The Chicago Manual of Style is the industry standard for magazine articles, trade journals, and books, both fiction and nonfiction. In academe, it is almost always used for history papers. Book publishers may change some elements of the article or manuscript to conform to house style, but having your work in "Chicago format" is always appreciated.
The Chicago Manual of Style, in print, is over 900 pages. It is also available online by subscription. But, if you're doing a final edit on your document, do you know what term to look up when you have a question?
For instance: Do you know when to put a hyphen between two words? (Hint: Do the words form a compound adjective or adverb? Is the compound permanent or temporary?)
Our Chicago Manual of Style experts can help finalize the editing and formatting of your project so that your submission is clean, coherent, and compelling.
Faith Hickman Brynie specializes in science and health, especially for children and young adults. She has a Ph.D. in science curriculum and instruction, and she is an experienced editor of science activity books, trade books for middle school and high school, and textbooks K-12. She has worked for major publishers as writer, substantive editor, developmental editor, copyeditor, and fact checker. She excels at communicating complex ideas clearly and simply.
She loves fiction, and has written three novels, all published by Geneses under a pseudonym. She has won several contests and awards for her short fiction, which has been published in such magazines as Thema, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Midnight Zoo, Aberrations, Over My Dead Body!, Haunts, and others. She critiques mainstream, science fiction, horror, and mystery manuscripts, helping authors develop their characters, plot, dialogue, voice, and style. She also does developmental editing and copyediting of fiction manuscripts.
Her latest book--Brain Sense: The Science of the Senses and How We Process the World Around Us--was published in 2009.
Les Foxman has been a public relations professor at Utah State University and the University of Utah. He received his Ph.D. in journalism and mass communication (MLA) from Ohio University.
He empathizes with those undertaking extensive writing projects, and he is willing to help writers meet the challenge at virtually any stage of the writing process — from selecting topics to framing good research questions to organizing content and to presenting results and conclusions in clear, detailed language. He is comfortable in a fairly wide realm of topics, which extend beyond public relations, including journalism history, popular culture, criticism, integrated marketing communication, public policy issue management, crisis communication, and media message planning and management for organizations.
Jennifer Kennedy offers nearly a decade of copyediting, proofreading, and fact-checking experience helping authors polish scholarly texts and journal articles. Her topics of expertise include science, medicine, and law. She has worked on full-length texts on medical genetics and journals such as The American Journal of Dermatopathology, Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, and The Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. She also worked on Lippincott Williams and Wilkins' Current Opinion series, which covers a wide range of medical/science topics from cardiology to oncology. In addition to AMA style, she has also mastered APA, MLA, and Chicago styles. She graduated with an undergraduate degree in English/Professional Writing, then went on to law school, where she focused on copyright law. She approaches each project with the goal of keeping the author's voice and message intact while communicating as effectively as possible with the intended reader.
Herbert M. Levine focuses on nonfiction books and articles. Publishers of books include St. Martin's Press, McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall, M.E. Sharpe, Franklin Watts, Wadsworth, Regnery, and the University of North Texas Press. His books consist of trade books for the general public, college texts, a biography, and young adult publications. The subject matter of these books includes American government, state and local government, world politics, terrorism, arms control, state and local government, public administration, civil liberties, gun control, illegal drugs, chemical and biological weapons, and immigration. His articles have appeared in newspapers, magazines, journals, and reference books (including an encyclopedia). From 1999-2004 he served as a consultant for book projects on counterterrorism and evaluated and edited the work of academics and former government officials that appeared in these works. He holds a Ph.D. in public law and government from Columbia University. He taught courses in American government, international relations, arms control, U.S. foreign policy, and introduction to politics.
Suzanne Manness, Ph.D., is an English
professor who teaches APA, MLA, Chicago/
Turabian, Harvard,AMA,
and AAA documentation
styles in her research
writing classes. She has
edited many college
textbooks and
professional articles
and has extensive
experience in editing,
proofreading, and
formatting theses and
dissertations. She
specializes in
proofreading and
formatting articles for
APA journals. She is
known for a special
ability to help
international / ESL
students, her attention
to detail, and her quick
turnaround time.
Holly Monty, M.A.Ling., M.A.Comm., is a proven APA and Chicago style expert and has been a professional editor and writer for 10 years, 5 of those in a full-time freelance capacity. She specializes in academic manuscripts (journal articles and theses) and in whole-book preparation for publication (from content through copyediting and formatting), whether the manuscript is being submitted to publishers or self-published.
Since operating as a freelance editor and writer, Ms. Monty, a Microsoft Word expert, has worked on books and articles published by many of the world's leading publishers, including Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, MIT Press, John Wiley, Springer, Lawrence Erlbaum, Pearson-Prentice Hall, Berg, Macmillan, Berkshire, American Geophysical Union, Praeger, Greenwood, Blackwell, Elsevier, Sage, Begell House, Teacher Ideas Press, Libraries Unlimited, UTH Zürich, RAND Corporation, PRMIA, Self-Improvement Online, and other top names in academic and nonfiction publishing. To date, she has edited over 1,000 published journal articles, 90 nonfiction books, and a wealth of dissertations and theses.
James N. Powell, with MA degrees in both English Literature and Religious Studies, is a former Professor of English Literature. He has been editing, coaching, and tutoring writers and students for years. He was inhouse APA proofreader of doctoral dissertations at the Fielding University. He excels at working with international / ESL students. Specializing in APA and MLA styles, he has proofread hundreds of doctoral dissertations and papers. He is an internationally published writer, with books issued by major houses: Prentice Hall, William Morrow, and Hosei University Press (Japan).
Known for her quick turnaround time and attention to
detail, Melissa Simpson specializes in proofreading, copyediting, and APA and MLA styles. In addition to
addressing issues of organization, grammar, usage, and style, Melissa has a
knack for "tightening up" a document by making sure it is clear and concise.
She can also format headings and page numbers and create tables of contents at
a client's request and always double-checks that parenthetical references parallel
the references/works cited section of a document. She is skilled at ensuring
that documents not only comply with the APA or MLA style guides but also with a
university-specific guide, if applicable.
Melissa's 10+ years of editing experience is based
on a B.A. in English from Hendrix College, where she
graduated summa cum laude with
distinction, and an M.A. in English from Texas Woman's University. She has also
worked as a technical writer and has taught various writing and literature
courses on both the high school and college levels for over 15 years in both
traditional and online classrooms. Her editing work includes numerous
proposals, textbooks, dissertations, theses, academic papers, technical
documents, and journal articles on a broad range of subjects, including
education, psychology, nursing, business, government, speech pathology,
literature, philosophy, economics, and art. She is skilled at meeting the needs
of ESL students as well.
An accomplished writer herself, Melissa has published
many articles and a biography of Southern author Flannery O'Connor. She is
currently a community editor with Little Rock Family magazine, an award-winning magazine for families in central Arkansas.
A. J. Sobczak is an editor, proofreader, and writer (business writing, business methods, business history, communication, literary analysis) with more than 18 years of experience in the publishing industry. He works directly with authors of academic articles and books as well as working for publishers. As an in-house editor for Salem Press (6 years) and freelance editor for Sage Publications (since 1993), along with work for University of California Press, ABC-CLIO, Rowman & Littlefield, and other clients, he has edited dozens of books and journals in various topics in the social and hard sciences, including economics, research methods, mathematics, political science, psychology, business and management, supply chain theory, and history. He holds an MA in economics from UCLA, has done graduate-level coursework in mathematics, and taught economics at California State University, Northridge, for 4 years.
He is an expert in
APA and Chicago styles
and is on several
publishers' lists of
"go-to" editors for
manuscripts with heavy math content. His writing on
business and economics
has appeared in several
reference volumes, and
he is the editor of and
a contributor to Great Events from
History II: Business and
Commerce, containing
approximately 500
articles on critical
events in 20th-century
business history.
Donald Wells has more than 18 years
experience as an editor
and writer. He has
edited for and written
with accountants,
agriculture researchers,
economists, educational
researchers, educational
psychologists,
engineers, historians,
lawyers, Master's
students, nurse
researchers,
nutritionists, PhD
candidates,
philosophers, political
scientists,
psychiatrists,
psychologists,
sociologists, soil
scientists, UN experts,
university professors,
and veterinarians. He
has edited more than 200
published journal
articles, some of which have won awards, many
dissertations and
theses, annotated
bibliographies,
reference books,
textbooks, and academic,
engineering, government,
and scientific reports.
He is an expert in APA style, Chicago
Manual of Style, and MLA format and is familiar
with AMA. He has
extensive experience
with ESL writers. Don is
dedicated to maintaining
the individual voice of
the writer, and he
follows two rules of
style: A document must
be clear and concise. He
has found that these two
rules of style produce
documents that are
elegant and
professional.
"I had a very unfortunate contract end with another editing service that did not perform nor consider my timelines for my dissertation proposal. I received an immediate phone call from the network coordinator. She provided me with a consultant referral. Within hours, I received a response ... [my editor] went above and beyond in her services. Her guidance and expertise was exact and accurate. She was professional in her communication style, but demonstrated her sensitivity and compassion towards my circumstances. Her contract was easy to understand and specific to the tasks. I am forever grateful to the network; their ethics and standards extend beyond industry standards." Cheryl Moore, PhD Candidate, Capella University
"Just a note to let you know that my dissertation was approved today, so again thank you for your help and I will definitely tell my friends about your excellent services. You are a true professional." Miriam Golbert, Nova University
"Overall this is a very nice service. The work was done to more than my satisfaction, and the services went over and above what I expected. The consultant saved me about a week to 10 days worth of work considering my very busy schedule." Dave Wickman ERAU / UTC employee
"Being a full-time teacher and student, my life is extremely stressful. Perfecting work for my Ph.D. program is time-consuming and quite intensive. Suzanne helped to alleviate much of my stress and allowed me to finally get some much needed rest! She was very patient and helpful during the review process of my paper. Her review of my paper was first-rate and her response time was quick. She was also prompt in all emails sent to her concerning any questions that I had. My dissertation proposal is on its way for the IRB approval. I must thank Suzanne for her hard work, dedication and expertise with APA writing." Dawn Adams, internship coordinator, Wheeler High School
1. Your agreement, whether oral or written, is with your thesis or dissertation editor/consultant, not with the network as a whole or its coordinator.
2. It is the client's responsibility to review all work completed to ensure accuracy and adherence to specifications.
3. We do not write or sell dissertations, theses, term papers, or essays. We will, however, polish your draft. The final product will be yours — legitimately.
REQUEST FOR ESTIMATE/CONSULTATION
Cut and paste the text that follows into your e-mail editor (e.g., Outlook, Word) and answer each question.
A sample is required to receive an estimate for editing services
6. Describe your project: (e.g., book, business document, dissertation)
7. Describe the level of writing or editing required: (e.g., copyediting, proofreading, content editing, fact-checking, ghostwriting, formatting)
8. Current word count of document:
9. Your deadline date:
10. Required manual of style, if any: (e.g., Chicago Manual, APA, MLA, AP, AAA, CBE/CSE)
11. Number of charts, tables, and pictures:
12. Do you need charts, tables, pictures edited/formatted?
13. Do you have a budget for the project? (Please be specific.)
14. Number of footnotes and entries in reference list:
15. Do you want to contact a particular writer/editor?
16. How did you learn about our service?
16. Attach a sample chapter/section or other important documents related to your project. Please zip large files (max 1MB)
YOUR NAME MUST BE IN YOUR SAMPLE DOCUMENT OR IT CAN BE THE FILE NAME (e.g., johnsmith.doc).
The network coordinator will forward your submission (plus any attached files) to the consultant(s) you select. If no selection is made, your submission will be forwarded to several consultants who might be a good match. Final choice of consultant is yours.
If you do not get a response within 3 hours (M-F) of submission, send a follow-up e-mail to:
Coordinator @ Airmail.net
and/or
EditingNetwork @ gmail.com
You may also use the chat button and/or leave voice mail for the network coordinator: 469-789-3030.
Allow a longer response time if you sent your submission during the weekend or after U.S. business hours.
All of the consultants listed on this site are freelance. They are located throughout the U.S. The coordinator cannot answer cost/timeframe questions for each consultant. You must go through the submission process to receive direct responses from the consultants listed on this site.
