Proofreader, our substantive thesis editing service is very rigorous and comprehensive. It combines both proofreading and copy-editing, and is designed by academic experts to efficiently and effectively help MA & PhD students, academics, and researchers with their thesis editing and proofreading needs.


What is included?

In this service, our specialist academic editors will examine your thesis manuscript very carefully to:

  • Find and fix errors and mistakes in your grammar, punctuation, or spelling  
  • Improve your academic word choice/terminology and sentence structure and formation 
  • Ensure your dissertation or thesis is readable, clear, coherent and flows well 
  • Check your referencing style or system and bibliography (APA, Harvard, OSCOLA etc.)

Additionally, as part of this detailed thesis proofreading service, your will benefit from  extremely helpful comments, questions and suggestions from our editors in relation to the following:

  • Clarity: if you write something that is not clear in terms of meaning
  • Discrepancy: if you describe the same thing differently throughout your paper
  • Contradiction: if you write something that clearly contradicts what you stated earlier
  • Incompleteness: if your sentence is incomplete or cut short
  • Wording: if you use a word that does not suit or match the context it is used in
  • Referencing: if you miss an in-text citation or cite a quote but where it begins and ends is not clear

Prices & Value

Our prices for this in-depth thesis proofreading service are very competitive and reasonable. We offer affordable prices and excellent quality service, a unique combination that you won't easily find with any other dissertation editing provider.  Check our prices

Other benefits

  • A 100% confidential, secure service 
  • Around-the-clock customer support
  • A free sample option for first-time clients (subject to availability)

Have an enquiry or need any further information? Email us now and we will get back to you straight away. We are available 24 hours a day - every day of the year.

What is "in-depth" proofreading?

"In-depth" proofreading and editing simply means a substantive scrutiny of your dissertation or thesis, one that goes far beyond the correction of superficial English language errors.

In this PhD & MA thesis proofreading service, our experienced academic editors dig deep into your academic paper not only to correct spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes, but also correct other more problematic and serious writing issues such as repetitive text, inconsistency, incoherence, wordiness, lack of clarity and flow, or gaps in academic writing. 


1. Grammar

a) Subject-verb agreement (SVA) 

Although it is one of the most fundamental and basic rules in the English language, a large number of corrections our proofreaders make in dissertations and theses are related to subject-verb agreement errors. This is often the result of academic students using excessively long or badly structured sentences when drafting their manuscript. It can also happen when relying on automatic grammar correction tools. In this case, the doer of the verb becomes obscured.

b) Use of conjunctions/connectors 

In good academic writing, using connectors or conjunctions is impertative in order to piece your ideas and arguement together and transit smoothly from a theme or sub-theme to another. Conjunctions also help the flow of language as you move from paragraph to another. Very often, MA and PhD students either omit to use connectors altogether, or ignore them completely. When drafting your dissertation or thesis, you have to strike the right balance when using conjunctions. After all, they have to serve a purpose and be employed in a meaningful way. Punctuating them correctly is a separate and important matter.

c) The use of tenses 

Using tenses correctly in an academic manuscript such as a dissertation is extremely important. This is because MA and PhD students are expected to use different tenses (future, present and past) throughout the thesis paper, depending on each section. The tense used in the literature review part, for instance, may not be the right tense to use in the abstract, findings or conclusion. Failure to use tenses correctly in your thesis or dissertation will at least leave your text unreadable and confusing – and above all can cause you to lose important marks.

d) The use of modifiers 

It's and its are very often confused. Its is a possessive pronoun and it simply means "belonging to", but it's is an abbreviated or contracted form of either it is or it has.

e) The use of apostrophe, lower and upper case.

Although it sounds simple, misplacing an apostrophe can change the entire meaning of the sentence. So getting your apostrophe right in your thesis or dissertation is essential.

2. Spelling

In English, there are many tricky, confusing and commonly misspelt words, including adjectives, verbs and names. We pick them up and correct them if they occur in your dissertation/thesis. 

a) Words 

Stationery (stationary), grammer (grammar), loose (lose - as a verb), believes (beliefs - as a noun), proof read (proofread), weak (week), affect (effect) etc.

Hum (Hume), Aristole (Aristotle), Daved (David) etc 

b) Typographical errors

  • They wanted too (to) discuss this in their academic paper.
  •  In the peeface (preface), they explained what they will discuss in their thesis.
  • Proofreading services are impotent (important).

c) American/British English 

If you are studying at a UK university, you will be expected to use British English in your dissertation paper. Similarly, if you are studying at a US university, you will be expected to write your academic manuscript in American English. Not many proofreaders are aware of the differences between American English and British English. But our editors and proofreaders will replace any American words or expressions with British equivalents or vice versa, depending on your required British variant.

3. Punctuation

Punctuation is one of the most divisive elements of language and is one of the trickiest to get right in your dissertation/thesis. Some punctuation-related errors are too simple and result from oversight, but others simply result from the writer's inability to punctuate correctly.
Note: Failure to punctuate your sentences correct while drafting your dissertation can alter the meaning and eventually undermine the accuracy of your writing. The good news is:  our expert native English speaker editors will ensure correct punctuation throughout your paper.

a) The full stop 

b) The colon (common error) 

c) The semicolon 

d) Quotation marks 

4. Language clarity and flow

As part of our profound dissertation proofreading services, our specialist academic copy-editors – who have a great eye for detail – look carefully at clarity, intelligibility and flow in your entire academic manuscript.

This includes:
1) Refining the use of language so that it is appropriate to your academic discipline and is free of slang/colloquial expressions/informal language.
2) Removing any superfluous, redundant, or unnecessary words or phrases.
3) Identifying and fixing any phrases or sentences that are unnecessarily repeated.
4) Ensuring the referencing style has been applied correctly and consistently throughout. 

5. Writing style & word choice

Our specialist academic editors and proofreaders will also enhance the style of your dissertation, without changing it.

Some dissertations are written in the form of a personal account and others are drafted in a neutral, formal academic voice.

Our editors & proofreaders will improve on the style you use in your paper. For instance, if the writing style is formal and academic, they will ensure any colloquial words and expressions are taken out and replaced with appropriate alternatives.

They will also introduce more dynamic words in place of bland, commonplace, or overused words (e.g., “exhibits”, “illustrates”, “demonstrates”, rather than “shows”).

If the writing style is more personal, our proofreaders & editors will improve the manuscript by introducing richer and more expressive vocabularly, removing any unnecessary repetition and ensuring the tone is personal, rather than formal neutral. 

6. Sentence structure, referencing

In this in-depth proofreading and editing service, we will focus closely on improving the structure of your sentences in the following ways:


1) Reordering some sentences as/when necessary.
2) Adding sentences/phrases that link sections or paragraphs together. This further enhances the logical flow of your essay.
3) The addition of well-chosen connecting words that can help link one sentence to the next, such as “however”, “nevertheless, “moreover”, and “furthermore”.
4) Identifying and highlighting any sections of the work whose meaning is unclear.

References/Bibliography: We will also check that all in-text citations are correctly formatted and cited throughout the paper, based on your preferred referencing style, whether APA, Harvard, MLA or others. We will also check and correct your bibliography in line with your referencing style. 

7. Length/Reduction 

A dissertation or thesis must be of a certain length, which usually means adhering to a specified maximum word count.

This can sometimes be very challenging to meet, as many students/academics exceed the required length. Our team of specialist editors will therefore help reduce your academic paper so that it falls within the required limits. Often this is achieved by removing redundant or repeated information/words and tightening the use of grammar.

Sometimes, however, it will also involve combining and condensing key ideas and information, and replacing lengthy phrases with just one or two key words that convey the same meaning. Students often feel this is one of the most valuable services offered by our specialist editors and proofreaders.

Mechanical and formatting errors in your thesis/dissertation?

  • Double spaces between characters, especially after a full stop wrong or missing headings or titles in a table, or captions misaligned columns or rows in a table
  • Misaligned margins
  • Misaligned headings
  • Incorrect text references
  • Inconsistent bullet formatting
  • Incorrect fonts/font sizes
  • Incorrect capitalisation
  • Footnotes or endnotes 
  • Interchanging small words such as: of/off/on, and/an/as, or it/is/if incorrect use of trademarks
  • Missing numbers in a numbered sequence/list incorrect dates
  • Inconsistent use of abbreviations
  • Contractions: i.e didn't/did not

10 common errors in scholarly papers

As a specialist dissertation and thesis proofreading services provider, we have collated the most common and serious academic English errors that language specialists have addressed in the thousands of academic and scientific papers.

The presence of such mistakes will detract from the value, quality, credibility of your academic writing.

1- Grammatical errors

2- Typographical errors

3- Punctuation mistakes

4 - Mixing up British English with American or Australian English

5- Wrong use of prepositions, connectors and pronouns

6- Colloquialisms

7- Non-academic, non-idiomatic and incomprehensible language

8- Informal words, phrases and expressions not suitable in academia

9- Mistakes in in-text citations, referencing style (APA - Harvard - MLA - Chicago - OSCOLA) and bibliography (extremely common)

10- Poorly structured sentences


Testimonials

"I would certainly recommend this meticulous dissertation proofreading services to anyone who would like to have their thesis completely scrutinised and improved in terms of everything...English, structure, ideas, organisation etc," Maison, a Master's degree student.

"The dissertation editing service is wonderful, it has made my dissertation look much much better...I highly recommend for those keen on the best quality for their academic papers. Also, these guys offer an excellent paraphrasing service." Ali, a PhD student.

"I am a big fan of academic proofreading services UK providers, particularly this one which has been a great help to me in organising and presenting my ideas in the best shape. I am glad I chose the in-depth thesis proofreading service because it has significantly improved my long dissertation," Shenai, a Master's degree student.

"The substantive professional academic proofreading services are truly indispensable for academics like me, given the level of intervention from the editors of the Ultimate Proofreader. Although they do not announce it, they provide excellent Arabic translation services as well," Zina, a Master's degree student.

"This is the best master thesis proofreading and editing service I used in my academic years,"

Zaynab, a PhD student.
"I can only recommend the phd thesis proofreading provided by the Ultimate Proofreader," Alaa
"I asked my university mates about a good UK proofreading company for master thesis and they recommended me the Ultimate Proofreader. They provided excellent phd proofreading," Rana, a PhD student.

Dissertation Proofreading Service - Sample

Expert editors & proofreaders

All of our PhD and Master's thesis academic editors and proofreaders are native English speaker professional linguists with Master's and PhD degrees. They have specific and specialist experience in proofreading and editing dissertations, essays, journals and other scientific and scholarly research papers. Many of our proofreaders and editors are published authors and former university professors, certified by prestigious proofreading and editing industry associations such as SFEP, AASFE, EFA, and ACES. All of our academic proofreading and editing services - from start to finish - are done by human editors. We never use any machine-based proofreading.

Timely delivery

We process all orders for our editing and proofreading services in a timely manner, but we never prioritise speed over quality. We operate 24 hours a day throughout the year, including public holidays and weekends.

We work to tight deadlines and short notice and provide express delivery service upon request. To find out more about exact turnaround times, read the FAQs section below or send us an email.

Fair, transparent pricing

All of our essay and thesis/dissertation proofreading and editing services are fairly and transparently priced.

Our aim is to provide English academic proofreading and editing services that are completely affordable and accessible to BA, MA, and PhD students, researchers and academics.

We do not request any extra charges or hidden fees and all our prices are final and inclusive of VAT.

Our prices are extremely reasonable and take into consideration the limited budgets of students. We basically offer excellent quality proofreading and editing at one of the most affordable rates in the UK market. In a nutshell, our proofreading and copy-editing services will give you the greatest value for money.