Books/Articles

Humanities First reviews essays, journal articles and book manuscripts for grammar, content and context. As a nonprofit organization, we are able to provide top-notch copy editing, proofreading, and content analysis at a reasonable cost. Our services provide substantial advantages to writers who are preparing manuscripts for submission.

Developmental Editing & Proofreading

For many in the humanities, publishing one’s work is critical for  career advancement.  Many, if not most, colleges and universities require faculty to have one book on the shelf or at least one published peer-reviewed article to attain tenure. Perhaps you’re building your dossier with articles, working on your peer-reviewed publications, or trying to obtain more traction and visibility in your field. A complete developmental edit is essential to that goal.

During a developmental edit, we will provide personal, one-on-one coaching and will work with you on multiple drafts until you’re confident that the piece is ready for submission. Our editors work closely with you to strengthen your argument, achieve a consistent tone and ensure that your work is clear, logical and gratifying to read. Throughout the process, we will provide you with constructive feedback, both in overview reports and line-by-line analyses, and provide you with a full proofread and perform complete formatting per your publisher’s preferred style guide.

Single-Round Prose Review

If you are confident in your content but need a second set of eyes to ensure that your work is tonally and thematically sound, Humanities First also offers single-round content and copy review at a discounted rate. At this level of review, we will point out specific areas of concern (personal writing tics, overuse of specific phrases, repetition of ideas, etc.). In addition, we will perform a proofread and application of your preferred style guide.

Style Manuals

Our editors are fluent in multiple editing styles, among them APA, CMOS (Chicago), and MLA. Although we do not proof citations, works cited, or bibliographies, we can answer general questions as it relates to many different citational styles.