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You’ve already done countless hours of research to write your thesis. You don’t want to spend countless hours correcting it, too.

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Wow your supervisors with how grammatically sound your writing is, how clear it is, and how well it flows.

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Every time you run your thesis through ProWritingAid, you’ll see what your common mistakes are and how to fix them.

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Great tool for academic work. Easy to use and the reports and summary evaluation of your documents in several categories is very useful. So much more than spelling and grammar!

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If you’re an English teacher, you need to take a look at this tool—it reinforces what you’re teaching, highlights strengths and weaknesses, and makes it easier to personalize instruction.

Jennifer Gonzales

Only reason I managed to get an A in all my freshmen composition classes.

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Your first line of defense before submission

Save time on editing so you can focus on your research. ProWritingAid’s thesis checker helps you quickly and easily improve your grammar and style.

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Stop stressing over your first draft. Now you can improve any sentence in just a few clicks. Shorten sentences , correct informal language, expand your sentence variety, and add transitions.

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Typos and grammar errors can slip into anyone’s work. ProWritingAid’s AI-powered thesis checker can catch and fix even the trickiest issues so your ideas can shine.

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Sure, that email might only need a cursory check. But a 100-page thesis needs more comprehensive reviews. Use our structure analysis , complex paragraph alerts , and transitions report to improve your work.

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ProWritingAid’s Thesis Checker FAQs

How do i use the online thesis checker.

Sign up for free, upload your thesis, and run any of ProWritingAid’s 25+ reports. You’ll see a number of suggestions that you can either accept or reject.

Does the essay checker work with British English and American English?

The thesis checker works with British English, American English, Australian English, and Canadian English. Just choose the one you’d like to use, and ProWritingAid will tailor its suggestions to match.

Is using a thesis checker cheating?

Not at all. The thesis checker won’t ever write the thesis for you. It will only point out possible edits and advise you on changes you need to make. You have full autonomy and can decide which changes to accept.

Is there a student discount?

Students who have an eligible student email address can get 20% off ProWritingAid Premium. Email [email protected] from your student email address to access your discount.

Can ProWritingAid check my thesis for free?

Absolutely. ProWritingAid offers a free membership to everyone, always, and you can edit up to 500 words at a time. If you need to edit more work, you can upgrade to Premium at any time.

Does ProWritingAid have a plagiarism checker?

Yes! ProWritingAid’s plagiarism checker will check your work against over a billion web-pages, published works, and academic papers, so you can be sure of its originality. Find out more about pricing for plagiarism checks here .

Does my ProWritingAid paid license work on this page?

This page is for demonstration only, so it doesn’t recognize Premium or Premium Pro licenses, and limits usage of the tool here. To access this feature, as well as other features available with your paid license, please log in and use the Web Editor or any of our integrations .

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How to edit a PhD thesis (without going mad)

Jun 5, 2020

Your PhD thesis is the culmination of years of coursework and research and it can seem pretty overwhelming. Once you complete a draft, your work is far from over. Editing and proofreading are a significant part of your work on your dissertation, but after drafting your chapters, you might feel like you have no idea where to start editing. 

This is where we come in. We’re going to walk you through the dos and dont’s of editing a dissertation thesis chapter to help the process seem less daunting. If you’re ready to learn about how to edit your PhD thesis, read on. 

Do Walk Away and Take a Break

This might seem counterintuitive. You’re finished with a chapter and now you should walk away? The purpose of  taking a break  is to clear your head. Don’t just take a 10-minute break either. Take a whole day, maybe more if you can spare them, and then come back with fresh eyes and a cleared mind to begin editing. 

Don’t Edit as You Write 

You might be tempted to go back and edit after every few paragraphs or pages, but try to resist that urge. If you wait until you have an entire draft of a chapter ready, you will make things much easier on yourself.

If you can wait, you can then move entire sections, judge the quality of a paragraph or section in terms of the entire chapter, and have a better idea of the full picture of the chapter rather than just a small section.

Do Create a Plan

Before you start editing, have a plan. Start with one chapter (do not try to edit the entire dissertation at once) and lay out what you are looking for.

When you edit the first draft of your chapter, you should ask yourself questions as you go through it. You want to examine how it might be improved, what you need to add, what might need to be removed, and what might need to be moved to another section.

Set yourself up with a list of questions to ask yourself as you review each chapter. Yours might differ based on your discipline, but here are some general questions you can start with:

Whether it’s the introduction, literature review, results, or discussion and conclusion chapters, you had a purpose when writing them. That purpose should be clear at the beginning of the chapter and you should carry that through the entire chapter. Ask yourself:

• What is the purpose of this chapter?
• Did I make that clear? (i.e., is there a clearly stated purpose of the chapter at the beginning?)
• Does this chapter and the material in it logically follow the previous chapter?
• Are there places where things don’t fit or seem to come out of nowhere within the chapter?
• Am I using adequate transitions between paragraphs and sections?
• Have I used existing research to justify your process and/or explained that your research is the first on the topic?
• Is the chapter well-organised and easy to read?
• Have I appropriately used headings and subheadings to help the flow and organisation?
• Do I have a strong conclusion that isn’t just a summary of the chapter and gives the reader an idea of the content of the next chapter?
• Does the writing flow from section to section and chapter to chapter?
• Have I established myself as an academic authority on the subject?
• Can I make the writing more concise?

These questions are relevant for each chapter of your dissertation.

Your PhD Thesis. On one page.

Don’t proofread during the editing .

The editing step is focused more on big-picture items, not line edits. Sure, you can fix typos, but don’t worry too much about the small details. The  thorough proofreading  will come later.

You might even hire a  professional proofreader  to handle the line-item editing for you once your draft is finished and edited. Otherwise, the proofreading comes when the writing is done and the PhD is nearly complete.

Do Edit in Stages

The logical editing process is to focus on each chapter at a time. After each chapter is finished, you can edit it (after you’ve walked away from it a bit).

You can also choose to focus on one editorial issue at a time. For example, you could first go through to check for structure in one editing session and then check for purpose in another (this way is a bit more complex and you often find yourself focusing on everything in an editing session, so try a few different methods to see what works best for you).

Don’t Edit the Entire Thing at Once

Just like you need to walk away from a chapter and give yourself a break from it before editing, you also need to give yourself a break between editing sessions. The thought of sitting down to edit the entire dissertation, which could be several hundred pages, is probably extremely overwhelming. It’s enough to make someone procrastinate the editing process because it seems like such a daunting task.

Don’t do this to yourself! Instead, set goals. Decide how much you will edit in one day and stick to that. This will help you to manage your time and also make sure your eyes and mind are fresh as you edit. As you get fatigued from so much reading and editing, you’ll start to miss things.

You didn’t sit down to write the entire thing in one sitting, so don’t expect yourself to edit the whole thing in one sitting.

How to Edit a PhD Thesis Effectively

Unless you’ve written a dissertation before, chances are you are stuck on how to edit a PhD thesis chapter. Use these tips to make the editing process more manageable and less overwhelming. It’s a lot of work, but so is the writing process. You want your final draft to be the best it can be.

If you’re still stuck or overwhelmed, let one of our PhD-thesis proofreaders take on the editing process for you.  Get in touch  today to book your writing check-up.

Hello, Doctor…

Sounds good, doesn’t it?  Be able to call yourself Doctor sooner with our five-star rated How to Write A PhD email-course. Learn everything your supervisor should have taught you about planning and completing a PhD.

Now half price. Join hundreds of other students and become a better thesis writer, or your money back. 

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• Fix typos, misspellings, punctuation issues and ensure consistency of your spelling format (e.g., UK or US English).
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Every editing and proofreading project includes the following key deliverables:

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You’ll receive a clean, finalised version of your document, fully edited and proofread. You’ll also receive a second version with all changes tracked , as well as our comments and suggestions to improve your writing further.

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If you’d like, we can run a comprehensive plagiarism scan on your document and provide you with a detailed report that outlines potential plagiarism issues and provides a similarity index. This is included free of charge.

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If your university requires a formal certificate of editing or confirmation letter, we’ll draft this according to your institution’s specific requirements. We can also provide copies of invoices and receipts if required by your sponsor. 

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Editing & Proofreading

How do you edit and proofread.

Our editing and proofreading process is 100% manual - in other words, it's handled by a team of highly qualified human editors, not machines . We don't use any automation software or tools, as nothing can beat the quality and accuracy of human editing.

Our editing team consists of a diverse mix of Doctoral and Master's-qualified language specialists . The team is managed by Dr Eunice Rautenbach , who holds both a Master's and Doctoral degree in language practice. All team members have extensive academic editing experience, are native English speakers (from the US, UK and SA) and have worked on numerous dissertations, theses and research projects.

Can I see an example/sample of your editing?

Certainly . You can download a sample editing and proofreading project here .

Will you sort out my references and citations?

Yes . As part of the editing process, we will ensure that your references and citations are in the correct format (e.g., Harvard, APA, etc) as per your university's requirements (you'll need to advise us what these are).

However, keep in mind that we can't fill in incomplete references or find the relevant sources for you (as it's impossible for us to know which sources you've referenced). We also cannot check whether the references you have are accurate or suitable for the arguments you make in your writing.

Can you fix/build my table of contents?

Yes , we can create a table of contents based on the headings and subheadings throughout your dissertation or thesis. This table of contents will include the respective page number for each heading or subheading.

Can you lower my word count?

Yes - as part of the editing process, we will edit your work for concision. However, we cannot guarantee a specific word count or percentage reduction, as this would risk cutting out important content.

Can you check my work for plagiarism?

Yes - we can provide a detailed plagiarism report with every editing and proofreading project. However, please keep in mind that universities use a variety of plagiarism-checking services. Therefore, if your university provides you with a plagiarism-checking facility (as they often do), you should double-check your score on that system.

How long does the editing and proofreading process take?

It depends on the length of the document, the overall quality of the writing (i.e., the number of issues to be resolved) and our project load at the time of submission.

Generally speaking, we can complete a standard dissertation/thesis of 20,000 words within 2-3 days , but this varies depending on the factors above. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you pre-book your editing with us for a specific date. For pre-booked projects, we can provide a guaranteed timeline, which is generally shorter than that of "walk-in" projects. Please email us to pre-book your project.

Can you provide a certificate of editing?

Yes , certainly. We can issue a certificate according to your university's requirements. We can also sign any paperwork required by your university as proof of editing.

Will my document be treated as confidential?

Yes , absolutely. Your work will be treated as strictly confidential and will never be shared or published. We will gladly sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with you if you wish.

How much does editing cost?

Our fee is based on the total word count of the document. This includes the body content and the reference list (as we need to review this). You can also include the appendices if you wish, but it's generally not required.

Click here to view our pricing or book a free consultation to discuss your project.

When should I submit my document to you?

Generally, editing and proofreading should be the very last step in your writing process. This ensures that you don't "undo" any editing work, or introduce new typos or grammar issues.

However, if your supervisor has specifically instructed you to get your work edited before submitting it to them for final review, you should follow their instructions. If you're unsure which approach to take, get in touch with us.

Can you edit my dissertation/thesis as I complete each chapter?

We can, but we don't recommend it . By editing chapter by chapter, consistency is reduced and there is a strong chance that there will be conflicts between document versions in terms of references, page, table and figure numbers, and so on. As a result, a lot of the work will be "undone" and you'll need to spend a lot of time revising and checking each section.

How much time should I factor in post-edit to make corrections?

We recommend that you factor in a day or two to make your final corrections after receiving your document back from us. This is not essential (as you can just accept all our edits "as is"), but it is a good idea to have a buffer in case you want to make any additions or revisions. You might also need to fix issues highlighted by the edit, e.g., regarding clarity of meaning or problems flagged with your referencing.

Can you do a second review of my document after the first edit?

We can review your document as many times as you need , but each review is charged separately. In other words, we cannot provide a second review (after we've edited and proofread) free of charge.

Can you check that my Conclusions and Recommendations represent all my findings?

This is beyond the scope of language editing, as it involves data analysis and interpretation. If you would like assistance with this, we can assist with 1-on-1 coaching , where we review your work critically and provide in-depth feedback.

Can you write my abstract (or exec summary) for me?

No , we can't. As part of the editing process, we will improve the quality of your writing, but we cannot write any section for you. Having any section written for you would constitute academic misconduct.

Can you rephrase text to reduce my plagiarism score?

No , we can’t. While we may undertake some very light rewriting of poorly constructed sentences to improve readability and ease of understanding, we cannot revise content to reduce plagiarism, as we are not familiar with the articles/sources being referenced.

Can you arrange the separate sections of my document?

No , we cannot arrange (or rearrange) sections of content on your behalf, as this may impact the core meaning and/or the thread of argument.

That said, if we feel that a section could be structured better for clarity, we will comment on this and make suggestions. Additionally, we will check that your headings and subheadings are numbered sequentially and are consistent in style.

I still have questions…

No problem. Feel free to email us or book an initial consultation to discuss.

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What Our Clients Say...

We've worked 1:1 with 5000+ students . Here's what some of them have to say:

My Coach, Amy, saved my life. I met her during the most challenging time in my thesis. People around me constantly reminded me how bad I am at writing, and I ended up anxious and depressed. Then I met Amy, who agreed to help me improve my work. I have no words to explain how amazing she is as a teacher and a human being.

Damithri Chathumani (NZ)

I had been struggling with the first 3 chapters of my dissertation for over a year. I finally decided to give GradCoach a try and it made a huge difference. Alexandra provided helpful suggestions along with edits that transformed my paper. My advisor was very impressed.

Tracy Shelton (US)

So helpful! Amy assisted me with an outline for my literature review and with organizing the results for my MBA applied research project. Having a road map helped enormously and saved a lot of time. Definitely worth it.

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Everything about my experience was great, from Dr. Shaeffer’s expertise, to her patience and flexibility. I reached out to GradCoach after receiving a 78 on a midterm paper. Not only did I get a 100 on my final paper in the same class, but I haven’t received a mark less than A+ since. I recommend GradCoach for everyone who needs help with academic research.

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David's depth of knowledge in research methodology was truly impressive. He demonstrated a profound understanding of the nuances and complexities of my research area, offering insights that I hadn't even considered. His ability to synthesize information, identify key research gaps, and suggest research topics was truly inspiring. I felt like I had a true expert by my side, guiding me through the complexities of the proposal.

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Working with Kerryn has been brilliant. She has guided me through that pesky academic language that makes us all scratch our heads. I can't recommend Grad Coach highly enough; they are very professional, humble, and fun to work with. If like me, you know your subject matter but you're getting lost in the academic language, look no further, give them a go.

Tony Fogarty (UK)

I started using Grad Coach for my dissertation and I can honestly say that if it wasn’t for them, I would have really struggled. I would strongly recommend them – worth every penny!

Richard Egenreider (South Africa)

Grad Coach is saving my sanity and hope while completing my dissertation. Coach Ethar is outstanding - he brings his joy and wisdom into each session. I know he is there for my success. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of this work, he has helped me break each section into manageable steps. Don’t go it alone - Grad Coach is amazing.

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