Specializations: Editing Academic and Legal Documents
Specializations: Editing Academic and Legal Documents
Academic editing is extremely rewarding. Not only do you get the opportunity to push students to be top-notch researchers and writers, but you learn much about the world around you by delving into a variety of subjects. Being an academic editor requires an open mind, a knack for formatting and style, and a strong command of the English language.
"As an academic editor, what am I actually required to know?" This question is certainly warranted. The answer is . . . it depends. You may be seeking a career in a specific field, such as Near Eastern Studies, editing journal submissions for potential publication. In this realm, you would need a specialized post-secondary degree that reflects your field of interest and study. Conversely, you may find employment at a company that does general editing; in this case, you will encounter material that spans the spectrum: history, law, science—just about anything your mind can conjure up when thinking about academia.
In this context, insofar as fact-checking is concerned, it won't spell disaster for you if you pick up an essay about molecular biology, which you happen to know very little to nothing about. Keep in mind, though, that you are more than capable of assessing the strengths and weaknesses of thesis statements, evaluating arguments, and the like. These are skills that all editors should have and hone, regardless of the environments in which they find themselves. Use these skills to the best of your ability, and don't get intimidated if you find yourself in unfamiliar territory.
As a consequence of this lack of specified knowledge, you must learn to develop the art of asking the author questions. This may seem painfully obvious, but it actually can be a stumbling block. Let's suppose you are editing a master's thesis proposal on a subject that is foreign to you. Everything seems unclear—terminology, abbreviations. How can you assess the author's argument(s) if you know nothing of his or her subject? Even though you are an expert writer yourself, this is where tact and diplomacy come in. If something seems out of place or awkward to the point that you are almost certain it's an error, don't assume (and don't tell the author he or she is wrong); you could be wrong and offend the client or make yourself look unprofessional. In these scenarios, you want to politely advise the client that a term, phrase, or point is unclear to you. Ask the author to verify that it's correct ("Is this something unique to your field of study?"). If you feel that there are possible alternatives to what the author has written, you may suggest them, but do not insert them into the text. The author can make that decision upon verification of the "unclear matters" you brought to his or her attention.
As an academic editor, you will undoubtedly learn new and exciting things, whether you are specialized or not. If you find the pursuit of knowledge rewarding, then this may be the path for you.
In academia, adhering to a style guide is essential because it provides a framework for citation and references. Even when a piece is well written, improper citing of references can not only take away from the content but can lead to plagiarism—something neither students nor educators like to deal with. Style guides standardize citations and references and make it easier for readers to locate information, and they also help eliminate plagiarism.
If you feel that a client has either passed another author's work off as his or her own, or if you think information is missing a proper citation, don't accuse. The client may have made an honest mistake out of ignorance, especially if he or she is new to an English-speaking country or is just getting to know the ropes of academic writing. Whatever the case, this is a sensitive subject, so just place a comment where necessary. Say something like, "Please make sure you cite a source for all information that is not common knowledge for your audience." Highlight the passages with uncited material and explain what the author needs to do to make everything meet academic standards. Direct the author to a style guide appropriate for his or her document and explain why it's important the author be familiar with proper citation. If you approach plagiarism in this manner—whether it's intentional plagiarism or not—you will save face and avoid potential embarrassment.
When you receive a client's document, always check to see what style guide the text must adhere to. If you're not accustomed to APA, MLA, or Chicago style in particular, don't worry. The major style guides are typically available online for purchase, and your place of employment may have them on hand. There are also numerous sites that offer summary sheets of the major aspects of each style. Different style guides are popular in different countries. For example, many students in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand use Harvard style as their standard. Harvard style is a general style that colleges often tailor to their own programs. If you cannot locate a hard copy of the particular Harvard style necessary for the document you are editing, you will probably be able to find a copy on the Internet. Be careful: Harvard style varies according to location and institution in many cases; if the author has not specified his or her institution, ask him or her to verify and edit according to the criteria you are given.
As editors, we don't correct spelling and grammar and stop there. Students are aspiring to soar through the ranks of higher education to eventually influence policy, do research for medical cures, and provide fascinating insights into the human mind. The articulation of their ideas must exude sophistication, embody objectivity, and express confidence in the project at hand.
You can inspire your client to write well by helping the client build their vocabulary (within reasonable limits; we are not suggesting you rewrite assignments and/or turn them into Shakespearean plays), while helping him or her keep (or find) his or her individual voice. Get a feel for your client's voice. Do your best to make improvements where necessary without losing that voice and, ultimately, the author's original sense of identity. Resist the temptation to superimpose your own voice, word choice, or logic entirely onto someone else's project. Indeed, a successful academic editor strikes a balance between maintaining the author's tone and posing constructive suggestions that will ultimately bring out the piece's true potential. The client will be able to use your suggestions to improve future works and walk away with the confidence that he or she can develop his or her own unique style that will please colleagues and instructors alike.
You must be able to identify bias in your client's work and help him or her come across as objectively as possible. We have touched on this subject in a previous course when we dealt with metadiscourse. In academic material, personal pronouns should be avoided; for example, "I think" or "my study." Advise authors to detach themselves from the subject matter, as devices like this cause their writing to suffer even if the overall content is sound.
Here are some general tips and guidelines for academic works that will help you uphold a high standard of quality and integrity:
Identify and correct the repetition and overuse of words and ideas.
Reduce the number of unnecessary transition words that begin sentences and paragraphs, such as moreover, therefore, and however.
Remove personal pronouns (in most cases) and unnecessary metadiscourse (i.e., rhetoric, talking to readers in a direct, conversational tone).
Spot and delete imprecise language (particularly when numbers are involved; e.g., "it took about four hours to extract around 25.5% of the solution").
This is not an exhaustive list, but these are trends we see often in academic editing that serve to hamper the quality of the documents we receive.
Editing legal documents requires more than a comprehensive knowledge of the English language. In order to be a legal editor, you must be familiar with various dimensions of the legal system, including state, federal, civil, criminal, and administrative law. As a legal editor, you will come across the following types of documents: book reviews, notes, comments, and articles.
Below are key features of book reviews, notes, comments, and articles. You would edit these like you would other academic pieces—ensure proper formatting, spelling, grammar, strength of arguments, and flow of ideas—in addition to fact-checking. The latter comes with the territory, as most legal editing positions require a law degree. When editing notes and comments, please verify that the author has included a Statement of Originality (or Abstract) that indicates the piece's place within the literature, or a Statement of Resubmission (if a previous work is being submitted again). Students are aspiring to get their works published in a law review; committees are looking for original ideas with a narrow scope, not summaries of other works or broad-based approaches to issues that have been covered extensively.
Book Reviews
Typically 8,500 words or less
Include a critical analysis that revolves around whether the book is legally significant (i.e., are the issues raised therein relevant?).
Subheadings may be recommended to authors to add variety to the text and capture the attention of readers.
Notes
Submitted by law students
Should not exceed 17,500 words
Address legal issues in-depth
Some notes may cover a historical problem and have a theoretical frame of reference.
Others attempt to shed light on current matters/problems that have yet to receive sufficient attention.
These are normative in scope (i.e., the courts should do x or y).
Comments
Submitted by law students
Often much shorter than notes (typically 7,500 words or less)
Focus on a recent book, journal article, case, or legislation
Articles
Do not have a set maximum length (although 20,000 words is recommended)
Geared toward an innovative analysis of a legal problem/issue (as is the case with articles in other disciplines)
Usually written by authors who specialize in specific legal areas
As a legal editor, you can adhere to some essential guidelines that apply to all the types of documents discussed in the previous slide. Please advise authors of the following (if and when they apply):
Be gender-neutral. If there is no way to avoid referring to gender, use "he or she," not "he/she."
Avoid jargon in places where ordinary English descriptions will suffice.
If a short quotation conveys the same meaning as a long one, brief is preferable.
If abbreviations are used that are not well known to a general audience, a list of abbreviations should be included.
If you notice the piece contains too much background information (e.g., case history) or summary (e.g., of other work), to the extent it takes away from the author's own analysis, bring it to his or her attention in a polite, constructive manner. If he or she is attempting to get published, inform him or her that committees are looking for focused, original analyses.
Legal documents, like those in other disciplines, need to adhere to specific style requirements. The Blue Book is the standard for properly citing US legal documents; it contains more than five hundred pages and thus can be very intimidating. Once you know where to find the relevant information for citing statutes and cases, referring to abbreviations, and the like, it becomes less daunting. All lawyers, legal editors, and law students should know (or aspire to know) their way around it. The Blue Book is currently in its nineteenth edition and is edited by the law journal editors at the following universities: Harvard, Columbia, Yale, and Pennsylvania.
Although the Blue Book is the standard style guide, there are others as well, including the Association of Legal Writing Directors' ALWD Citation Manual: A Professional System of Citation and the University of Chicago Manual of Legal Citation.
Ultimately, we cannot just assume the author of a document is going to use the Blue Book as his or her standard. If you are unsure, or you notice inconsistencies in formatting or citation style, be sure to have the author verify which style guide he or she is supposed to be following.
Make sure you are adhering to the appropriate style guide when editing academic documents. Often, you'll need to help the author focus and streamline his or her language. You'll also want to keep an eye out for plagiarism.
Legal documents require that the author use active, impersonal language. Avoid the passive voice at all costs, and avoid pronouns and names. Rather, make sure the text uses titles such as "plaintiff" and "defendant." Of course, it should go without saying that you always need to make sure you follow the appropriate style guide whether editing legal documents, academic papers, or personal blogs. If you don't follow that simple rule, you'll be hard pressed to answer the questions that are important to an editor.
Last Updated: 09/29/2022